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Template:Future referendum

A referendum on changing the Danish Act of Succession, the rules governing the succession to the Danish throne, was held in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland on 7 June 2009, simultaneously with the election to the European Parliament, in Denmark proper.^[1]

The law would eliminate male-preference primogeniture in favour of equal primogeniture. That is, sons would no longer have precedence over daughters in the line of succession. The law would not affect the first three people in the line of succession: the queen's two children are both male, and the crown prince's first-born, Prince Christian of Denmark, born 2005, is also male.

In parliament

Under the rules for change of constitution, the law must be passed by two Parliaments, before and after an election, and then approved by a referendum. The law was passed in 2006 with only one abstention (Simon Emil Ammitzbøll of the Social Liberal Party, who later formed his own party, Borgerligt Centrum). The law was passed again by the new Folketing elected in 2007 on 24 February 2009 with two abstentions (of the left-wing Enhedslisten). It was then submitted to a referendum.^[2][3][4]

Relation to constitution

No changes would be made to the constitution and § 2 would continue to refer to the Act of Succession of 1953 even though that reference would become invalid. Professor of administrative law at the University of Aarhus Jens Peter Christensen has described this as "a mess" and as an "overly clever" way for then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to signal that the government will oppose any other changes to the constitution.^[5]

Skepticism from opposition

There was skepticism from the opposition to the proposal, as they preferred a major constitutional reform, modernising the language and content of the 1953 constitution, in which certain rules prevail from 1849. A frequent demand from the left wing is to integrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a number of other basic rights in the constitution. The Conservative-Liberal cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, however, opposed such changes. The national Danish People's Party are staunch opponents of constitutional change, as they fear socialist stipulations and human rights, e.g. about refugees, will be codified in such a reform. Eventually, all parties in parliament except Enhedslisten supported the change because they would not vote against equal rights. Enhedslisten abstained because they are pro-republic and because the new law still bars royal children born out of wedlock from the throne, and because throne succedents must have their marriages approved by the monarch and the government. Enhedslisten polemically called this "arranged marriages".

Prognosis for referendum

Changes to the act of succession in Denmark follow the same rules as changes to the constitution. First, it must be passed by parliament, then passed in unchanged form by the next parliament following parliamentary elections, and then be submitted to a public referendum. In order for the law to be approved in the referendum, it must get both a majority of votes cast in favour and at least 40% of all eligible voters voting in favour.^[6][3] Although an opinion poll from May 2005 showed a majority of 77% in favour of the change^[7], it would not guarantee passage of the bill. In fact turnout at the preceding European Parliament elections in 2004 was so low (47.6%), that even a 77% margin in favour would not take the proposal past the 40% threshold. However, turnout increased and at midnight on the election night with most votes counted, the threshold had been passed and the law was certain to pass.^[8]

Campaign and positions

In late May, the government launched an official campaign,^[9] costing 5 million kroner. It was instantly criticised for being one-sided, undemocratic and patronising. The Prime Minister's Department admitted the official campaign video^[10]is an imitation of a sketch from the British comedy show Harry Enfield's Television Programme.^[11] The PR agency responsible for the video, Kunde & Co., declined to comment on whether the copyright issue was sorted out.

The Conservative Youth of Denmark campaigns for a no vote, arguing there is no sense in talking about equal rights in a monarchy, and fearing the change would endanger the traditions of the royal house.

A surprising amount of opposition to the law arose at the end of May. Parts of the Social Liberal Youth and republican circles advocate a blank vote, effectively having the same effect as a no vote. Others argue a blank vote because it would improve possibilities for a future in-depth constitutional reform.

According to historian Steffen Heiberg in a Ritzau story on 1 June 2009, Queen Margrethe II herself is "rather opposed" to the law.^[12] The royal house abstains from commenting on political issues, but according to then Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, he had "discussed the matter" with members of the royal house before submitting the proposal in Parliament in 2005.

Results

As the electorate was 4,042,185,^[13] and the minimum threshold of passing was 40 percent of the electorate, at least 1,616,874 people must have voted in favor of the change, while maintaining a majority in votes cast.

References