Europe News
Proposal to abolish Norwegian monarchy scrapped
By DPA
May 22, 2008, 13:49 GMT

Oslo - A proposal to scrap the Norwegian monarchy was voted down Thursday by a strong majority in parliament.

The opposition Socialist Left Party introduced the proposal to re-write the constitution.

The party has 15 seats and garnered 21 votes, including from the opposition Liberal Party, while 106 members of the 169-seat parliament voted against.

A similar proposal in June 2004 garnered 26 votes in favour of doing away with the monarchy.

Berit Brorby, member of the Labour Party, the main force in the ruling red-green coalition, said the monarchy worked well and had strong public support, Norwegian news agency NTB reported.