2012 Faroese municipal merger referendum

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

2012 Faroese municipal merger referendum - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Politics of the Faroe Islands


Constitution Constitution Act of Succession Freedom of Speech and the Press Taxation
The Crown Monarch King Frederik X Privy Council Purveyors to the Royal Court
The unity of the Realm Kingdom of Denmark Faroe Islands Denmark Greenland
Executive Regeringen The Government of Denmark High Commissioner (list) Lene Moyell Johansen Landsstýri The Government of the Faroe Islands Premier Aksel V. Johannesen Deputy Premier Høgni Hoydal Johannesen Cabinet Privy Council Council of State Queen Margrethe II
Legislature Løgtingið Parliament of the Faroe Islands (35th National Parliament) Speaker Páll á Reynatúgvu Members Folketinget Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark (69th Kingdom Parliament) Speaker Pia Kjærsgaard Members
Judiciary Supreme Court President Poul Søgaard Courts
Elections Political parties Recent elections Kingdom: 2019 2015 2011 National: 2019 2015 2011 Referendums Alcohol (1907) Independence Alcohol (1973) Act of Succession
Administrative divisions Regions Municipalities Towns
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Jenis av Rana Diplomatic missions of / to the Faroes Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Arctic policy of the Kingdom Faroe Islands–European Union relations Politics of the European Union Arctic policy of the EU
Related topics Arctic Command Defence Command Politics of Denmark Politics of Greenland Unitarism Home rule
Other countries
v t e

A municipal merger referendum was held in the Faroe Islands on 3 May 2012. Proposals were put forward for merging the thirty existing municipalities into seven new municipalities, with voters in each of the proposed new areas voting on the merger. The proposition was rejected in six of the seven proposed new municipalities. As a result, none of the mergers went ahead.^[1]

Background

Proposals for municipality mergers and delegating powers to municipalities had been discussed for 20–25 years prior to the referendum.^[2] The Centre Party, People's Party and Social Democratic Party were in favour of voluntary mergers, whilst the Self-Government Party, Republic and Union Party favoured creating the mergers by legislation. Progress advocated for drafting legislation on the mergers and submitting it to voters through a referendum.^[3]

In the autumn of 2011, the Faroese government announced that it would be transferring responsibility for elderly care and primary education from 1 January 2014, and that the number of municipalities would need to be reduced from the 30 that existed at the time.^[4] A referendum on the merger proposals was announced by Interior Minister Kári P. Højgaard on 20 December 2011, which was based on section 7 of the Act on Voluntary Municipal Mergers and Inter-municipal Cooperation on Statutory Services. Anyone eligible to vote in municipal elections was able to vote in the referendum.^[5]

Proposed mergers

Proposed municipality	Existing municipalities	Population (1 January 2012)
Eysturoy	Fuglafjørður, Eystur, Nes, Runavík, Sjóvar	9,451
Norðoyar	Fugloy, Húsar, Hvannasund, Klaksvík, Kunoy, Viðareiði	5,821
Sandoy	Húsavík, Sandur, Skálavík Skopun, Skúvoy	1,325
Streymoy	Kvívík, Tórshavn, Vestmanna	21,601
Suðuroy	Fámjin, Hov, Hvalba, Porkeri, Sumba, Tvøroyri, Vágur	4,676
Sundalagið	Eiði, Sunda	2,334
Vágar	Sørvágur, Vágar	3,076
Source: Hagstova^[6]

Results

Vágar, where the merger process was already underway, was the only proposed municipality area in which voters approved the proposals. Although there were majorities in some individual municipalities, these were largely areas that were expected to become the centre of the new municipality; only three of the peripheral municipalities voted in favour.^[1]

Proposed municipality	For		Against		Invalid blank	Total	Registered voters	Turnout	Result
Proposed municipality	Votes	%	Votes	%	Invalid blank	Total	Registered voters	Turnout	Result
Eysturoy		36.3		63.7		2,964	6,929	42.8	Rejected
Norðoyar		47.6		52.4		1,149	4,351	26.4	Rejected
Sandoy		47.6		52.4		555	1,008	55.1	Rejected
Streymoy		27.8		72.2		3,508	15,763	22.2	Rejected
Suðuroy		34.5		65.5		1,729	3,558	48.6	Rejected
Sundalagið		41.1		58.9		569	1,690	33.7	Rejected
Vágar		63.3		36.7		1,163	2,227	52.2	Accepted
Total						11,637	35,526	32.8
Source: KVF^[7] Folketing^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b Beinta í Jákupsstovu (2017) "National goals and local values. Changes in the municipal structure and gender representation in the Faroe Islands" NORKOM
^ "Kommunusamanlegging: Sterkari lokalt fólkaræði og økismenning". Løgmansskrivstovan (in Faroese). 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
^ "Tað er galið við spurningunum, ikki við føroyingum". Progress (in Faroese). 30 May 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Samgonguskjal millum Sambandsflokkin, Fólkaflokkin, Miðflokkin og Sjálvstýrisflokkin" (PDF). Løgmansskrivstovan (in Faroese). 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2013.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Vegleiðandi fólkaatkvøða um kommunusamanlegging" (PDF). Innlendismálaráðið (in Faroese). 30 March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
^ "Fólkatalið 1. januar skift á býir/bygdir og kyn". Hagstova Føroya (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
^ "32,7% atkvøddu á vegleiðandi fólkaatkvøðuni". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese). 3 May 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
^ Rigsombudsmanden på Færøerne: "Indberetning nr. 3/ 2012" (J.nr. 323-1-dmk) Folketing

v t e Elections and referendums in the Faroe Islands
Løgting elections	1852 1854 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1943 1945 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1980 1984 1988 1990 1994 1998 2002 2004 2008 2011 2015 2019 2022
Referendums	1907 1946 1973 2012
See also: Elections and referendums in Denmark

Categories:

Hidden categories: