Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been re-elected by the members of the Supreme Council, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates. He has been elected for the 2nd term for the next five years. The President has traditionally been the Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

On the occasion of the re-elected president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said Sheikh Khalifa’s re-election was a great day in UAE history and confirmed the Supreme Council’s trust in his approach. It would signal greater prosperity for years to come in a statement published by WAM. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region said “The UAE is making rapid, staggering and tangible progress under the stewardship of Sheikh Khalifa,” he went on saying “The holistic development going on in all emirates simultaneously underlines Sheikh Khalifa’s sincere determination to secure a decent life to both UAE people and expatriate residents.”

dazzling UAE Royals Elections, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed

Click on image to see photo at Belga

  The last few days all member states of the European Union organised elections for the European parlament. Belgium’s royal family set a good example and all adult members of the royal family were pictured while visiting the polling stations. The duke and duchess of Brabant voted at a polling station in Laeken, as did princess Astrid, her husband Lorenz and their two eldest children prince Amedeo and princess Maria Laura. Prince Laurent and his wife princess Claire went to a polling station in Tervuren to vote.

Click on image to see photo at AP

The king and queen however were unable to vote, as the constitution prohibits that. Apart from elections for the European parlament the Belgians yesterday also voted for the regional parliaments. In Luxembourg Princess Alexandra and her brother prince Félix of Luxembourg went to the polling station in Luxembourg city. Click here to see a picture.

In Hungary archduke Georg and archduchess Eilika voted in Soskut, some 30 kms south of Budapest. The archduke is a member of the junior opposition conservative party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum. He was also one of their candidates for the European parlament, but according to the first reports his party did not get enough votes to get him there. In Turin, prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, son of the pretender to the Italian throne, voted for the first time in Italy. Like archduke Georg, Emanuele Filiberto tried to get elected into European parlament but failed. Click here to see a picture.

Marengo Austrian Royals, Belgian Royals, Italian Royals, Luxembourg Royals Archduchess Eilika, Archduke Georg, Elections, European Union, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Philippe, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Mathilde

 The Danish Constitution on the Act of Succession will be ammended to allow the monarch’s first-born child of either gender to succeed the throne, following the successful referendum on equal primogeniture this weekend.

According to Politiken.dk, 45.5% of the entire Danish electorate (4.03 million Danes) voted in favour of the proposed change, which will see future first-born daughters of Danish monarchs retain their place in the order of succession even if a younger brother is born. At least 40% of the electorate was required to vote ‘yes’ to the referendum for it to pass. 59% of eligible Danes voted, with 7.8% voting ‘no’ and 5.3% casting a blank vote.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told his Liberal Party that, “It’s a strong signal that shows that we want to be a society where men and women have the same opportunities, whether it’s for ordinary people or princes and princesses,” after the result was announced.

It was unsure just two hours before the polls closed if the ammendment would pass. Exit polls provided by Politiken and TV2 stated that only 75.5% of those who turned out to vote had voted ‘yes’ – which overall created a 37.9% ‘yes’ from the total electorate, falling 2.1% short of the required target.

This caused Prime Minister Rasmussen to tell the Danes that, “The polling stations are open until 8 pm. I appeal, of course, to people to use their right to vote, and if you share our point of views to vote in favour,” via TV2.

Doubt was also raised months ago when the referendum was announced to be held on the same weekend as the elections for the European Parliament (where Denmark has 14 seats), which generally see a lower voter turn-out than national elections. The fact that this law will not have any large effect on the succession until at least second-in-line Prince Christian has children also caused debate about the reason of holding the referendum in 2009.

Read more about the succession referendum here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Elections, Prime Minister Rasmussen, Prince Christian of Denmark, Succession

 Today, June 7, is Election Day in Belgium. People have to elect representatives for the European Parliament and the regional Parliaments (Flemish, Wallonian, Brussels Parliaments). In Belgium, everybody is obliged to turn up at the polling station, even though we are not obliged to vote. But since we actually have to be there, most of us vote anyway. It would be quite the waste of your Sunday Morning, if you didn’t…

Click to see Belga gellery

The members of  the Belgian Royal family are not exempt from this civil duty, all have to come to one of the Laeken polling stations to vote. All except the King, who may choose not to vote, as he is supposed to be above politics. Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde enjoyed a lively chat at their polling station this morning.

For more information about Princess Mathilde and Prince Philippe, see this thread.
For more pictures, see this belga gallery.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Elections, European Union, Parliament, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde