WORLD : Norway Succession Changed

Norway today scrapped rules giving royal sons first rights to the throne, abolishing one of the last bastions of male dominance in a country that prides itself on equal rights for women.

Only seven members of the 165-member Parliament voted against the amendment, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

But the current Princess Martha Louise, 18, will not precede her younger brother Prince Haakon Magnus, 16, in the line of succession because the rule applies only to royal heirs born after 1990.

Both the prince and princess are children of Crown Prince Harald, the son of King Olav, who at 86 is Europe’s oldest reigning monarch.

Also today, the Socialist Left Party revived a parliamentary proposal to abolish the monarchy upon King Olav’s death. But only 19 votes were cast in favor of making Norway a republic.