Suicide paragraph

A suicide paragraph (Norwegian: selvmordsparagraf), sometimes referred to as a suicide clause, is an important term in politics of Norway. It is a part of the formal agreements between political parties on forming a coalition government. It states that if a certain political case is brought up, the coalition is considered dissolved.

In practice, the use has usually related to the question of Norway and the European Union. This question is a cross-cutting cleavage, splitting parties who would otherwise be more cooperating. It was first used by Jan P. Syse's Cabinet, which assumed office in 1989. It was known from the 1972 EEC referendum that the "European question" was a divisive one in Norwegian politics, and the coalition parties (Conservative, Christian Democratic, Centre) held different views. The "suicide paragraph" was a part of a 22-point declaration that was put together after the 1989 general election (not before, as had been the tradition during the 1980s). Through the paragraph, the coalition parties "agreed to disagree" on the issue. As it turned out, the suicide paragraph and the European question caused the coalition to dissolve after only one year. The strongly EU-sceptical Centre Party parted ways with the pro-EU Conservatives, and the parties have not been coalition partners since. A Labour cabinet took over, proposed and negotiated EU membership but backed down after the 1994 referendum in which the electorate rejected this.

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