Stockholm (KTN) — In the second annual Referendum Day in Valkyria, the people have triggered what is perhaps the largest geopolitical transformation in nearly two years, having approved of reforming the United Kingdom of Valkyria into a republic in Referendum 1. At the same time, Chancellor Margaret Harrison and the Alliance of Social Democrats have proclaimed victory on a series of other referendums at vote, which reaffirmed their positions on certain agenda. Harrison, who had placed her own political career on the line, scored her biggest victory since the unification of Qvait and Winston Island with the passage of Referendum 3, which allows Valkyria to remain in the World Forum. Harrison also managed to legalise physician-assisted suicide with the passage of Referendum 2, a promise that she had made in 2015 during the Qvaitican presidential campaign.

The Greens scored victories with the passage of Referendums 5 and 7, which kept recreational marijuana legal and banned tobacco products. The former was legalised on 25 July 2017 after The Greens'-sponsored Free Marijuana Act narrowly passed in Parliament on 17 July without a veto from Harrison. On the other hand, two referendums—4 and 6—that were backed by The New Right have been overwhelmingly rejected. Referendum 4, which would have triggered a recall election for the chancellery, was rejected by 68.4 per cent of the voters. Referendum 6, which would have forced naturalised Valkyrians to renounce their original citizenship, was rejected by 79.3 per cent of the voters, the greatest margin between Yes and No out of the seven referendums at vote. Lastly, Referendum 7 passed with 57.2 per cent support from the voters, banning tobacco products.

Tuesday's vote is a sea change for Valkyrian politics as the Monarchy will come to an end after only two years. Queens Katelynn and Melissa will be stripped of their titles on 1 August 2018 and the nation will be reformed as the Valkyrian Republic. It has been a roller coaster for the initial years of the new Valkyrian regime that formed on 1 August 2016. For the first few months, the nation's political system featured a tricameral legislature before being replaced by a bicameral one after Referendum Day 2017. The move resulted in Harrison being removed from Parliament and established a separate executive branch, but Referendum 1 brings the chancellery back to Parliament. The Queens, who have served as the collective head of state, will be replaced by a popularly-elected President who will have mostly ceremonial powers.

To avoid having a third parliamentary election in three years and a new presidential election from being held in 2018, Referendum 1 keeps the chancellery independent from the Parliament until June 2019, when the first fixed-term parliamentary election is supposed to occur. At the same time, the National Assembly voted to give the Citizens' Assembly the temporary power to elect an Acting President, who will serve until one is elected simultaneous to the parliamentary election. As for term length, Referendum 1 has stipulated that the President should serve a six-year term at the most before needing to be reelected to a second and final term. On the other hand, the Chancellor will serve a three-year term at the most and will not be term limited.

Another reform triggered by Referendum 1 is how members of the National Assembly are seated. Starting in June 2019, members of the National Assembly will be elected in an open list mixed-member proportional representation system, meaning that Valkyrians will have two votes in the parliamentary election: one for their respective constituencies and another for a political party. Furthermore, Referendum 1 issues a ten-year moratorium on referendums that affect the structure of the Valkyrian government. A chief concern of members of Parliament from different sides of the political spectrum is that Referendum Day 2017 changed the structure of the Valkyrian government months after it initially formed and Referendum 1 has changed it in quick succession. Politicians in Stockholm agree that the governmental structure of Valkyria should only be changed rarely, rather than annually.

Margaret Harrison in March 2018

With the passage of Referendum 2, Harrison has finally been able to keep a promise that she made during the 2015 Qvaitican presidential campaign—legalise physician-assisted suicide. Referendum 2 legalises PAS for patients with terminal illnesses such as cancer or advanced heart disease. Since initially taking office as President of Qvait on 1 April 2016, Harrison had been repeatedly pressuring her allies in the legislature to legalise PAS, but they feared that such a move would have been politically harmful in a future election. Unable to find support in Parliament, Harrison took her case directly to the people by putting PAS up for vote on the Referendum Day ballot. On Tuesday, Referendum 2 passed with 55.6 per cent support. During her speech on Tuesday night, Harrison praised its passage and criticised her fellow Alliance members for their "lack of faith" on the issue.

Starting 1 August 2018, patients with terminal illness will be able to ask for PAS. Referendum 2 requires the physician to notify the requesting patient of alternatives and also that the patient makes two oral and one written requests for PAS. At no point can the physician administer the PAS medication to the patient. The medication can only be voluntarily self-administered by the patient. A physician and at least two witnesses must be in attendance for self-administration.

A number of "right to die" groups around the nation praised Referendum 2's passage and Dignity Valkyria founder Elias Martin called Harrison a "champion of freedom" for her advocacy on the issue of PAS. Martin said, "We were fighting for this right ever since [Patrick] Beckley became President of Qvait in 2000. Our eighteen year long campaign has finally succeeded." However, conservatives have been relatively quiet or moderated on the issue. Centrist Democratic Party Leader Victor Cutter said that he did not support PAS, but he will support "the wishes of the people". On Tuesday night, the former Qvaitican president said, "While I may not agree with assisted suicide, the people have spoken." A high-ranking official from the CDP has told KTN News that mentions of the party's opposition to PAS will be removed from the party manifesto in 2019.

Nicole Chancellor in April 2018

In what was the most politically perilous referendum, Harrison was not forced to eat her words as Referendum 3 passed with 63.1 per cent support. After Referendum Day 2017, Harrison promised that a referendum on Valkyria's membership in the World Forum would be on the ballot, but she also promised that she would resign as Chancellor if the referendum forced Valkyria to leave. On Tuesday night, Harrison said that the passage of Referendum 3 meant that "internationalism won the day". Referendum 3's passage comes at the cost of Opposition Leader Nicole Chancellor, who was in the Oppose camp of Referendum 4 (2017), which determined that a slim majority of voters opposed membership in the World Forum. The nationalists campaigned in the No camp of Referendum 3, hoping to make Valkyria leave the World Forum and make Harrison keep her promise of resigning.

The passage of Referendum 3 is an electoral defeat for the 28-year-old opposition leader, who will be stepping into a 2019 parliamentary election against an increasingly defiant alliance between the Centrist Democrats and Conservatives, collectively called the United Conservative Alliance. The UCA, which is led by CDP Leader Cutter, has made its highest priority the "restoration of conservatism with integrity", alleging that Nicole Chancellor does not care about democratic institutions and the rule of law. The opposition leader hit back, calling Cutter and Conservative Leader Jonathan Victor "liars" and "politicians of yesteryear".

Current polling from the Harris Group on the 2019 parliamentary election shows the governing ASD winning a majority in the National Assembly, but also shows a statistically even divide between The New Right and the UCA in their bid for leading the right-wing opposition. Conservative political analysts such as Jay Dawson and Rickey Ortega have said that an entente between The New Right and the UCA is the only way to remove the ASD from the government and bring in the return of a conservative government, but political historian Marcella Stokes says, "It is quite difficult to see how The New Right and the United Conservative Alliance can agree to a ceasefire and form a government together considering that there are irreconcilable differences between the two camps." Stokes went further to say that the divide among conservatives is the only reason why Harrison is Chancellor, "If they actually overcome their differences, then they have a real opportunity to unseat this government."