THE campaign group Republic have called the proclamation of King Charles III to new reigning monarch an “affront to democracy” in a lengthy Twitter thread posted on Saturday.
The thread was posted shortly after Charles was formally proclaimed as King at the Accession Council Ceremony held at St. James Palace.
The group said the moment “stands firmly against the values most of us believe in, values such as equality, accountability and the rule of law”, and included the hashtag #AbolishTheMonarchy They continued: “In this modern and democratic society our head of state cannot simply step into the role without debate or without challenge to his legitimacy.
“Many people will want to shut down any debate and will demand silence from the monarchy’s critics at this time, yet, with more than one in four people wanting the monarchy abolished, the debate must take hold sooner rather than later.”
They closed the thread by stating: “We believe Britain needs to move to a democratic alternative to the hereditary monarchy. We believe that debate must start now.”
They later followed the thread with a photo of King Charles III with the hashtag #NotMyKing.
A proclamation of a new king is an affront to democracy, a moment that stands firmly against the values most of us believe in, values such as equality, accountability and the rule of law.#AbolishTheMonarchy
— Republic (@RepublicStaff) September 10, 2022
Republic earlier attracted a range of reaction on Thursday September 8 when the Queen’s death was announced, after they tweeted: “There will be plenty of time to debate the monarchy’s future. For now, we must respect the family's personal loss and allow them and others to mourn the loss of a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.”
While some commended their approach, others argued that they should have seized the immediacy of the moment to put forward an argument for the abolition of the monarchy. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Alba Party politician Alex Salmond were both among the 200 privy counsellors to attend the accession of King Charles III to monarch on Saturday morning.
