2013 Liechtenstein general election explained

Country:Liechtenstein
Previous Election:2009
Next Election:2017
Seats For Election:All 25 seats in the Landtag
Majority Seats:13
Election Date:3 February 2013
Leader1:Adrian Hasler
Party1:Progressive Citizens' Party
Last Election1:11
Seats1:10
Percentage1:40.00
Leader2:Thomas Zwiefelhofer
Party2:Patriotic Union (Liechtenstein)
Last Election2:13
Seats2:8
Percentage2:33.55
Leader4:Harry Quaderer
Party4:The Independents (Liechtenstein)
Last Election4:New
Seats4:4
Percentage4:15.32
Leader5:Derya Kesci & Pepo Frick
Party5:Free List (Liechtenstein)
Last Election5:1
Seats5:3
Percentage5:11.13
Prime Minister
Before Election:Klaus Tschütscher
Before Party:Patriotic Union (Liechtenstein)
After Election:Adrian Hasler
After Party:Progressive Citizens' Party
Map:2013 Liechtenstein general election - Results by constituency.svg

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 3 February 2013, using a proportional representation system.[1] Four parties contested the elections; the centre-right Patriotic Union (VU) and Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), centre-left Free List (FL) and newly created populist alliance The Independents (DU).

Background

The previous elections in 2009 were won by the Patriotic Union which managed to secure an absolute majority of the seats (13 out of 25). Despite winning a parliamentary majority, the Patriotic Union chose to form a coalition with the conservative Progressive Citizens' Party, which won 11 seats. The Free List won a single seat and became the opposition party.

Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher's term in office was marked by an effort to move the country away from being a tax haven. Prior to the election Tschuetscher, who is a member of the Patriotic Union (VU) party, declared he would not be seeking the premiership for a second term.[2]

Electoral system

The 25 members of the Landtag were elected by open list proportional representation from two constituencies, Oberland with 15 seats and Unterland with 10 seats. Only parties and lists with more than 8% of the votes cast in each constituency were eligible to win seats in the Landtag.[3]

The constituency of Unterland consists of the municipalities of Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell and Schellenberg. The other constituency, Oberland, consists of the municipalities of Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg and Vaduz.

Opinion polls

On 28 January 2013, the newspaper Liechtensteiner Vaterland published a poll in which they asked their readers, "Which party conducted the best election campaign?" About 10,000 people responded, and the results of the poll were as follows:[4]

Party%
Patriotic Union44.8
Progressive Citizens' Party40.5
Free List7.9
The Independents6.9

Results

This was the first election in Liechtenstein in which four different political groups have won seats in the Landtag.[5] The success of The Independents was considered by observers to be a result of protest votes against austerity measures in the country.[5] [6] It was also postulated that greater diversity in the Landtag was a result of a decreased partisanship of voters.[7]

Patriotic Union members expressed their disappointment at the result.[8] The VU suffered a large defeat, losing more than a third of its seats. The Progressive Citizens' Party lost one seat.[5]

By electoral district

Electoral districtSeatsElectoratePartyCandidatesVotes%SwingSeats
won
+/–
Oberland1512,521Progressive Citizens' PartyChristian Batliner
Alois Beck
Wendelin Lampert
Christine Wohlwend
Albert Frick
Eugen Nägele
Norman Marxer
Helmuth Büchel
Wilfried Ospelt
Barbara Schädler-Lampert
Günther Boss
René Vogt
Gaston Jehle
Carolina Marxer
Markus Bürgler
55,23339.3 2.560
Patriotic UnionFrank Konrad
Christoph Wenaweser
Thomas Vogt
Christoph Beck
Karin Rüdisser-Quaderer
Manfred Kaufmann
Peter Hilti
Marion Kindle-Kühnis
Stefan Schädler
Edith Maier Vogt
Leander Schädler
Markus Rutz
Ursula Oehry-Walther
Albert Vogt
Ines Rampone-Wanger
48,58634.6 14.35 3
The IndependentsHarry Quaderer
Pio Schurti
Thomas Rehak
Paul Lenherr
Toni Jäger
Giovanna Gould
20,74814.8New2New
Free ListHelen Konzett Bargetze
Thomas Lageder
Andreas Heeb
René Hasler
Derya Kesci
Elisabeth Seger
16,05811.4 2.02 2
Unterland106,730Progressive Citizens' PartyJohannes Kaiser
Elfried Hasler
Gerold Büchel
Manfred Batliner
Rainer Gopp
Carmen Zanghellini-Pfeiffer
René Schierscher
Hubert Lampert
Othmar Oehri
Petra Schäper-Vogt
22,41141.9 6.34 1
Patriotic UnionJudith Öhri
Violanda Lanter-Koller
Peter Büchel
Werner Kranz
Dominik Oehri
Gabriel Hoop
Martina Brändle-Nipp
Roland Alber
Philipp Gstöhl
Nina Schwarzkopf-Hilti
16,53230.9 13.33 2
The IndependentsHerbert Elkuch
Erich Hasler
Peter WachterJohannes Ilic
8,99116.8New2New
Free ListWolfgang Marxer
Patrick Risch
5,54610.4 2.71 1
Source: Office for Information and Communication of the Government

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office for Information and Communication of the Government. 4 February 2013.
  2. Web site: Cleaner but poorer, Liechtenstein goes to the polls. Europe online magazine. 1 February 2013. 4 February 2013. Burmeister, Thomas.
  3. https://www.gesetze.li/chrono/1973050000 Article 55 (1) of the Volksrechtegesetz (Law of People's Rights)
  4. http://www.vaterland.li/index.cfm?ressort=liechtenstein&source=lv&id=21807 Beste Beurteilung für Wahlkampf der VU
  5. Web site: New Independent party rattles Liechtenstein vote . 3 February 2013 . 21 July 2016 . GlobalPost . 21 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160721203324/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130203/new-independent-party-rattles-liechtenstein-vote . dead .
  6. Web site: Politics in tiny Liechtenstein shaken up by surprise election success of independents . 3 February 2013 . 21 July 2016 . Fox News.
  7. Web site: Mehrheit der Stimmzettel wurden angepasst. Vaterland. 4 February 2013. 4 February 2013.
  8. Web site: VU: Amann-Marxer und Rick zum Wahlausgang. Volksblott . 4 February 2013. 4 February 2013.