Liechtenstein general election, 2013
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Liechtenstein |
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General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 1 February and 3 February 2013,[1] using a proportional representation system.[2] Four parties contested the elections, including the centre-right Patriotic Union (VU) and Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), as well as the social-democratic and green Free List (FL) and the newly created alliance, The Independents (DU). This group of independent candidates is centred on Harry Quaderer, a member of the outgoing Landtag who left the VU in February 2011.
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.[3]
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.[4]
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:[5]
| Party | % |
|---|---|
| Patriotic Union | 44.8 |
| Progressive Citizens' Party | 40.5 |
| Free List | 7.9 |
| The Independents | 6.9 |
Results
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Citizens' Party | 77,644 | 40.0 | –3.5 | 10 | –1 | ||
| Patriotic Union | 65,118 | 33.5 | –14.1 | 8 | –5 | ||
| The Independents | 29,739 | 15.3 | +15.3 | 4 | +4 | ||
| Free List | 21,604 | 11.1 | +2.2 | 3 | +2 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 679 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Total | 15,363 | 100 | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 19,251 | 79.8 | — | — | — | ||
| Source: Office for Information and Communication of the Government | |||||||
This was the first election in Liechtenstein in which four different political groups have won seats in the Landtag.[6] The success of The Independents was considered by observers to be a result of protest votes against austerity measures in the country.[6][7] It was also postulated that greater diversity in the Landtag was a result of a decreased partisanship of voters.[8]
Patriotic Union members expressed their disappointment at the result.[9] The VU suffered a large defeat, losing more than a third of its seats. Although the Progressive Citizens' Party also lost one seat, it is likely that Adrian Hasler, a member of this party, will become Liechtenstein's next Prime Minister.[6]
References
- ↑ Landtagswahlen für 2013 festgelegt Liechtensteiner Vaterland, 21 December 2012
- ↑ "Office for Information and Communication of the Government". Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ Burmeister, Thomas (1 February 2013). "Cleaner but poorer, Liechtenstein goes to the polls". Europe online magazine. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ Article 55 (1) of the Volksrechtegesetz (Law of People's Rights) Gesetze.li
- ↑ Beste Beurteilung für Wahlkampf der VU Liechtensteiner Vaterland, 28 January 2013
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "New Independent party rattles Liechtenstein vote". 3 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ "Politics in tiny Liechtenstein shaken up by surprise election success of independents". 3 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ "Mehrheit der Stimmzettel wurden angepasst". Vaterland. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ "VU: Amann-Marxer und Rick zum Wahlausgang". Volksblott. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
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