General elections were held in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

on 3 February 2013, using a

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system. Four parties contested the elections; the centre-right Patriotic Union (VU) and

Progressive Citizens' Party The Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein (german: Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei in Liechtenstein, FBP) is a national-conservative political party in Liechtenstein. The FBP is one of the two major political parties in Liechtenstein, al ...

(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

, which won 11 seats. The Free List won a single seat and became the opposition party. Prime Minister

Klaus Tschuetscher Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseb ...

's term in office was marked by an effort to move the country away from being a

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

. 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.

Electoral system

The 25 members of the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

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. The constituency of Unterland consists of the municipalities of Eschen, Gamprin,

Mauren Mauren (High Alemannic: ''Muura'') is a municipality in Liechtenstein that is situated in the north of the country. It has a population of 4,401. The Curta mechanical calculator was produced by Contina AG, in Mauren.Ruggell Ruggell is a municipality of Liechtenstein. It is the northernmost and lowest elevated municipality. As of 2019, it has a population of 2,322. History The name is said to be from the Latin for "clearing the land" (roncale - ad roncalem). Most know ...

and Schellenberg. The other constituency, Oberland, consists of the municipalities of

Balzers Balzers is a village located in southern Liechtenstein. As of 2019, the village had a total population of 4,642. The main part of the village is situated along the east bank of the Rhine. History and culture Historically, the present-day form o ...

, Planken,

Schaan Schaan () is the largest municipality of Liechtenstein by population. It is located to the north of Vaduz, the capital, in the central part of the country. it has a population of 6,039 making it the most populous administrative district in Li ...

, Triesen, Triesenberg and

Vaduz Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...

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:Beste Beurteilung für Wahlkampf der VU
Liechtensteiner Vaterland, 28 January 2013

Results

This was the first election in Liechtenstein in which four different political groups have won seats in the Landtag. The success of The Independents was considered by observers to be a result of

protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

s against

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spendi ...

measures in the country. It was also postulated that greater diversity in the Landtag was a result of a decreased partisanship of voters. Patriotic Union members expressed their disappointment at the result. The VU suffered a large defeat, losing more than a third of its seats. The Progressive Citizens' Party lost one seat.

By electoral district

References

Elections in Liechtenstein 2013 in Liechtenstein February 2013 events in Europe {{Liechtenstein-election-stub