General elections were held in

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

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, a ...

(FBP), centre-left

Free List A free list (or freelist) is a data structure used in a scheme for dynamic memory allocation. It operates by connecting unallocated regions of memory together in a linked list, using the first word of each unallocated region as a pointer to the n ...

(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

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 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, or n ...

. 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 Eschen ( High Alemannic: ''Escha'') is a municipality in the north of Liechtenstein. It has a population of 4,466, and covers an area of . It is the fourth-largest town in Liechtenstein by population. Geography The municipality includes the villa ...

Gamprin Gamprin is a municipality of Liechtenstein, on the Rhine on the border with the municipality of Sennwald, in Switzerland. It had 1,690 inhabitants in 2019. The municipality contains the village of Bendern and scattered hamlets and the Liechtenstei ...

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 Schellenberg is a municipality in the lowland area of Liechtenstein, on the banks of the Rhine. , it has a population of 1,107 and covers an area of History Early history The area was first settled by Celts, then by Rhaetians. Rome conquere ...

. 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 Planken is a municipality in Oberland, Liechtenstein. It has four exclaves, two enclaves and a population of 473. Thus by population it is the smallest municipality of Liechtenstein. Geography It is located on the western slope of Drei Schwest ...

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 Lie ...

Triesen Triesen () is the third largest of Liechtenstein's municipalities. It contains several historic churches dating from the fifteenth century. It also has a weaving mill from 1863 that is considered a historical monument. The population is around 5, ...

Triesenberg Triesenberg is a municipality in Liechtenstein with a population of 2,636. Its area of makes it the largest municipality in Liechtenstein. The center of the municipality rests at an elevation of . History Triesenberg is noted for its distinct di ...

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 ''Liechtensteiner Vaterland'' (lit. "Liechtenstein Fatherland") is the largest daily newspaper in Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speak ...

'' 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 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