General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 3 February 2013 to elect the 25 members of the Landtag.[1] The Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) won ten seats, with the Patriotic Union (VU) winning eight, the lowest in its history. The Independents (DU), which had been formed earlier in the year, won four seats. The Free List won three seats. It was the first time that four parties won seats in the Landtag. Voter turnout was 79.8%.
Incumbent prime minister Klaus Tschütscher did not run for re-election. The VU nominated Thomas Zwiefelhofer, while the FBP nominated Adrian Hasler and the Free List nominated Pepo Frick, being the first time that there was three candidates for the position. Following the elections, the FBP and VU were asked to form a coalition government, ultimately under the leadership of Hasler. The election is generally considered the end of the two-party system between the FBP and VU, moving towards a multi-party system.[2]
Tschütscher's term in office was marked by an effort to move the country away from being a tax haven following the 2008 Liechtenstein tax affair and the introduction of austerity measures.[5][6] In addition, it involved the passing of a same-sex registered partnership law and Liechtenstein joining the Schengen Area, both in 2011.[6] The VU lost its majority in February 2011 when Landtag member Harry Quaderer left the party, being the first time in Liechtenstein's history that an incumbent Landtag member had left their party.[7]
The 25 members of the Landtag are elected by open listproportional representation from two constituencies, Oberland with 15 seats and Unterland with 10 seats. Voters vote for a party list and then may strike through candidates for whom they do not wish to cast a preferential vote, and may add names of candidates from other lists.[8] The electoral threshold to win a seat is 8%.[9] Landtag members sit for a four-year term.[8] Once formed, the Landtag elects the prime minister and four government councillors who govern in a cabinet.[10] Voting is compulsory by law and most is carried out by post. Polling stations are open only for one and a half hours on election day. Citizens over 18 years of age who have been resident in the country for one month prior to election day are eligible to vote.[8]
Campaign
Main parties
In a press conference on 10 May 2012, Tschütscher declared his intention to not seek re-election.[11] It was speculated by foreign media that his reasoning was to prevent a defeat of the VU.[5] The VU nominated Thomas Zwiefelhofer for prime minister in August 2013; other people considered included former Mayor of VaduzKarlheinz Ospelt, but he declined to seek the position.[12][13] Additionally, the party nominated Marlies Amann-Marxer and Marcus Rick as government candidates.[12] Zwiefelhofer stated that he intended to be part of the next government, regardless if the VU had lost the election.[14]
The FBP nominated chief of the National PoliceAdrian Hasler for prime minister. Additionally, the party nominated Mauro Pedrazzini and Aurelia Frick as government candidates.[15] Hasler stated that he would not be a part of the next government should the FBP lose the election, instead remaining as the chief of police.[14] VU party president Jakob Büchel criticized the newspaper Liechtensteiner Volksblatt for revealing the VU's government candidates ahead of time, which the newspaper defended against and called Büchel's statement a "backward step in press freedom".[16]
Major issues of the election was the Liechtenstein state budget, immigration, and pension reform.[17][18] In particular, increasing the government's revenue was a controversial issue; the FBP campaigned on raising the retirement age, increased taxation for higher incomes, and introducing a policy of withholding tax on cross-border commuters’ incomes.[18] On the other hand, the VU rejected the introduction of a minimum tax and campaigned on the continued introduction of austerity measures.[17][18] Both parties stated that they were open to the formation of a renewed coalition government.[17]
Opposition parties
The Free List nominated physician and Landtag member Pepo Frick for prime minister in October 2012, being the first time that the party presented a candidate for the position; the party stated that it was open to the formation of a coalition with other parties.[18][19] It was speculated that the party could fail to reach the electoral threshold of 8% to re-enter the Landtag, as it had received only 8.9% of the vote in 2009.[3][19] The party campaigned on extending the lifetime working period and moderate liberalization of Liechtenstein's immigration policies.[17][18]
Harry Quaderer, who had been serving as an independent member of the Landtag since leaving the VU in February 2011, formed a electoral group around him in late 2012.[7][20] The group did not consider itself a political party, but instead as a coalition of independent candidates. It did not adopt a manifesto for the election, and candidates were given significant autonomy on their positions; candidates campaigned broadly on the introduction of members of the government being directly elected and voting rights for Liechtensteiners living abroad.[20] It also campaigned for reducing the corporate tax rate.[18]
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:[21]
The FBP received 40% of the vote, a 7.5% increase from their 2009 performance, and won ten seats in the Landtag. The VU received 33.6% of the vote, a 14% decrease from 2009, and won eight seats at a decrease of five, the lowest in the party's history. The DU received 15.3% of the vote and won four seats, the highest of any third party in Liechtenstein's history to that point. The Free List saw its vote share increase from 8.9% to 11.1% from 2009, and won three seats.[1][22][23] This was the first election in Liechtenstein in which four different political groups have won seats in the Landtag.[22]
A total of 15,363 ballots were cast, resulting in a 79.8% voter turnout. The majority of votes (96%) were cast by post.[1]
Following the election, the FBP invited the VU to begin negotiations for a renewed coalition government, which the VU accepted.[24] The two parties entered a renewed coalition government, ultimately under the leadership of Hasler. As the junior party in the coalition, Zwiefelhofer became deputy prime minister.[25] The new government was sworn in on 27 March 2013.[26]
Following the election, the group around Quaderer formalized to form The Independents (DU) in order to be entitled to public funding;[20] the success of the group was considered by observers to be a result of protest votes against austerity measures in the country.[22][23][27] It was also postulated that greater diversity in the Landtag was a result of a decreased partisanship of voters.[28] Members of the VU expressed their disappointment of the result.[29]
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