| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Landtag / Diet |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) (from/to) | 11 March 2005
13 March 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Parliamentary elections were held in Liechtenstein on 11 and 13 March 2005, breaking with recent tradition under which elections took place in early February. For the first time, citizens were able to vote by postal ballot.
All three parties contesting the elections were represented in the outgoing parliament: the ruling Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), led by Prime Minister Otmar Hasler, the Patriotic Union (VU, formerly known as Fatherland Union), and Free List (FL). The first two are centre-right parties, while FL considers itself as a green, alternative group. Before the election, the FBP had an absolute majority with 13 seats, VU held 11 seats, and FL one.
Citizens were called on to elect a new parliament for which there were 60 candidates including 19 women, which would in turn elect the government The FBP proposed the incumbent prime minister as its candidate for prime minister, while its rival and former coalition partner, VU, nominated Dr. Bernd Hammermann for the top post. The FBP and VU expressed their interest in cooperating after the election. The FL did not nominate any candidate for government, but declared its willingness to participate in a coalition government, without specifying with which party.
The elections drew less international attention than the previous exercise in 2001, where significant media coverage had been given to money laundering scandals in the country. The elections were the first after a referendum giving Prince Hans-Adam new political powers to dismiss the government, approve judicial nominees and veto laws was approved by 64% of the population. The Prince had threatened to leave the country for Austria if the changes were not accepted.
During the election campaign, however, little reference was made to the constitutional changes. Record unemployment of 775 persons at the end of January 2005 brought employment issues in the spotlight, as well as debates on how to improve the vocational education system. The FL also called for better integration of foreigners, arguing that the government should allow foreigners to be naturalized after 15 years of residence, instead of the 30 years currently required.
About 17,000 of the country's 34,000-strong population were eligible voters. Turnout was very high as usual: 86.47 per cent, but slightly lower than the 86.72 per cent turnout in the 2001 elections.
The ruling FBP lost its absolute majority but remained the leading political party by securing 12 seats. Its rival VU lost one seat, coming in second with 10 seats. Meanwhile, the FL gained two more seats, securing three in all. The number of female parliamentarians increased threefold to six, up from the number in the outgoing parliament. The local media reported that the FL and women were therefore the big winners in the elections.
Following consultations between the FBP and VU, which had traditionally formed a coalition government until the 2001 elections, an agreement on the distribution of cabinet posts was signed between the two parties on 12 April, ending Liechtenstein's experimentation with one-party government.
The newly elected members were sworn in at the opening sitting of parliament on 14 April. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 (from/to) | 11 March 2005
13 March 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
17'428
15'070 (86.47%)
315
14'755 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) |
|
|
|
|
48.70 |
|
|
| Patriotic Union (VU) |
|
|
|
|
38.20 |
|
|
| Free List (FL) |
|
|
|
|
13.00 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/Loss |
|
|
|
| Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) |
12
|
-1 |
|
|
|
| Patriotic Union (VU) |
10
|
-1 |
|
|
|
| Free List (FL) |
3
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
19
6
24.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
4
9
10
2
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Civil servants (incl. former) |
4 |
| Entrepreneur |
3 |
| Engineers |
2 |
| Economists |
2 |
| Housewives |
2 |
| Accountants |
2 |
| Historians |
1 |
| Lawyers |
1 |
| Medical doctors |
1 |
| Media Consultant |
1 |
| Computer designer |
1 |
| Pensioner |
1 |
| Managing director |
1 |
| Assistant to the directors |
1 |
| Department manager |
1 |
| Management consultant |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Sources:
Landtag (14.02.2006)
CNN, BBC
www.landtagswahlen.li (15.02.2005)
Liechtensteiner Vaterland: www.vaterland.li
Secretary General of the Landtag (16.03.2005)
Principality of Liechtenstein: http://www.liechtenstein.li/en (12.04.2005)
|
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page