General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 7 February 2021 to elect the 25 members of the Landtag. The Patriotic Union (VU) and Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) both won ten seats, with the VU receiving just 42 votes more than the FBP. The Independents (DU), which finished third in the 2017 elections but then suffered a split in 2018 when three of its five MPs broke away to form Democrats for Liechtenstein (DpL), failed to win a seat, while DpL won two. The Free List retained its three seats, becoming the third-largest party in the Landtag. Voter turnout was 78%.

Incumbent prime minister Adrian Hasler did not run for re-election. The FBP nominated Sabine Monauni for prime minister, being the first woman nominated for the position, while the VU nominated Daniel Risch for the position. Following the elections, the VU and FBP formed a renewed coalition government, ultimately under the leadership of Risch. The new government was sworn in on 25 March 2021.

Background

In the 2017 Liechtenstein general election, the Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) won a plurality of nine seats, with the Patriotic Union (VU) winning eight. As a result, the two parties formed a coalition government, with Adrian Hasler continuing as prime minister. The Independents (DU) and Free List won five and three seats respectively.

In August 2018, the DU suffered a split when Landtag member Erich Hasler was expelled from the party due to conflicts with party leader Harry Quaderer, leading to fellow members Thomas Rehak and Herbert Elkuch leaving the party and forming the Democrats for Liechtenstein (DpL). This left the DU with two remaining seats in the Landtag.

Hasler's second term was marked by regulation of digital business models in the financial centre. Due to public attacks between Hasler and Landtag member Johannes Kaiser in 2018, Kaiser left the FBP and left the two parties with an equal amount of seats in the Landtag until he re-joined the party the following year. In July 2019, government councillor Aurelia Frick was subject to a successful motion of no confidence and removed from office due to an embezzlement scandal.

Johannes Hasler of the FBP resigned from the Landtag in October 2019 in order to focus on his duties as mayor of Gamprin, and was succeeded by Alexander Batliner.

Landtag members not running for re-election MemberConstituencyFirst electedPartyChristoph WenaweserOberland2013Patriotic UnionFrank KonradOberland2013Patriotic UnionSusanne Eberle-StrubOberland2017Progressive Citizens' PartyHarry QuadererOberland2005The IndependentsJürgen BeckOberland2005The IndependentsViolanda LanterUnterland2013Patriotic UnionElfried HaslerUnterland2013Progressive Citizens' PartyEugen NägeleUnterland2013Progressive Citizens' Party

Electoral system

The 25 members of the Landtag are elected by open list proportional 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. The electoral threshold to win a seat is 8%. Gesetze.li Landtag members sit for a four-year term. Once formed, the Landtag elects the prime minister and four government councillors who govern in a cabinet. 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.

Campaign

Main parties

In a press conference on 27 May 2020, Adrian Hasler declared his intention to not seek re-election. The FBP nominated Sabine Monauni, the Liechtenstein ambassador to the European Union, for prime minister on 18 August 2020, being the first woman nominated for the position in Liechtenstein's history. Additionally, the party nominated incumbent government councillor Katrin Eggenberger and deputy government councillor Manuel Frick as government candidates. The FBP's programme included things such as faster digitalization, traffic calming, and promoting renewable energy.

The VU nominated incumbent deputy prime minister Daniel Risch for prime minister on 10 September 2020. Additionally, the party nominated incumbent government councillor Dominique Hasler and lawyer Graziella Marok-Wachter as government candidates. In an interview in December, Risch stated that he would not be a part of the next government should the party lose the election. The VU's programme included things such as building schools, implementing Mobility 2030, and climate protection.

The election was seen as a two-horse race; there were only marginal policy differences between the VU and FBP. The newspaper Liechtensteiner Vaterland described the run-up to the election as "lacklustre" and with "no controversial issues". VU party president stated that a coalition with the FBP was "very likely" should the VU win the election.

Opposition parties Commentators expected the DU, which had received 18.4% of the vote in 2017, to perform poorly in the election, perhaps failing to meet the electoral threshold. The party's two remaining Landtag members, party leader Harry Quaderer and Jürgen Beck, announced their intention to not seek re-election in October 2020. On the other hand, the DpL was expected to achieve better results, perhaps as high as 20%. In October 2020, following Quaderer's withdrawal as a candidate, DpL president Thomas Rehak stated that a joint list between the DU and DpL was "quite obvious". Similarly, deputy member of the Landtag Ado Vogt, belonging to the DU, said "never say never" in regards to reconciliation with the DpL, but ultimately aiming for the party to run its own list. Both the DU and DpL's programmes included giving priority to Liechtensteiners to jobs in the national administration. Furthermore, the DpL's programme included things such as placing greater restrictions on naturalizing in Liechtenstein and for the members of government being directly elected.

The Free List had been in political dispute since 2019 when Landtag member , belonging to the party, voted in favour of the motion of no confidence against Aurelia Frick, against the wishes of party leaders Conny Büchel Brühwiler and Pepo Frick. The conflict remerged in late 2020 when Lageder threatened to withdraw his candidacy in the election. In addition, three party board members also threatened to resign and two other Landtag candidates announced that they would also renounce their candidacy should Lageder do so. Ultimately, the two sides came to an agreement and the Free List presented its candidates on 19 November, including Lageder. The party had previously ruled out cooperation with the DpL. The Free List's programme included things such as greater transition to green energy, voting rights for Liechtensteiners living abroad in addition to allowing dual citizenship, and improving economic prospects for artists.

Procedure Election campaigning is largely unregulated and carried out via social media, newspapers and broadcast media. All parties are permitted to post an official campaign video on the websites of the two main newspapers in the country. The elections are the first to be carried out under the 2019 Law on Payment of Contributions to Political Parties which limited public funding to registered political parties, banned large anonymous donations and required the publication of accounts by parties.

Candidates Candidates have the same eligibility criteria as voters. Political parties must have the support of 30 voters from a constituency to be eligible to nominate a candidate list in it. The deadline for presenting Landtag candidates was set for 4 December 2020. It was reported that parties experienced difficulty finding candidates due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Oberland FBP VU FL Eva-Maria Bechter Albert Frick Andrea Heutschi-Rhomberg Elke Kindle Wendelin Lampert Daniel Ospelt Bettina Petzold-Mähr Sascha Quaderer Sebastian Schädler Daniel Seger Nadine Vogelsang Damian WilleGeorges Baur Rainer Beck Dagmar Bühler-Nigsch Roswitha Feger-Risch Walter Frick Etienne Frommelt Otto C. Frommelt Markus Gstöhl Norma Heidegger Gabriela Hilti-Saleem Manfred Kaufmann Philip Schädler Günter Vogt Thomas VogtConny Büchel Brühwiler Nadine Gstöhl Manuela Haldner-Schierscher René Hasler George Kaufmann Thomas Lageder Moritz Rheinberger Corina Vogt-Beck DU DpL Gregor Ott Pio Schurti Ado VogtBruno Foser Philipp Foser Herta Kaufmann Alex Meier Pascal Ospelt René Pawlitzek Thomas Rehak Roland Rick Unterland FBP VU FL Alexander Batliner Thomas Hasler Sonja Hersche Veronika Hilti-Wohlwend Franziska Hoop Johannes Kaiser Daniel Oehry Karin Zech-HoopStephan Agnolazza-Hoop Hubert Büchel Peter Frick Dietmar Lampert Gunilla Marxer-Kranz Mario Marxer Andreas Wenzel Mario WohlwendSandra Fausch Harry Hasler Andrea Matt Patrick Risch DU DpL Casper Hoop Adi WohlwendAgnes Dentsch Herbert Elkuch Gabriele Haas Erich Hasler Johannes Ilic Reinhard Marxer Norbert Obermayr Toni Schächle Source: Landtagswahl 2021

Results The VU and FBP both received 35.9% of the vote. The result was close between the top two parties with the VU initially reported to have received just 23 votes more than the FBP; in later results, the gap was marginally wider at 42 votes. The FBP result was a slight improvement on their 2017 performance when they received 35.2% of the vote, while the VU increased their vote share from 33.7%. Both the VU and FBP won ten seats, an increase from eight and nine respectively. The Free List received 12.9% of the vote, a moderate increase from their 12.7% in 2017, and kept their representation at three seats which made them the third-largest party in the Landtag. The new party, Democrats for Liechtenstein received 11.1% of the vote and won two seats.

A total of 15,901 ballots were cast, resulting in a 78% voter turnout. The vast majority (97%) of ballots were cast by post. The results were described by local media as some of the most exciting in recent history.

By electoral district

Electoral districtSeatsElectoratePartyElected membersSubsititutesVotes%SwingSeats won+/–Oberland1513,137Patriotic Union54,01836.9 2.56 1Progressive Citizens' Party50,84434.7 1.16 1Free List20,02613.7 0.420Democrats for Liechtenstein14,1279.7New1NewThe Independents––7,3705.013.60 3Unterland107,247Progressive Citizens' Party21,47538.9 0.640Patriotic Union18,34333.2 1.24 1Democrats for Liechtenstein8,32915.1New1NewFree List5,71510.7 0.110The Independents––1,1862.115.60 2Source: Landtagswahlen 2021

Votes by candidate