# 2017 Liechtenstein general election

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 5 February 2017 to elect the 25 members of the Landtag. The Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) won nine seats, with the Patriotic Union (VU) winning eight. The Independents (DU) and Free List (FL) won five and three seats respectively. Voter turnout was 77.8%.

## Background

In the 2013 elections the Progressive Citizens' Party lost one seat, and the Patriotic Union lost five seats while The Independents gained four seats, and the Free List gained two seats. This was the first time in Liechtenstein's history that four parties held seats in the Landtag.

## 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 they do not wish to cast a preferential vote for and may add names of candidates from other lists. The electoral threshold to win a seat is 8%. Landtag members sit four year terms. Once formed the Landtag votes to elect a prime minister who governs through a cabinet of four ministers, who are selected from Landtag members. Voting is compulsory by law and most is carried out by post. Polling stations are only open 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

Incumbent prime minister Adrian Hasler was expected to seek a second term, and was re-nominated by Progressive Citizens' Party on 18 August 2016. The Patriotic Union re-nominated incumbent deputy prime minister Thomas Zwiefelhofer for prime minister on 17 June 2016. According to polling, The Independents, led by Harry Quaderer, were expected to perform well, perhaps receiving up to 20% of the vote.
The election saw the highest number of candidates running in Liechtenstein's history with 71 candidates.

## Candidates

| Oberland | FBP | VU | DU |
| Oberland | Wendelin Lampert Albert Frick Daniel Seger Eugen Nägele Susanne Eberle-Strub Michael Ospelt Marcel Gstöhl Clarissa Frommelt Peter Banzer Martina Haas Andrea Häring Adriana Nentwich-Tomasoni | Christoph Wenaweser Manfred Kaufmann Günter Vogt Thomas Vogt Frank Konrad Rainer Beck Christine Schädler Rainer Wolfinger Karin Rüdisser-Quaderer Dominik Hemmerle Nils Vogt Alexandra Schädler Ernst Trefzer Jnes Rampone-Wanger Gerald Luchs | Harry Quaderer Jürgen Beck Thomas Rehak Ado Vogt Pio Schurti Othmar Züger Pascal Willi Siegfried Sele Isolde Hermann-Jehle Johann Beck Burgi Beck |
| Oberland | FL | |
| Oberland | Georg Kaufmann Thomas Lageder Helen Konzett Bargetze Walter Kranz Conny Büchel Brühwiler Richard Brunhart | |
| Unterland | FBP | VU | DU |
| Unterland | Johannes Kaiser Elfried Hasler Johannes Hasler Daniel Oehry Alexander Batliner Norman Walch Bruno Matt Veronika Hilti-Wohlwend Judith Spalt Elmar Gangl | Violanda Lanter-Koller Mario Wohlwend Guinilla Marxer-Kranz Peter Frick Rainer Ritter Dominik Oehri Peter Büchel Elisabeth Stock-Gstöhl Gustav Gstöhl Rainer Batliner | Herbert Elkuch Erich Hasler Peter Wachter Agnes Dentsch Werner Dolzer-Müssner |
| Unterland | FL | |
| Unterland | Patrick Risch Wolfgang Marxer | |
| Source: Landtagswahl 2017 ||||

## Results

The Progressive Citizens' Party lost one seat and the Independents gained one seat. Both the Patriotic Union and the Free List retained all their seats. Voter turnout was 77.8%, down from 79.8% in 2013.
| | Progressive Citizens' Party | 68,673 | 35.24 | 9 | –1 |
| | Patriotic Union | 65,742 | 33.73 | 8 | 0 |
| | The Independents | 35,885 | 18.41 | 5 | +1 |
| | Free List | 24,595 | 12.62 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 194,895 | 100.00 | 25 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 14,768 | 95.82 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 645 | 4.18 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 15,413 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 19,806 | 77.82 | | |
| Source: Landtagswahlen ||||||

### By electoral district

| Electoral district | Seats | Electorate | Party | Candidates | Subsititutes | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | +/– |
| Oberland | 15 | 12,814 | Patriotic Union | Christoph Wenaweser Manfred Kaufmann Günter Vogt Thomas Vogt Frank Konrad | Rainer Beck | 48,789 | 34.4 | 0.2 | 5 | 0 |
| Oberland | 15 | 12,814 | Progressive Citizens' Party | Wendelin Lampert Albert Frick Daniel Seger Eugen Nägele Susanne Eberle-Strub | Michael Ospelt | 47,747 | 33.7 | 5.6 | 5 | 1 |
| Oberland | 15 | 12,814 | The Independents | Harry Quaderer Jürgen Beck Thomas Rehak | Ado Vogt | 26,452 | 18.6 | 3.9 | 3 | 1 |
| Oberland | 15 | 12,814 | Free List | Georg Kaufmann Thomas Lageder | Helen Konzett Bargetze | 18,882 | 11.8 | 2.1 | 2 | 0 |
| Unterland | 10 | 6,992 | Progressive Citizens' Party | Johannes Kaiser Elfried Hasler Johannes Hasler Daniel Oehry | Alexander Batliner | 20,941 | 39.4 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 |
| Unterland | 10 | 6,992 | Patriotic Union | Violanda Lanter-Koller Mario Wohlwend Guinilla Marxer-Kranz | Peter Frick | 16,995 | 32.0 | 1.1 | 3 | 0 |
| Unterland | 10 | 6,992 | The Independents | Herbert Elkuch Erich Hasler | Peter Wachter | 9,449 | 17.8 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Unterland | 10 | 6,992 | Free List | Patrick Risch | Wolfgang Marxer | 5,715 | 10.8 | 0.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Source: Landtagswahlen 2017 ||||||||||||