Parliamentary Elections, 9 February 2025

On 9 February 2025, Liechtenstein held its general elections to elect all 25 members of the Landtag (Parliament). Elections are conducted using an open-list proportional representation system across two constituencies: The Oberland region (15 seats) and the Unterland region (10 seats). Voters can influence individual candidate order by striking out names or adding candidates from other lists. Candidates require at least eight per cent of the vote to win a seat. Members serve four-year terms, and the  Prime Minister and four government ministers who make up the executive power are then appointed by the Prince on the proposal of the Landtag (IFES, 2025;OSCE/ODIHR, 2024). 

Elections are governed by Liechtenstein’s constitution and the Citizens Political Rights Act (Volksrechtegesetz), along with government instructions typically reissued ahead of each parliamentary election. The electoral process is primarily managed and overseen by the government through a two-tier system consisting of two Main Election Commissions (MECs) and 11 Commune Election Commissions (ComECs) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2024). Although a 2024 referendum proposed direct election of government members, it was decisively rejected (IFES, 2024)

Voting in Liechtenstein is compulsory by law. Voting is predominantly conducted via postal ballots; polling stations remain open for only 90 minutes on election day. Eligible voters include those aged 18 and above who have resided in the country for at least one month prior to the vote (OSCE/ODIHR, 2024). Turnout was 76.34 %, a slight decrease on the 78.01% turnout recorded at the previous election in 2021 (International IDEA n.d.).

In its pre-election report, the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) expressed full confidence in the electoral process and the ability of the administration to conduct electoral procedures professionally and reliably. Although campaigning is largely unregulated and took place mostly through newspapers, online media and social networks, ODIHR interlocutors did not express concerns over the use of intolerant language or disinformation. It was noted, however, that the closure of one of the two daily newspapers in 2023, Volksblatt, could potentially lead to a certain disbalance between the two main political parties in terms of media access (OSCE/ODIHR, 2024).

The election resulted in the appointment of Liechtenstein’s first female Prime Minister, Brigitte Haas (AP, 2025) – aremarkable step in a country where there are generally few female political candidates and women remain under-represented in parliament (OSCE/ODIHR, 2024).

Haas’ Fatherland Union Party (VU) won 38.3% of the votes, giving it an unchanged tally of 10 seats in the parliament. Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) – who VU has often formed coalitions with – came in second with 27,5% of the votes, thus losing three of their seats. The right-wing populist party Democrats for Liechtenstein (DpL) won 23,3%, giving it six seats, up from only two in the previous election. The fourth party running, Free List (FL) got only 10,9% of the vote, thus losing one of its two seats (IFES, 2025).