Friday, March 26, 2021
On March 25, a newly formed coalition Government for the legislative period 2021-2025 was sworn in. It is composed of Prime Minister Daniel Risch of the VU (Vaterländische Union - Patriotic Union), Deputy Prime Minister Sabine Monauni of the FBP (Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei - Progressive Citizens Party) and further members of the Government, namely Dominique Hasler (VU), Graziella Marok-Wachter (VU) and Manuel Frick (FBP). "I am looking forward to working with the new Government and am full of confidence that we will lead our country together and in a constructive manner, especially in these challenging times," emphasized the new Head of Government of Liechtenstein, Daniel Risch, at the swearing-in ceremony in Vaduz.
That same day, H.S.H. Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein held a customary speech to open the new session of Parliament. In his address he highlighted the record number of female parliamentarians (7 out of 25) and the speed with which the coalition Government was formed. Despite the pandemic, he was optimistic about the future, but said that the crisis had to be thoroughly dealt with in order to be prepared for future events. He suggested prioritizing the following topics in the coming four years: Digitalization, reconciliation of family and work life and sustainable development. According to His Serene Highness, one issue that has been neglected by politicians are provisions and care for the elderly. He recommended that this urgent topic be addressed in this legislature.
Liechtenstein's Government (Cabinet of Ministers) for the 2021-2025 legislative period are:
- Prime Minister Daniel Risch (Patriotic Union) : Ministry of General Government Affairs and Finance
- Deputy Prime Minister Sabine Monauni (Progressive Citizens Party): Ministry of Home Affairs, Environment and Economy
- Minister Dominique Hasler (Patriotic Union) : Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport
- Minister Graziella Marok-Wachter (Patriotic Union) : Ministry of Infrastructure and Justice
- Minister Manuel Frick (Progressive Citizens Party): Ministry of Social Affairs and Culture
On February 7, Liechtenstein's two largest parties, the FBP and the VU, won 10 seats each out of the 25 parliamentary seats available. The Head of Government position traditionally goes to the winning party. In the past, this was reflected in the number of parliamentary seats won, but given the tie in seats the VU has declared victory by its total number of votes, having won by a razor-thin margin of 42 party votes.
Shortly after, the VU nominated Daniel Risch for the office of Head of Government. He is a business information scientist and previously served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure, Economy and Sports. The FBP nominated Sabine Monauni, who also ran for the post of Head of Government. Monauni is a lawyer and comes from having served as Liechtenstein's Ambassador to the EU in Brussels. Since February, the VU and FBP were in coalition talks, which have resulted in a coalition agreement, which can be viewed here (German only). The agreement will be the basis for a more detailed government program to be elaborated over the coming months.
The rest of the Landtag's five seats go to the left-green “Freie Liste” (FL - Free List), which recieved 12.9% of the party votes, winning three seats in Parliament. The other two go to a new party “Demokraten pro Liechtenstein” (DPL - Democrats for Liechtenstein), which received 11.1% of the vote. For more information on the February 7, 2021 election results, click here.