Liechtenstein Patriotic Union

The VU is one of the two major political parties in Liechtenstein, along with the monarchist conservative Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP). The VU is the relatively more liberal of the two parties, advocating constitutional monarchy and greater democracy. It is led by Thomas Zwiefelhofer and has ten members in the Landtag.

Patriotic Union Vaterländische Union
Abbreviation	VU
President	Thomas Zwiefelhofer
Secretary	Michael Winkler
Founded	1936
Merger of	Christian-Social People's Party Liechtenstein Homeland Service
Headquarters	Fürst-Franz-Josef-Strasse 13 FL-9490 Vaduz
Newspaper	Liechtensteiner Vaterland
Youth wing	Youth Union
Women's wing	Women's Union
Ideology	Conservatism Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism Constitutional monarchism Christian democracy
Political position	Centre to centre-right
European affiliation	ALDE-PACE (in the Council of Europe) European Democrat Union
Colours	Red
Landtag	10 / 25
Mayors	8 / 11
Municipal Councilsa	43 / 104
Website
www.vu-online.li
Politics of Liechtenstein Political parties Elections a. Municipal Councils = Number listed on respective website subtracted by number of elected mayors (who serve as members on their respective local councils, but are elected separately from other council members) as of 2 April 2023.

 

The Patriotic Union was formed by the 1936 merger of the Christian-Social People's Party (VP) with the minor party Liechtenstein Homeland Service (LHD). While the VP was the larger party, following the merger members of the LHD took prominent positions in the leadership of the new party.

After decades of being second to the Progressive Citizens' Party, the VU became the largest party in the Landtag for the first time as a result of the 1970 elections. Although it lost the 1974 elections to the FBP, it won the 1978 elections and retained its Landtag majority until February 1993. However, early elections in October 1993 saw it regain its majority, which it held until 2001. After the 2005 state elections, which brought in an all-time low of votes, the VU provided 10 of the 25 deputies and was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Klaus Tschütscher and Hugo Quaderer in the five-member government. The VU emerged as the clear winner from the 2009 state elections and had an absolute majority in the state parliament for the 2009-2013 legislative period with 13 seats and provided the new head of government in the coalition government with the FBP. The Patriotic Union lost five seats in the state parliament in the 2013 state elections and was then represented with eight seats and provided two of the four government councillors. In the 2017 state election, the Patriotic Union was able to slightly increase its share of the vote by 0.2%, but still retained 8 of the 25 seats in the state parliament. In the 2021 state elections, the VU achieved 10 out of 25 mandates and recorded a 2.1% increase in votes compared to the 2017 state elections.

Currently, its member Daniel Risch is the head of government. Furthermore, the party also has two members (Dominique Hasler and Graziella Marok-Wachter) as government councillors.

The party is liberal-conservative but has members that are more socially conservative, especially when comes to LGBT rights. It is also economically liberal, advocating a modern liberal market economy with balanced budget.

Landtag elections

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Rank	Government
1936	Otto Schaedler			4 / 15	–	2nd	Opposition
1939				7 / 15	3	2nd	Coalition
1945		1,285	45.28	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1949		1,285	47.07	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1953 (Feb)		1,229	42.60	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1953 (Jun)		1,541	49.57	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1957		1,537	47.64	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1958		1,537	45.53	6 / 15	1	2nd	Coalition
1962		1,448	42.73	7 / 15	1	2nd	Coalition
1966	Franz Nägele	1,581	42.79	7 / 15	0	2nd	Coalition
1970	Alfred Hilbe	2,008	49.57	8 / 15	1	1st	Coalition
1974		16,356	47.26	7 / 15	1	2nd	Coalition
1978	Hans Brunhart	18,244	49.15	8 / 15	1	1st	Coalition
1982		20,997	53.47	8 / 15	0	1st	Coalition
1986		46,793	50.19	8 / 15	0	1st	Coalition
1989		75,417	47.15	13 / 25	5	1st	Coalition
1993 (Feb)		73,217	45.43	11 / 25	2	2nd	Coalition
1993 (Oct)	Mario Frick	78,898	50.12	13 / 25	2	1st	Coalition
1997		82,786	49.3	13 / 25	0	1st	Coalition
2001		76,402	41.35	11 / 25	2	2nd	Opposition
2005	Heinz Frommelt	74,162	38.23	10 / 25	1	2nd	Coalition
2009	Adolf Heeb	95,219	47.61	13 / 25	3	1st	Coalition
2013	Thomas Zwiefelhofer	65,118	33.55	8 / 25	5	2nd	Coalition
2017		65,742	33.73	8 / 25	0	2nd	Coalition
2021	Daniel Risch	72,361	35.89	10 / 25	2	1st	Coalition