Powers
The Prince of Liechtenstein has sweepingly broad powers; a referendum to adopt Hans-Adam's revision of the constitution to expand his powers passed in 2003. The changes also included a republican option, whereby the Prince was henceforth formally barred from vetoing any bill to establish a republic, but the Prince can veto any other law. In addition, the right to secede of the parishes that make up the Principality was recognized. Prince Hans-Adam had threatened that he and his family would move to Austria if the referendum had failed. Despite opposition from Mario Frick, a former Prime Minister, the Prince's referendum motion was carried by the electorate. Opponents accused Hans-Adam of engaging in emotional blackmail to achieve his goal and constitutional experts from the Council of Europe branded the event as a retrograde move.
On 15 August 2004 Prince Hans-Adam II formally turned the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions over to his son Prince Alois, as a way of transitioning to a new generation. Formally, Hans-Adam remains Head of State.
The U.S. Senate's subcommittee on tax haven banks has charged that the documents and information provided by Heinrich Kieber show that the LGT bank which is owned by the princely family, on whose board it serves and "is a willing partner, and an aider and abettor to clients trying to evade taxes, dodge creditors or defy court orders." For the same reasons, a 1999 German secret service report more bluntly described Liechtenstein as "a criminal state in the heart of Europe".
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Famous quotes containing the word powers:
“The Powers whose name and shape no living creature knows
Have pulled the Immortal Rose;
And though the Seven Lights bowed in their dance and wept,
The Polar Dragon slept,
His heavy rings uncoiled from glimmering deep to deep....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“He who is conversant with the supernal powers will not worship these inferior deities of the wind, waves, tide, and sunshine. But we would not disparage the importance of such calculations as we have described. They are truths in physics because they are true in ethics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To receive applause for works which do not demand all our powers hinders our advance towards a perfecting of our spirit. It usually means that thereafter we stand still.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)