Liechtenstein During The 21st Century
In a referendum on March 16, 2003, Prince Hans-Adam, who had threatened to leave the country if he lost, won a large majority (64.3%) in favour of overhauling the constitution to effectively give him more powers than any other European monarch. The new constitution gave the prince the right to dismiss governments and approve judicial nominees and allowed him to veto laws simply by refusing to sign them within a six-month period.
On August 15, 2003, Hans-Adam announced he would step down in one year and hand over the reins to his son Alois.
On July 1, 2007, the Liechtenstein Ruling Prince, Hans-Adam II, and Liechtenstein Prime Minister, Otmar Hasler, appointed Dr. Bruce S. Allen and Mr. Leodis C. Matthews, both in the United States of America, as the first two Honorary Consuls in history for the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Read more about this topic: History Of Liechtenstein
Famous quotes containing the word century:
“Evil can be got very easily and exists in quantity: the road to her is very smooth, and she lives near by. But between us and virtue the gods have placed the sweat of our brows; the road to her is long and steep, and it is rough at first; but when a man has reached the top, then she is easy to attain, although before she was hard.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)