Small Country Drama!

Liechtenstein is having a historical political moment right now.  The prince is threatening to leave!!

Our main character: the prince of Liechtenstein. With his castle. Where he lives.

 

The prince of Liechtenstein (it's a principality, by the way) is facing a popular vote that will determine if he gets to keep his veto power. It works a lot like the US presidential veto power in that he can veto a bill that's passed the elected legislative bodies, except that his veto cannot be overridden by a legislative or popular vote. After he threatened to veto any bill legalizing abortion a while ago, there's a lot of rumbling that maybe they should be able to outvote his veto if he decides to go nuts. Hypothetically, of course.

Act as a figurehead? Not in my principality! I'm out. Potentially.

So the popular vote is going on right now to determine whether he gets to keep his royal power, and it's very controversial. There is a significant conservative base, and the original abortion bill that got vetoed only passed the popular vote by 51%. So much on the line! Added to that, citizenship in Liechtenstein is complicated and a little unforgiving, so the voting population is even smaller that the 33,000-person resident population. Which is why they had a popular vote on a bill anyway.

I am too fabulous to exist without my princely power. Vote for me!!

In a country that's generally super-conservative (again, 51%), this vote is major. But you have to admit, the prince threatening to leave if he doesn't win makes it a little bit awesome.

Love Katie

PS Please check an actual news source if you want a better idea of what's going on. I will be the first to admit that my research on this was a combination of hearsay and minimal googling.