- guardian.co.uk, Sunday March 9 2003 01.31 GMT
Clearly not amused with their shallow attempts at democracy, the prince wants his sovereign powers back and has asked the 17,000 voters of Liechtenstein to amend the 1921 constitution and allow him to become an absolute monarch again. His subjects might grant his wish.
The prince has said that if he isn't granted more powers, he and his family will leave the cold, dank confines of the castle and move to Vienna.
The people of the principality, between the mountains of Austria and Switzerland, are likely to choose monarchy over democracy because they love the princely family and are worried about the fate of the world's fourth smallest country if the family goes.
When the voters go to the polls next week, they will be asked to decide on two proposals. One would grant the prince the right to dissolve the government (he can already dismiss Parliament), control a committee appointing judges and uphold his veto power over legislation. The other would shore up the people's right to decide their destiny, by, among other things, allowing them to over-ride a princely veto.
The fight over the form of government in this country of 60 square miles has lasted 10 years and has divided the country's 33,000 inhabitants.
It has got so nasty that one former head of government, Mario Frick, a foe of the princely side, found a pig's nose nailed to his fence one morning. A legislator who voted against the prince's proposal in the Diet (Parliament) found a skinned cat in his backyard. Other opponents have been sent dead flowers, with sarcastic danke schoens for helping send the princely family away.
'It's absurd,' said Sigvard Wehlwett, who heads Secretary For Democracy, campaigning for a democratic alternative to the prince's proposal.
One woman said she refused to discuss the topic any more with her family. 'They try to change my mind, then comes the fight.' But she will vote to keep the prince, because she doesn't want to change the comfortable way of life in Liechtenstein.
It is uncertain what would happen if the prince and his family left, although he has never said he would give up his title or his current duties.
Liechtenstein does have a cushy way of life. It has an 18 per cent tax rate, unemployment at under 3 per cent and a thriving industry.
The princely family's mansion near Vienna is far more comfortable and better located for things cultural and social. If the family were to reign from there it would be nothing new: Hans Adam's father, Franz Josef II moved back to Liechtenstein in 1938, when Austria was annexed.
The country, once a backwater of dairy farmers, is now rich and famous as a tax haven and for its thriving stamp business (it is also the world leader in making false teeth).
Adam, 58, has been a brilliant businessman for the country and his family. His father, helpless in finance, had been selling the family jewels to survive. Forbes Magazine values the family fortune at $2 billion.
The Council of Europe has warned that Liechtenstein could lose its membership if it passes the prince's proposals saying they 'constitute a serious step backward', away from democracy.
