Sunday August 15, 03:57 PM
Rebranded Liechtenstein welcomes fresh prince
By Tom Armitage
VADUZ, Liechtenstein (Reuters) - The people of Liechtenstein have ushered in a new era as the tiny Alpine principality welcomed a new ruler and sought to shed its image as a haven for money launderers.
Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein handed over day-to-day responsibility for the running of the 34,000-strong country to his 36-year-old son Alois in an address to mark the national holiday.
"A large responsibility has come to me today," Crown Prince Alois told reporters after the handover on Sunday -- an informal act which took place in the grounds of Vaduz castle, overlooking the Alps.
"But I have the luxury that my father has included me in many important decisions and so I am well prepared."
Sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, the handful of villages has been ruled by the princely house since 1719, for much of the time from the family seat in Vienna.
Hans-Adam II, who attracted criticism last year when he won greater political powers, will remain head of state for now but allow his heir to make decisions that affect the state.
"It is a transition to a new generation," Hans-Adam said.
The move, a precursor to succession, follows a tense year for the tiny principality after the prince won the right to veto laws and elect judges in a vote which critics said dragged the country back into the middle ages.
The 59-year-old prince's campaign for greater powers split the population. Some hope that Alois will make a more down-to-earth and less divisive ruler than his father.
"He's a good one," said Gretel Marxer, a grandmother and housewife from the village of Schaan who joined several thousand tourists and residents to watch an open-air mass and the ceremony. "He's a simple man and very close to the people."
"He will be a lot less provocative," Hilmar Meier, an electrical engineer, said. "His father's provocative nature pushed things and split the nation."
WHAT'S LIECHTENSTEIN?
Despite its diminutive size -- just 160 sq km -- Liechtenstein has a thriving industry centred on making false teeth and a successful banking sector.
However, the prosperous nation fell foul of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2000 amid concerns it could be a centre for money-laundering.
Liechtenstein tightened its banking regulations and the laws which cover so-called letter-box companies. It has been removed from the international blacklist but remains on the OECD's list of low-tax countries which believe in tax competition.
Seeking to dispel lingering doubts about the country, the government chose Sunday to unveil a new public image, designed by a London-based agency to put the country on the map.
"Many people do not know what Liechtenstein is. Is it a person? Is it a vegetable?" Esther Compostella, project manager at branding agency Wolff Olins, told Reuters by telephone.
The new image is conveyed by a deep-purple background on which the country's internet country-code LI is picked out in sparkling gemstones like those made by local firm Swarovski.
"The world still has the old perception. This is no longer a country where you do some dodgy business," she said.
Local residents said the Crown Prince had vowed to modernise the nation's government and devote to reforms the resources tied up in recent years by the constitutional struggle.
"He's grown up with this and has known he would take over here," Meier said. "He's been well prepared."