Current policy

Andorra is a country located in the region of Southern Europe. Democrats for Andorra have held the government of Andorra since 2011. In the 2019 elections, the party lost its majority in parliament, but it still received the strongest support among voters and could continue to govern the country.

The newly formed Democrats for Andorra (DA) came to power in a landslide victory in the recent election in April 2011. The party was the heir to the Reformist coalition and gathered Andorra’s Liberal Party (PLA) and other middle-right groups. Party leader Antoni Martí formed a new government in May. Three of the nine members of government were women. In Parliament, women were in the majority for the first time with 15 of the 28 seats.

Democrats for Andorra could remain in power even after the parliamentary elections in March 2015. It lost 5 seats but with 15 seats it still had a majority in parliament. Andorra’s Liberals came in second place with 8 seats.

In recent years, economic issues have become increasingly central to politics and the social debate. Beginning in the spring of 2018, demonstrations were held among residents against high housing costs and against the government’s planned reform of the employment conditions for government employees. For the first time in 85 years, in March the same spring, several groups of government employees, including teachers, customs officials and prison staff, were striking, worrying about having to work longer than 35 hours a week and for pay reductions.

At the same time, the government has also implemented changes to the banking system to increase transparency after the country has received repeated criticism for being a tax haven. Today, tax evasion can be punishable by up to three years in prison, and if it involves large sums of money or if there is a link to organized crime, the penalty can be five years. In addition, residents, who previously almost completely evaded tax, now have to pay both into the previously almost completely exempted tax now pay both income tax and VAT.

Ahead of the parliamentary elections in April 2019, the government tried to remove the dissatisfied voters by raising the minimum wage at the beginning of the year. The ruling Democrats for Andorra retained their position as the largest party in the election, but it lost four seats, which lost its majority in parliament. The Social Democratic Party came in second with seven mandates, while Andorra’s liberals, as well as the alliance between the Conservative Party Unió Laurediana and Third Way, landed on four mandates. In mid-May of that year, Parliament appointed Xavier Espot Zamora, party leader of the Democrats for Andorra, as new prime minister. Zamora wanted to continue the work of reforming the tax system to achieve greater transparency in the banking system.

FACTS – POLITICS

Official name

Principate of Andorra / Principality of Andorra

GOVERNMENT

republic, unitary state

Head of State

Joan Enric Vives Sicilia / Emmanuel Macron

Head of government

Xavier Espot Zamora (2019−)

Most important parties with mandates in the last election

Democrats for Andorra 11, Social Democratic Party 7, Andorra Liberals 4, Alliance between Unió Laurediana and Third Way 4 (2019)

Main parties with mandates in the second most recent elections

Democrats for Andorra 15, Andorra Liberals 8, Alliance between Social Democratic Party, the Greens and Citizens’ Initiative (Iniciativa Ciutadana) 3 (2015)

Turnout

68% in the 2019 parliamentary elections

Upcoming elections

parliamentary elections 2023