Astrid Marett
Astrid Marett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Minister of Cybria | |
| Assumed office 10 December 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Aksel Rask |
| Leader of National Labor in Cybria | |
| Assumed office 2011 | |
| Member of the Cybrian State Parliament | |
| Assumed office 13 December 2004 | |
| Constituency | Fallensrød County |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cécile Astrid Marett 31 December 1980 Norenstal, Delkora |
| Nationality |
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| Political party | National Labor |
| Spouse | Peder Marett (m. 2010) |
| Residence | Ardenborg |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation | Politician |
Cécile Astrid Marett (Gylic transcription: Sesil Astyrid Maret; born 31 December 1980) is a Gylian–Delkoran politician. She is the current First Minister of Cybria, serving since 2012.
Early life
She was born in Norenstal on 31 December 1980, to Gylian parents resident in Delkora. She spent her first years in Delkora, before her parents moved with her back to Gylias in 1985, so she could receive a Gylian education.
She attended Anca Déuréy University from 1998 to 2002, graduating with a degree in political science. While at university, she was a volunteer for Françoise Chatelain's campaign during the 1999 presidential election. She then moved to Delkora, where she completed a master's degree in sociology at the University of Norenstal. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Cybria, where she was involved with research on urban housing policy.
She was known as "Cécile" in Gylias, but chose to be known as "Astrid Marett" at the start of her political career.
Parliamentarian
Astrid joined National Labor while studying at the University of Norenstal and was active with the school's chapter of Young Labor. She was elected to the Cybrian Parliament in 2004, becoming its youngest member.
In the legislature, she became known for her interest in social and ecological issues. Her political positions placed her on the left of the party, and earned her the hostility of the party's right, some of whom nicknamed her "the Astridcal".
Her appearances on The Havomar Report and other television shows helped increase her profile, and earned the nickname "Chatshow Astrid".
She took part in a National Labor delegation to Akashi during the 2010 general election, where she met Kōko Kaga and Mikiko Kashiwagi. She was impressed by the Socialist Party's successful campaign, and would model her own election campaigns after it.
Between 2004 and 2012, she was critical of incumbent first minister Aksel Rask, accusing him of being "timid" with regards to policy and lacking vision. In one famous outburst, she bluntly stated that Rask "isn't fit to clean Bjørn or Jørna's boots".
Her criticisms contributed to his gradual loss of support in the National Labor caucus, and a leadership election was called in 2011. She entered as a candidate, presenting a radical platform and using the tongue-in-cheek slogan Stem gylsk, ikke rask ("Vote Gylian, not Rask").
Although initially seen as an underdog, she finished second in the first round and went on to win the final round with 55% of the vote. Her success was attributed to a combination of name recognition and social media presence, as well as her popularity with young voters.
First minister
During the 2012 state election, Astrid ran on a platform of environmental justice, social protection, and techno-progressivism. She declared her ambition was to build "an Elvensar Coalition for the 21st century", which would reunite the interests of organized labor, students, and minorities.
The campaign was marked by her popularity, which earned comparison to "Kōkomania" in Akashi. National Labor increased its support, winning 53% of the vote and a single-party majority.
Environmental policy
Astrid's flagship issue as first minister was a just transition: achieving the decarbonization of the Cybrian economy and managing deindustrialization to preserve living standards and social security. Her government increased carbon taxes and pollution fines, created a Green Transformation Fund, prioritized investment in Cybria's deprived rural municipalities, and reformed the state's corporate code to delist companies that failed to act on climate change.
She strongly supported the Just Transition Act of 2014 and was consulted extensively in its drafting, her government's just transition program seen as a model that could be emulated at the federal level.
Economic policy
Astrid's economic policies were strongly leftist. She oversaw increased taxes on big business, the wealthy, and capital gains, increased social spending, large-scale public works and infrastructure transformation projects, and supported increased provision of free public transport.
Her government began construction of the Eldenvard–Darzenbrom high-speed rail line in 2015, created a statewide cycle highway, and expanded the network of charging stations. While these projects increased Cybria's public deficit, the state also experienced higher growth rates in 2012–2016.
It created statewide retraining programs and used decentralization to shift public sector and state government jobs to deprived areas. It brought Cybria's broadband and internet infrastructure into public ownership, and expanded the use of the Hermes Programme for state and local economic planning. It implemented a four-day week, and introduced tax incentives for companies that reduced the length of the working day to under 8 hours.
Social policy
On social issues, Astrid's government committed itself to equality and diversity. It extended Cybrian equality law to cover gender identity and expression, simplified the procedure to change one's legal gender, introduced a state standard for accessible cities, and gave full legal recognition to Delkoran Sign Language.
In 2015, she signed a law introducing an official network of Traveller paths, and made a speech apologizing to the Traveller community for the past discrimination and abuses perpetrated by the Cybrian government. She also set up a commission to combat gender-based price discrimination, and took measures that included free provision of feminine hygiene products and banning gender-based product differentiation.
In 2014, her government introduced a tenant bill of rights that has been described as the most comprehensive such law in Delkora. The following year, it lowered the cap on the state's rent control statute and passed legislation prohibiting landlords from charging more than the prevailing rent for a given area as a way to combat gentrification in struggling cities.
Cultural policy
Her government devoted considerable attention to cultural policy, increasing funding for the arts and creating a program to employ writers, artists, actors, and musicians. This program was modeled in part after an earlier Federal Public Works program that had been phased out in the 1980s due to federal budget cuts. It has been credited by some observers with helping spark a "renaissance" in the Cybrian cultural scene.
Decentralisation
In its second term, her government continued its radical programs, and put emphasis on decentralisation. It devolved more powers to local government, pushed for public ownership and municipalization of key sectors and public services, reformed local taxation, and expanded use of referendums and participatory budgeting.
In 2017, it presented a reform proposal that would consolidate municipalities and counties into a single entity, however it was rejected by voters in a referendum. After the result was announced, she stated, "The people have spoken. We will go back to the drawing board and think up a better plan."
Elections
Astrid led National Labor to a comfortable re-election in 2016, increasing its share of the vote and majority. During her victory speech, she declared, "We have proven, once and for all, that there is no opposition or contradiction between economic justice, social justice, and environmental justice!" Her victory prompted speculation in the media that she would have a future in federal politics, which she consistently denies interest in.
Throughout her term in office, Astrid continued to work closely with the Cybrian Liberals and Greens, although National Labor held a single-party majority.
This strategy was rewarded in the 2020 state election, where National Labor lost its majority but the Greens finished second, leading her to form a National Labor–Green coalition for her third term.
Public image
Known for her political radicalism, Astrid has become famous in Delkoran leftist circles. She is a regular contributor to leftist publications and often appears on left-wing talk shows and podcasts. She often participates in rallies and protests. Her populist policies and rhetoric have drawn comparisons to those of former first minister Bjørn Olsen, who she cites as a major inspirational figure along with Mette Elvensar and Sofia Westergaard. She has been described as Cybria's third consequential First Minister, following Bjørn Olsen and Jørna Winther.
She enjoys strong personal approval ratings; at 71%, her approval rating among 18-29 year olds is the highest of any Delkoran politician. This is often attributed in part to her prolific and candid use of social media. She has developed a reputation for her casual, down-to-earth posts and sharp criticism of right-wing opponents on Cloudverse and other platforms.
Astrid is known for engaging in extensive paradiplomacy, regularly making international trips as First Minister and expanding Cybria's representative offices abroad. She built notably close ties with Gylias under Prime Minister Toni Vallas, and was said to have visited Gylias more times than Chancellors Harald Møller and Adric Azengaard combined — which at times rankled other first ministers.
Her circle of advisors attained similar fame as the Garden Group.
Private life
Astrid's native language is French, and she is also fluent in Delkoran, English, Italian, and German. She is known for her French-accented Delkoran, a quality that has figured prominently in caricatures of her. She plays the violin, guitar, and piano, and records music as a hobby, which she uploads to Proton under a pseudonym. Her other hobbies include painting, reading, writing, and photography.
She is a fan of football and cycling, and often attends local football matches in Eldenvard. She has appeared in Rasa Ḑeşéy's documentaries Our Cities (2002), commenting on demopolitan urban planning, and The Band of 20th Century (2005), discussing her experiences with the Neo-Gylian Sound scene and the 1999 presidential election. In 2020, she was the subject of Rasa's documentary The Red State, being interviewed extensively along with the Garden Group.
She is married with one child. She is a practitioner of Concordianism, but describes herself as an agnostic and secular spiritual.