Charlotte Mann

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Charlotte Mann
(Ursula von der Leyen) 2019.07.16. Ursula von der Leyen presents her vision to MEPs 2 (cropped).jpg
Prime Minister of Nidwalden
Assumed office
1 March 2018
MonarchWilhelm II
DeputyGuido von Steinmeier
Preceded byAnnemarie Fitzgerald
Social Democrat
Leader of the Rechte
Assumed office
17 June 2018
PresidentVolker von der Leyen
Personal details
Born
Charlotte Mann Adaktusson

(1964-02-29) 29 February 1964 (age 60)
Cologne, Nidwalden
Political partyRechte
SpouseWolfgan Schnarrenberger
Children2
EducationUniversity of Cologne
Bremen-Nassau University
Signature

Charlotte Mann Adaktusson (born 29 February 1964) is a Nidwaldester politician serving as Prime Minister of Nidwalden since 1 March 2018. She is the leader of the Rechte Party since the internal elections of the party in June 2018 and has acted as member of the County Council of Rhine between 1995 to 2002; in her last term in the Council, Charlotte was elected as chairman and in 2006 was elected mayor of the city of Cologne.

Charlotte was born in the capital city of Nidwalden in the bosom of a political family highly associated with the Rechte and the Ludwigist ideas. Her father was great-grandson of the former Prime Minister of Nidwalden Hildegard Mann and great-great-grandson of the also former Prime Minister of Nidwalden and most well-known figure of the Nidwaldester politics, Ludwig Mann. As part of the Mann family, Charlotte followed the political direction of these figures; since young she was member of the Young Rechte and showed a great opposition to the liberal-conservatives ideals that the party took after the Kristensen-Hartling Era, referring to them many times during interviews as exported doctrines from the Nationalist Party that are found far from the original principles of the Rechte. During her youth, Charlotte studied Political Sciences at the University of Cologne and International Relations at the Bremen-Nassau University, graduating from both with summa cum laude, the highest honours in Nidwalden.

As Mayor of the city of Cologne, Charlotte led the transformation the city in one of the green and sustainable capitals of Lorecia. Her administration was highlighted by a modernisation of the city policies towards sustainability; Charlotte introduced the first state-owned bicycle-sharing system in Nidwalden and a large program of incentives that increased the green waste management of the city as well as the introduction of a large program of pedestrian zones in Old Town and several other urban poles.

Although Charlotte was elected leader of the Rechte for the general elections of 2018, her protagonism in the party has been seen since 2002, when following the elections and the massive defeat of the Rechte against the Social Democrats, Charlotte was advocated to solve the situation by leaving on a side the factions found more at the right of the political spectrum. Charlotte Mann has criticised past coalitions made with the Nationalist and Die Demokraten parties and during the elections of 2018, she has stated that the Rechte should find more points for a coalition with the Social Democrats rather than with the Whites or Democrats; however, she has opted to keep the party far from coalitions with the left to recover the important position of the Rechte in the politics of Nidwalden. Her administration between 2018-2022 was marked by the rise of tension between the Lorecian Community and Belka after reports of an ethnic cleaning happening with Belkan invasion to Arstotzka, the 2020 MRMBA outbreak in Astyria and the disappearance of the Air Nidwalden Flight 180.

Charlotte is the sixth woman to be Prime Minister of Nidwalden and the third to be chose from the Rechte; she is a well-known member of the Ducal Institute for International Reconciliation.

Early life

During most of her life in Cologne, Charlotte lived in the neighbourhood of Limpertsberg.

Charlotte was born Charlotte Mann Adaktusson in 1964, in Cologne, Nidwalden. Daughter of Helge Mann, former Nidwaldester parliamentarian of the Rechte, born in Feldkirch, Nidwalden and Inger Adaktusson, a retired Scanonian diplomat from Kristianstad. She has a younger brother, Frederick Mann, Nidwaldester tennis and polo player and Margarethe Mann, who is older than both and is a well-known artist and doctor. During most of her youth, Charlotte and her brothers lived between Cologne and Kristianstad, Scanonia where the three attended public schools and played sports. At the her age of 17, her mother, Inger Adaktusson, was offered the position of Scanonian Ambassador in Cologne and the family moved there so the three could end their studies. Shortly after moving, Helge Mann made a comeback to the politics in the Rechte and was elected to be part of the Nidwaldester Parliament, a position that maintained for several administrations.

Charlotte has stated several times the position that religion has in her life. During an interview in 2018 she said that during most of her years as a teen, religion played a key role in her relations and formation as a person with values; Charlotte was part of a group of young Christians of the Church of Scanonia between her 15-17 years old but after moving back to Nidwalden, she left the group and did not join another one in her new home. However, she kept attending occasional masses at St Ursula's Church.

With the involvement of her father in the politics of Nidwalden, Charlotte felt attracted by them and rapidly started to get closer to student movements of the time, most of them associated to the Green Party that was becoming more popular in the political scene of the country. During her last years of high-school and under the advises of her father, Charlotte started to move in direction of the Rechte and was one of the first members of the party's young wing. However, the Ludwigist ideals of Charlotte were in that time found closer to the Social Democrats than to the Rechte.

Early political life

Young Rechte and County Council of Rhine

County Council of Rhine; Charlotte was member between 1995 and 1998 and presided it between 1998 and 2002.

After moving back to Cologne, Charlotte got involved in several student movements often closer to the Greens and the Social Democrats than to the Rechte, Charlotte rapidly found her political ideas in a progressive direction. Her father, however, after moving to Cologne made a comeback to the politics by the hands of the Rechte, in which together with several others members of the traditional party with a social democrat and Ludwigist heritage, founded a faction which tried to recover the ideas and principles of Ludwig Mann. During an interview in 2017, Charlotte said that her father was a great influence in her political life at the time of finally setting up in a party; after the foundation of the young wing of the Rechte and under the advises of Helge Mann, Charlotte became a member and rapidly impulsed her Ludwigist ideas.

Charlotte gained the attention of several political figures from different factions in the Rechte and the Social Democrats after being elected president of the Young Rechte in 1987. After that period Charlotte took distance of the party and the politics to focus on her studies in Bremen. However, after moving back to Cologne four years later, Charlotte returned to the politics and was rapidly elected to be a member of the County Council of Rhine, a position that maintained between 1995 and 1998 and later in the next period as chairwoman. During this time, the national Social Democrat government of Helle von Hoorde approved a referendum to recognise same-sex marriages and Charlotte appeared in the scene as one of the faces of the pro-LGBT rights campaign. During the next elections in 1998, the Rechte won the Rhine County after several years of Social Democrat rule and Charlotte was elected chairwoman.

Mayor of Cologne

Bike-sharing schemes were introduced by the Mann administration of the city of Cologne.

After her term as chairwoman in the County Council of Rhine, Charlotte was presented for the position of Mayor of Cologne from the Rechte. The elections had a significant meaning for the party as it was on the edge of disappearing together with the Nationalists, however, Charlotte and her group maintained a strong position and presented an extensive program for the administration of the city which included a large social component together with sustainable and innovative developments projected for the city. Charlotte assumed as Mayor of Cologne in 2002 in what was meant to transmit a change in the people's perception of the Rechte.

During her administration of the city, Charlotte introduced the first state-owned bicycle-sharing system and proposed the development of an extensive scheme of green alternatives to private transportation that included from economical incentives to the planning and construction of bike lines, the improvement and modernisation of the trams lines and pedestrian zones specially in old town.

Prime Minister of Nidwalden

On 1 March 2018 Charlotte Mann assumed the office of the Prime Minister of Nidwalden after an tough election and later ballotage against the Social Democrat Party, which resulted in a 55% of the votes.[1] The elections concluded seven continuous Social Democrat administrations that started in 1990 in what was seen by many as a comeback of the right to Nidwalden after the 1986 Nationalist government, however Charlotte, after the presentation of the pragmatic lines in the Parliament during her investiture, received a large support from Social Democrat parliamentarians and from other smaller centre and centre-left parties.[2]

The government is directed to continue the large social expenditure started Social Democrat Party. Charlotte has stated the intentions of continuing developing the decentralisation of government offices from the capital Cologne; during the investiture of her cabinet, Charlotte also received the support of the Green Party after the presentation of the measures that are going to be taken in environmental subject, such as the introduction of taxes in environmentally unfriendly goods and services and the larger subsidies to those willing to switch business into more eco-friendly ones. Charlotte appointed Margot von Bendersnach to be the Minister of Energy, Transport and Communications and set the bases of her work in continuing the change in the production of energy by green and renewable methods.

The Rechte, since the administration of Charlotte Mann, has overseen a turn to the left in the political spectrum. The relations with the Nationalist Party and Die Demokraten have seen an impressive decline, specially after the presentation of the government plan 2018-2022 of the Rechte, which saw an impressive support from Social Democrats, Independents and Greens senators in the Parliament. In October of 2019, Charlotte stated that "...the Rechte, if it follows its heritage and values, will always found more points in common with the Social Democrats rather than with the Democrats". However, consensus has always been an important piece of Nidwaldester culture and politics, the Mann administration has worked extensively to reach a common major consensus during decisions and parliamentary projects.

Policies

Lorecian Community and foreign policy

The Rechte have also had a pro-Lorecian Community focus on its foreign policies; the party is a supporter of the Lorecian cooperation and since the creation of the LC, it has left behind many of its protectionist policies to open Nidwalden to a larger market with its neighbourhoods. The foreign policy of Charlotte has not differed from this, she enjoyed of the usually excellent Nidwaldester relations with the rest of the leaders of the LC and after her assumption she was visited by Anders Mårtensson, Secretary General of the Lorecian Community. During the passage of the New Labour Act in Albeinland, Charlotte sent a letter to Anders Mårtensson inciting to the Conservative Chancellor Vincent Lloyd to retire or modify the act as it could affect the labour market of Lorecia and put in risk garnered rights of the Albish workers, the issue rose tension between both governments but it did not take to a much more serious situation.

After the sanctions issued by the Lorecian Community and Nikolia to the government of Belka, Anders Samuelsen, Minister of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation of Nidwalden, expressed his concern and of the cabinet and followed the position of the organisation, ending all of the trading ties with the Federation until the official retirement from Artoszkan territory. The sanctions imposed against Belka by many Astyrian nations, however, did not have the expected success and the situation remained silent for several more months until in June of 2019, the Confederate Chancellor, Octavious Eaglebrand, stated that the situation in the north of the Lorecian continent was near being a total disaster with thousands of displaced and on the edge of being one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in Astyria in the 21st Century.[3] The sayings rapidly provoked an increasement in the tension of the diplomatic relations between Koninstad and Paradise City, however, the leaders of the Community later expressed their concern about the situation and joined forces to send troops to the border in order to stop the Belkan invasion and protect democracy and human rights. In August of 2019, Charlotte sent an special commission to prepare a report about the situation in Artoszka after several organisations denounced the existence of executions and illegal imprisonments in invaded territory with clear ethnic purposes.

Charlotte has also stated her concern about the Belkan crisis when referring to the latest wave of refugees and immigrants from Artoszka in Nidwalden; according to official stats revealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Grand Duchy, the solicitations for asylum have increased in a 25% after the Lorecian sanctions were imposed over the Federation.

During November of 2019, the situation in Belka forced the Nidwaldester Parliament to approve sending members of the Nidwaldester Air Force to the Kingdom of Aswick[4] to be part of a united front against the invasion of Artoszka with others members of the Lorecian Community, Nikolia, the Blackhelm Confederacy and Caledonia; a meeting was celebrated in Baltyre with presence of several commanders and high-ranks from the nations members of the front. The meeting increased the tension between the Caledonian President and the Belkan Chancellor, who stated in several tweets his will to continue committing human rights violations in invaded territory.[5]

Domestic policy

Social and educational issues have been the strong points of the Rechte government; shorty after her assumption, Charlotte started the plan of constructing new types of model schools, the project was in charge of several well-known architects and according to official stats, at September 2019, 50 of the 200 schools and high-schools have been constructed. Charlotte Mann has supported the introduction of a universal basic income scheme in the welfare and social security system of Nidwalden[6]; as she stated, it was planned following past national experiences in the County of Thurgau and the Valkean experience. The project was introduced for a sanction in the Nidwaldester Parlament and with the approval of the Rechte, the Social Democrat party, the Greens and Die Demokraten, the project was passed to a referendum celebrated in November of the same year. With an overwhelming acceptance, Nidwalden became in January 2020, the first country member of the Lorecian Community to introduce universal basic income.

During 2020, the outbreak of the Marimba asterovirus disease 2020 forced the Mann government to present one of the largest financial projects in the history of Nidwalden, aimed to face an upcoming economical crisis provoked by the isolation measures, the project included a rescue of 3,000 million Crowns for small and medium businesses and the continuation of UBI. Together with the 2020 MRMBA outbreak and the disappearance of the Air Nidwalden Flight 180, the government was pushed to present the total liquidation of the flag carrier Air Nidwalden.

Cabinet

Before the national elections could take place, the media released rumours of a proposed cabinet for a posible government of the Rechte that later in the time and approaching the elections, some were confirmed by Charlotte. The cabinet was finally formed after Charlotte gained the confidence of the Parliamentary with support of the Greens and the Social Democrats; following the precedent marked by the Social Democrats in previous administrations, the Mann Cabinet highlights by a large presence of women and young professionals. Charlotte reunites with the 12 Ministers every week and during extraordinary sessions, the Prime Minister is often recognised as president during meeting but it is only a component of tradition, Ministers have equal voice during reunions.

The first and only cabinet change was produced during the 2020 MRMBA outbreak, when the Minister of Health and Prevention, Johann von Bernstorff, resigned to his position after being released a report stating the minimum importance the Minister gave to the health situation after the Astyrian Federation of Red Cross Societies alerted the government of the potential presence of Marimba asterovirus disease 2020 in Nidwalden.

Awards and honours

National honours

  •  Nidwalden: Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Nidwalden

Foreign honours

References

  1. Ortiz, Sara (19 June 2018). "Elections in Nidwalden" El Día International Edition - Cologne, Nidwalden
  2. Derch, Alexander (14 April 2019). "Charlotte Mann and a more centre-left Rechte" Nidwalden Wort - Cologne, Nidwalden
  3. Von der Thur, Maximilian (22 June 2019). "The International Community assuming responsibility" Nidwalden Wort - Cologne, Nidwalden
  4. Briefings from the Commonwealth (5 December 2019). "Stories from across the sea The Jakarta Tribune - Jakarta, Hindia Belanda
  5. Hutt, Anne (20 November 2019). "From Baltyre to Dinsmark, Ainslie McKinnel and Aldric Velik in the sight of a war" Nidwalden Wort - Cologne, Nidwalden
  6. Thyssen-Bornemisza, Matthew (22 October 2019). "Basic income to be discussed in the Parliament" Nidwalden Wort - Cologne, Nidwalden