Kirsti Aalu

**Kirsti Aalu** (born 10 June 1976) is a Mortonian politician who has served as president of Mortonia since 2018, being the first woman to serve in the role. Previously, she served as the Supranational Secretary for International Equality in the Michalczyk college of the Supranational Council, being the first Mortonian to serve in a Supranational Council college. An independent politician, she was previously affiliated with the Eurean Party of Liberals and Reformists during her tenure in Supranational politics.

Born in Otesalu, Aalu graduated from upper secondary school in 1995, and afterwards enrolled in the University of Otesalu. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in international affairs in 1998, she enrolled in Foxford University in Orgland, receiving a master's degree in public policy in 2000. After completing her education, Aalu worked as a deputy policy coordinator for the Mortonian Union Party, later becoming a policy researcher for the Ministry of Justice in 2004. In 2006, Aalu was hired as a senior policy researcher for the Supranational Department of Justice, based out of Bletzel. In 2010, she returned to Mortonia after being hired as deputy director of the Ministry of Justice, and unsuccessfully stood for election in the 2011 parliamentary election, contesting as an independent politician.

In 2015, Aalu was selected as the Mortonian nomination to serve as a Supranational Secretary, and was ultimately chosen by Lesław Michalczyk to serve as Supranational Secretary for International Equality in the Michalczyk college. Her nomination was approved by the Supranational Council General Assembly, and she became the first Mortonian to serve in a Supranational Council college. Working in Supranational politics, Aalu became a household name in Mortonia, and reports increased regarding her possible future as a leader in national politics. After the 2018 Mortonian presidential election failed to elect a candidate after three rounds, a council of elders convened and proposed Aalu as a compromise candidate. The candidacy was accepted, and Aalu was confirmed as president in a unanimous vote in the Maagukoorpuu, taking office as the first female president of Mortonia on 15 June 2018. Since her election, she has been ranked as the most powerful woman in Mortonia, and one of the 100 most powerful women in the world, becoming the first Mortonian woman to be included on the list.

## Early life and education

Aalu was born on 10 June 1976 in Otesalu to parents Jännik Aalu (born 1950) and Luudia Vaino (born 1951). Her father worked as an electrical engineer, while her mother was a speech pathologist. She is the eldest of three children; her younger siblings include Ranno, born  (1977-11-13) 13 November 1977 (age 46), and Hele-Kristina, born  (1980-04-09) 9 April 1980 (age 43). Her parents divorced when she was 16, and she subsequently lived with her mother.

Aalu began her education in 1982, attending a local, public primary school in Otesalu. While in primary school, Aalu was a popular and gifted student; in her final year, she was elected class president by her peers. Aalu graduated from primary school in 1992, subsequently enrolling in an Otesalu public gymnasium. While in upper secondary school, Otesalu focused her coursework on social sciences, and ultimately graduated in 1995. Afterwards, she enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Otesalu, graduating with a degree in international affairs in 1998. She subsequently moved to Orgland to enroll in Foxford University, graduating with a master's degree in public policy in 2000.

## Political career

### Early politics

Aalu began her political career after graduating with her master's degree in 2000, after being hired as a deputy policy coordinator for the Mortonian Union Party. Despite her position at the party headquarters, Aalu has stated she was never a member of the party, and solely accepted the position in order to receive experience working in politics. She remained in the capacity for four years, until she was hired as a policy researcher for the Ministry of Justice. She later left this position in 2006, and was hired as a senior policy researcher for the Supranational Department of Justice, based out of Bletzel. While working for the Supranational Council, Aalu became more interested in Supranational politics, and wished to eventually serve in the Supranational Council.

She returned to Mortonia in 2010, after being hired as deputy director of the Ministry of Justice, a nonpartisan position that deputized the partisan Minister of Justice. Aalu attempted to enter elected politics in 2011, after being selected to stand for election in the 2011 parliamentary election, as an independent candidate on the electoral list of the Center Party. Being placed lowly on the list, Aalu did not expect to be elected to parliament and ultimately was not.

### Supranational Secretary for International Equality

In 2015, Aalu was selected by the first Kuikas cabinet to be the Mortonian nomination to serve as a Supranational Secretary in the Michalczyk college of the Supranational Council. In September, incoming president of the Supranational Council Lesław Michalczyk confirmed that he intended to nominate Aalu to serve as Supranational Secretary for International Equality. The announcement that Michalczyk planned to nominate Aalu to his college was significant, and meant that Aalu was likely to become the first Mortonian to ever serve as a Supranational Secretary. She was confirmed by the Supranational Council General Assembly on 10 October, and took office that day. In her post, Aalu was tasked with lobbying for the rights of women, ethnic and religious minorities, children, and the LGBT community internationally.

As Supranational Secretary for International Equality, Aalu took a proactive and hands-on approach to her position. In her tenure, she visited more than 100 countries in order to advocate for the rights of minorities. From June to August 2016, she went on a tour of Tarfica, where she visited with local women leaders and gave speeches on the promotion of education and literacy for young girls. Along the way, she also aided in the construction of schools. In June 2017, she recommended formal citations against Nabumir Dragorshevich and his government for the treatment of LGBT people in Kasha.

### President of Mortonia

On 1 June 2018, the third round of the 2018 Mortonian presidential election failed to elect a candidate yet again. As per the Mortonian constitution, this resulted in all candidacies being automatically withdrawn and a council of elders was convened in order to propose a compromise candidate to the Maagukoorpuu. Strongly rumored to be one of the shortlisted proposed candidates on the council's shortlist, Aalu was eventually confirmed as the council's compromise candidate on 7 June. The candidacy was proposed to the Maagukoorpuu on 12 June, where Aalu was unanimously elected as president of Mortonia. She officially took office on 15 June, becoming the first woman and youngest person ever to be elected president.

As president, Aalu serves in a ceremonial role and wields no real power. A figurehead leader, she serves as a unifying figure for Mortonia who is free from political discourse and partisanship, instead focusing on representing the nation on an international and domestic scale. The president cannot veto bills, is not the commander-in-chief of the Mortonian Armed Forces, and is constitutionally mandated to not be affiliated with a political party, but signs all passed legislation and formally appoints all ministers. Upon taking office as president, she resigned from her position with the Supranational Council, and was replaced by Maline Thomas-Verwoerd.

## Personal life

Aalu began a relationship with Karsylvanian politician Mihai Vulcan in 2006, while both were working with the Supranational Council in Bletzel. They became engaged in 2008, and later married the following year. Aalu and Vulcan have two children together: Christian, born  (2013-08-16) 16 August 2013 (age 10), and Catalina, born  (2017-05-10) 10 May 2017 (age 6). They split their time between Otesalu, Caratina, and Bletzel, and have resided in the Presidential Palace in Otesalu since 2018.

Aalu is fluent in Mortonian, Rann, Framish, Ditrovian, and Maldonian, while she has studied Karsylvanian but is "far from fluent." She has referred to herself as "irreligious."