Samantina Andersöjeva

**Samantina Alessandra Andersöjeva** (born 3 July 1965) is a Lashardian lawyer, politician, and the 28th President of Lashardia. She is a member of the Lashardian Social Democratic Party, and served as president from 2008 to 2012. She was the first female president of Lashardia.

After graduating from Mortasland Law School in 1990, Andersöjeva worked as an attorney in the Vershando area, before leaving her law career to enter politics in 2001. She was elected Governor of Mortasland in 2002, and remained governor for one term of five years. She declined the opportunity to run for reelection in order to run in the presidential election. In 2008, she was elected President of Lashardia. After serving her one-term of four years, she was succeeded by Olla Ottöfrenz in 2012. Andersöjeva has since returned to her law career while also participating in public speaking.

Andersöjeva's political views fall in line with that of her party, the Social Democrats; she is a proponent of Democratic Socialism, egalitarianism, and was seen as a supporter for progressive topics such as LGBT rights, immigration, and abortion rights. Andersöjeva has been named one of the most powerful and influential women in both Lashardia and all of Asmatys, and has been hailed as a "feminist icon", both for her social policies and being the first female President of Lashardia and Governor of Mortasland.

## Education and early life

Andersöjeva was born on 3 July 1965 in Vershando, Mortasland. Her father, Anders, worked as a school guidance counselor, while her mother, Elina, was a preschool teacher. Andersöjeva has two younger brothers, while the family was middle class.

Andersöjeva attended primary school in Vershando, where she excelled academically. She excelled specifically in classes such as history, foreign languages, and the social sciences. After graduating from primary school in 1980, she began attending a social sciences high school, where she specialized in sociology and political science. She graduated from high school in 1983, as her class's valedictorian.

After graduating from high school, Andersöjeva enrolled in Mortasland University, where she had a dual major in sociology and political science. She graduated from university in 1987, and then began taking classes at Mortasland Law School. She graduated with her juris doctor in 1990, and soon began working as an attorney in the Vershando area. She left her job as an attorney in 2001 to pursue a career in politics.

## Political career

### Governor of Mortasland

Andersöjeva first began her political career in 2001, after announcing herself as a Social Democratic candidate in the 2002 Mortasland gubernatorial election. As a newcomer to the political world, Andersöjeva was not considered a favorite in the election, and was expected not to win the Social Democratic primary. However, after the favorite to win, Erik Donaldöfelah, dropped out of the election unexpectedly, Andersöjeva was able to clinch the victory and became the Social Democratic nominee.

In the general election, Andersöjeva was widely expected by political scientists to win, due to Mortasland's tendency to lean towards Social Democratic candidates in elections. As expected, she won the election and became the first female Governor of Mortasland, allowed to serve two terms of five years.

Andersöjeva was praised greatly for her tenure as governor. While sectional leaders in Lashardia do not have an abundance of power, Andersöjeva was able to decrease the unemployment rate in Mortasland by over 5%, and had approval ratings of over 75% during her peak. After serving five years as governor, Andersöjeva announced that she would not be running for a second term, which fueled rumors that she was considering a presidential run. Her last day of being governor was on 7 August 2007.

### President of Lashardia

After announcing that she'd not be running for a second term as Governor of Mortasland, it was heavily rumored that Andersöjeva would be running for president in the 2008 Lashardian presidential election. On 6 July 2007, Andersöjeva announced her campaign for the presidency, and she was immediately being considered a favorite to win. Andersöjeva was officially selected as the Social Democratic nominee in October 2007.

Throughout the election, Andersöjeva faced no true opposition, and was believed by political scientists to win the election in a landslide vote. In the first round of the election, held in April 2008, Andersöjeva won over 50% of the vote. In the second round, held in June 2008, Andersöjeva defeated her opponent, Lars Klarkögrimshel of the Lashardian Conservative Party, in a landslide, winning over 70% of the vote from the public. Andersöjeva's popularity was particularly strong in southern Lashardia, where she won every municipality and city, even rural municipalities that traditionally swung right. She was inaugurated on 18 September 2008, succeeding Hans Grötöjohanes.

While President of Lashardia, Andersöjeva was known for her passionate speeches and the fact that she was able to quickly get things done in the country. After one year of her presidency, Andersöjeva legalized same-sex civil unions and the right for transgendered people to change their gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo sex-reassignment surgery. Under her rule, she also brought in thousands of refugees escaping the authoritarian regime in the neighboring Zakharia. At its peak, her approval ratings were around 80%. Andersöjeva's last day of the presidency was 18 September 2012, when Olla Ottöfrenz of the Green Party of Lashardia was inaugurated.

## Personal life

Andersöjeva began a relationship with lawyer Aleksander Didriködurgen while the two were students at Mortasland Law School together in 1988. Didriködurgen proposed to her in 1991, and they were married the following summer. They have two children together; Morgana, born in 1995, and Samuel, born in 1998. After finishing her term as President of Lashardia, the family has resided in Palt, Palt Municipality, located within the Vershando metropolitan area.