Sonja Burgenstein

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Sonja Burgenstein
kadee_strickland.jpg
Date of Birth
2 March 1977
Place of Birth
Kaisersburg, Suur-Preussi
Title
Prime Minister of Adal
Period in office
9 February 2006 – present

Sonja Burgenstein (born 2 March, 1977 in Kaisersburg, Suur-Preussi) is the Prime Minister of the Federation of Adal. She has been in office since February 2006 and is the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in Adal. Politically Mrs. Burgenstein is independent.

Early life and education

Sonja Burgenstein was born Sonja Christina Amalia Carolina Elisabeth Alexandra Marie av Oddenborg-Yrkesval-Hurgammal-Skrikesund-Strassburg in Kaisersburg, Suur-Preussi as the only child of Carolina von Strassburg, the head of the Adal Royal House of Oddenborg-Yrkesval-Hurgammal-Skrikesund, and her husband, Count Karl Wilhelm von Strassburg, grandson of Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm II of Suur-Preussi. As straight descendants of King Christian IX of Adal who was removed from office and exiled after the revolution in 1918, the family lived in exile in Kaisersburg, the glorious capital of the Empire of Suur-Preussi. Sonja was named after her paternal grandmother Countess Sonja von Strassburg, while her other names are those of her maternal relatives, former Queens of Adal.

Sonja Burgenstein studied 1995-2002 political science in the University of Kaisersburg, where she met her future husband, prince Johann Karl Eusebius von Burgenstein. The couple married in 2003. They have no children.

Few months after her wedding, Sonja Burgenstein's mother died after a short illness in the age of 63, and Sonja became the head of the royal house, the so-called "Queen Sonja of Adal".

Political career

In 2005 Sonja Burgenstein was granted access to her family's former home country, Adal. She took part in the presidential election as an independent candidate, and her main campaign aim was to restore the monarchy. She got 11 % of the given votes and was third after the unexpected winner Jude Bjärnesson (CPA) and the poll favourite Påval Hindenskjöld (CDP).

After the election, President Bjärnesson surprisingly named Sonja Burgenstein as Prime Minister. (As Prime Minister she chose to use only her husband's name instead of the whole royal surname of hers.) She formed on 11 February, 2006 a coalition government where every party of the Federal Parliament attended. The governement was – as expected – conflicting, and already on 18 March the government fell. Federal President Bjärnesson named Burgenstein again as Prime Minister, and shortly after she formed her second administration with CDP, SDA and the Greens.

Sonja Burgenstein's politics are far from extreme both right and left. According to the big Adalese newspaper Stolleborg Nysplatt, Burgenstein is "one fifth social democrat, one fifth Christian, one fifth green and two fifths monarchist".

In March 2006, the Supreme Court of Adal cancelled the cancellation of her sentence of exile, and she moved back to her former home in Kaisersburg, Suur-Preussi. She continued to act as Prime Minister from exile until a month later, the Minister of Internal Affairs Gabriel J. Gabriel proclaimed that the exile was against the Adalese constitution, so Burgenstein returned to hear the election results of the April 2006 presidential election in Stolleborg.

Federal President Jude Bjärnesson resigned in March 2006, and Sonja Burgenstein again applied for presidency in the new election that was held on 8 April. Burgenstein managed to gather 49 % of the given votes and thus was defeated by General Påval Hindenskjöld.

Preceded by:
Arnold Dier van Skogen
Prime Minister of Adal
11 February 2006 – present
Succeeded by:
Incumbent
Preceded by:
Caroline II
Queen-in-exile of Adal
7 July 2003 – present
Succeeded by:
Incumbent