Leo Minestrici di Mineria

Leo Minestrici di Mineria
Dux of La Rossa
In office 7-2 39 PC – 7-2 49 PC
Preceded by	Giulio Moretti
Personal details
Born	26-4 3 TT Mineria
Nationality	Rossan
Parent(s)	Paolo Giovanni (father) Maria Minestrici di Mineria (mother)
Education	University of Mineria Faculty of Economics

Leo Minestrici di Mineria (born 26-4 3 TT) is the current Dux of La Rossa. A member of the Minestrici family in Mineria, he is the first member of the Six Families to take rule of the island since the La Denunzia. He oversaw the island's opening to the international market.

Early Life

Born to Maria Minestrici of the noble Family in Mineria, and Paolo Giovanni, a large-scale wine producer, Leo Minestrici's childhood should have by all accounts been one of luxury, the kind many only dream of. Yet as the Silver Crisis unfolded throughout his early childhood, he would unknowingly become part of the first generation where the traditional rule of the Families would collapse. Previously the sole rulers of the island, Dux Falcone's rise to power after La Denunzia saw a great amount of societal upheaval against the island's dynasties. Much of the Families' wealth was reappropriated, and placed under either direct government control, or sold and distributed across the population in form of handouts. Although some of their industries were returned back to the Families' hands under the reign of Ducissa Alessandra DeGaio, most others were denationalized and sold to private actors.

Receiving an influx of wealth in 18 PC when he was appointed to the board of the Minerian Shipyard by older family members in an act of nepotism, he would soon resign at his own initiative to enroll and attend at the University of Mineria, where he would obtain a degree in economics cum laude, before returning to the family business. Despite the economic instability of the decades after the Silver Crisis, and the Minerian shipbuilders' past woes, the Shipyard outperformed the rest of the industry, oftentimes securing valuable government contracts throughout the period. Minestrici's pragmatism, shown in his willingness to collaborate with the governments which once ousted his family from power, is believed to have given him much legitimacy in his future campaign for Dux. Even before rising into the world of politics, his credibility and success led him to be oft invited to write opinion columns for Minerian and Rossan political journals.

Dux

Elected in 39 PC, after a long-lasting period of economic stagnation, Minestrici's campaign was propelled by the nation-wide discontent stemming from the declining wages over the past several years. Although the popular movement that gave birth to the modern political situation has kept the Families out of power for the past 35 years, its hold over the nation started to wane as growth in an increasingly resource-starved country became stagnant. Although the welfare of the previous years helped lessen the blow of the decades-long trend, the post-Denunzian reforms have begun to approach their logical conclusion. Trade remained mostly insignificant due to the expenses of transport, requiring vessels which most merchants were unable to bear the cost of, and a weak local economy, which was unable to attract foreign investors. Despite the high price of leaving the island, the nation experienced significant rates of emigration over the past ten years.

Seizing the reigns over the nation, in 41 PC, Leo Minestrici would announce to the world that La Rossa has opened its ports, marking a radical shift in policy. Dubbed mercantilismo by some of his followers, the Dux's set of decrees imposed high rates of tariffs on imports, in an effort to protect local industries during the period of readjustment to the world of international trade. Though exclaimed to be temporary, the Dux has received criticism for the policy, stating it would harm free trade relations with the rest of the archipelago. The tariff revenue from imports, however, would be used to subsidize local industries, allowing them to gain a foothold on the international market before a significant amount of foreign actors could establish themselves on the island, potentially drowning out local business guilds.

Currently into his second term, the Dux has started to establish relations with nations across the archipelago. Winning re-election with high margins, he remains popular within the nation, and marks what might be a permanent return of the Families into Rossan politics. Though many of the problems he inherited continue to persist, the people of the nation still hold onto the belief that he will be able to reverse La Rossa's downwards course.

Electoral History

Election	Votes	Votes (%)
39 PC	186,538	54.8%
41 PC	254,891	67.1%
43 PC	252,120	67.4%
45 PC	218,511	60.1%
47 PC	167,215	45.4%