Antoni Martí Petit: former prime-minister of Andorra

Antoni Martí Petit, also known as Toni Martí (Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra, July 30, 1963 – November 6, 2023), was an Andorran architect and politician and head of the Government of Andorra from 2011 – 2019.

He studied architecture at the University of Toulouse (Occitania, France).

Martí led the centre-right coalition Democrats for Andorra (DA), which won by an absolute majority the elections to the General Council of Andorra in 2011, and was re-elected in the elections to the General Council of Andorra in 2015 for a new and final term mandate, again with an absolute majority, despite having lost more than 18% of the electorate.

Political trajectory

2003-2011: Consul Major of Escaldes-Engordany, re-elected in 2007 by the Liberal Party of Andorra (PLA) and Unió del Poble.
1994-2003: General Counsel (re-elected in 1997 and 2001) by the Liberal Party of Andorra.
2011-2014: Head of Government for the Democrats for Andorra party.
2015-2019: Re-elected Head of Government by the Democrats for Andorra party.

Prime Minister

First term: 2011–2015

On 3 April 2011, Democrats for Andorra (DA) won an overwhelming absolute majority, receiving 55.15% of the vote and winning 21 seats in the General Council.

The General Council session to inaugurate Martí as Prime Minister took place on 11 May 2011, and he announced that his main objectives for his mandate were economic recovery, the promotion of tourism and the country’s rapprochement with the European Union while offering state agreements with the opposition on issues such as the Andorra-EU relationship, social security and local administration.

Martí won 21 votes in favour and six abstentions for his appointment and was sworn in the following day.

During the negotiations with the European Union, Andorra changed its foreign investment law, opening up the country to foreign investors, and also signed an agreement with France, Portugal and Spain to avoid double taxation.

Following an agreement completed in June 2011, Martí also oversaw the introduction of the euro as the official currency of Andorra.

Second term: 2015–2019

Democrats for Andorra, again led by Martí, won an absolute majority in the 2015 election, although it lost five seats. Marti was re-elected Prime Minister on 30 March 2015 and was sworn in the following day. On 23 March, he succeeded Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, who served as interim Prime Minister, after Martí delegated the functions to him by decree on 18 March.

A few days after the election, on 10 March 2015, the US Treasury Department issued a report stating that the bank Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) was a “primary money laundering concern” involving four US correspondent banks, criminal groups in Russia and China and Venezuelan money launderers.

In October 2016, while on an official visit to San Marino, Martí defended a common strategy among Andorra, Monaco and San Marino for the association agreement with the European Union.

Personal life

Martí was married to Lídia Báez, a Dominican Republic national with whom he had three children. Following a cardiac arrest in his home, Martí died at Nostra Senyora de Meritxell Hospital on 6 November 2023, at the age of 60. The Andorran government decreed two days of national mourning.

Photos: Alex Monroe

See also Xavier Espot Zamora

See also Political system of Andorra

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