Lorenzo Occhetto

Lorenzo Occhetto
Lorenzo Occhetto In November 2017
45th President of Marirana
Incumbent
Assumed office 28th January 2018
Prime Minister	Amadeo Tajani
Preceded by	Giorgio Macciocchi
Chairman of the Democratic Party of Socialists
Incumbent
Assumed office 17th October 2012
Preceded by	Post established
Senator for Mederio
In office 14th March 2013 – 28th January 2018
Personal details
Born	(1968-03-22) March 22, 1968 Santa Maria, San Marco, Marirana
Political party	Democratic Party of Socialists
Other political affiliations	Avanti Marirana! (2017-present) Communist Party of Marirana (1998-2014)
Spouse	Beatrice Occhetto
Children	3
Alma mater	Mederian Technical University
Occupation	Politician Trade Unionist
Military service
Allegiance	Template:Country data Sotirian State of Marirana Marirana
Branch/service	Template:Country data Sotirian State of Marirana Mariranan Army
Years of service	1986-1987
Unit	3rd National Division

Lorenzo Occhetto (born 22^nd March 1968) is a Mariranan politician who is the current President of Marirana. He is also the founder and current Chairman of the Democratic Party of Socialists as well as serving as a Senator representing the Mederio province from 2008-2018 and was the Democratic Coalition of Socialists candidate for president in the 2012-13 election. He is ran as the candidate of Avanti Marirana! in the 2017-18 presidential election.

Born in the city of Santa Maria in 1968, Occhetto graduated with a degree in engineering in 1990 before being involved in trade union activity during the 1990's, becoming a secretary for the General Confederation of Engineers in 1998. He was elected to a Mederio seat in the House of Senators on a Communist Party of Marirana ticket in 2008, where he gained a reputation as being a staunch advocate of anti-poverty measures. In 2012 in the runup to the 2012-13 presidential election Occhetto oversaw the creation of a new left-wing electoral alliance, the Democratic Coalition of Socialists with Occhetto nominated as their candidate. Occhetto achieved 49.4% to the incumbent Giorgio Macciocchi 50.6%, with Occhetto stating that he lost to fraud. In 2013 was re-elected to his senate seat, and in 2014 oversaw the merger of the CDS into a single party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (PDS).

In 2017 Occhetto was at the forefront of investigating the embezzlement of earthquake relief. In October 2017 he announced he would contest the primary for the nomination of the PDS , which he won easily. Following his selection as PDS candidate he created a new political alliance, Avanti Marirana!, that consisted of the PDS and other left-wing parties to better compete in the 2017-18 presidential election. He reached the second round with 12,134,186 (44.1%) votes and won the election with 59.3% of votes.

Occhetto promotes "Liberation Socialism". He has been identified as a left-wing populist who opposes "GIFA and Asterian imperialism" and the "neoliberal Mariranan political elite".

Early life

Lorenzo Occhetto was born in the city of Santa Maria in 1968. He came from a meticcio family with his father Silvio coming from a lower-income family with a long history of trade unionism whilst his mother Rosa came from Florena that had emigrated to Marirana during the 1950's. He was the second son of the family, having an older brother Paolo (born 1955), an older sister Maria (born 1960) and a younger sister Tersa (born 1970).

In 1974 his father after staging an illegal strike was sent to a labour camp to be "reeducated", with his father dying in the camp in 1977. Occhetto's father's internment led to the family to fall into poverty with his brother Paolo working as a bus driver to support the family. In 1986 he entered into military service where he served in the 3^rd Division of the Mariranan army, resulting in Occhetto to be deployed in the Umbertide Province. In the 1986 protests against the Rustichelli regime, Occhetto was amongst several military members that attempted to stage a coup against the Rustichelli government. The coup attempt resulted in Ochetto to be removed from the military in January 1987.

Trade union career

In April 1987 he attained a scholarship to the Mederian Technical University where he studied Electrical Engineering. He graduated from the university in 1990 when he became an electrical engineer in Fonnaia specialising in telecommunications. Occhetto became a member of the General Confederation of Engineers and rose through its hierarchy becoming a secretary in 1995. The same year Occhetto was involved in the 1995 general strike where Occhetto became visible for criticising the government over its support for GIFA's fiscal policies. In 1997 he became a "public representative" of the GCE, meaning he cooperated regularly with representatives from various political parties that cooperated with trade unions. In 1998 he joined the Communist Party of Marirana.

Occhetto became more visible during the 2000's after he criticised the government's neoliberal economic policies. Occhetto in the 2003 presidential election worked as a campaign adviser on the unsuccessful presidential campaign of socialist candidate Renzo Acquaviva.

Views and ideology

Occhetto addressing indigenous groups in October 2017

Occhetto had advocated "liberation socialism", a Mariranan left-wing ideology formalised during the 1970's by Mariranan philosopher Eugenio Calabresi, which advocates for participatory democracy, social justice, anti-imperialism and a form of democratic socialism. Occhetto contrasts liberation socialism with previous left-wing thought in Marirana by emphasising its decentralised approach and aversion to centralised micromanaging of the economy.

Amongst his policy proposals, Ochetto has advocated for Marirana to withdraw from the Joint Defense Force calling the JDF a "tool of Asterian imperialism". He has also sought to end the "neocolonialism" of international financial institutions such as the Global Institute for Fiscal Affairs and the International Trade Organisation. Occhetto has also suggested ending the Mariranan insurgency by cooperating with "reasonable" insurgent groups such as the 26 May Movement and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Indigenous Peoples whilst cracking down on drug cartels.

On other domestic policies, Occhetto has emphasised poverty reduction as one of the most pressing issues facing Marirana in modern times, stating more needs to be done to tackle inequalities. Occhetto has also criticised multinational corporations for their environmental damage in Marirana and has called global warming "one of the most pressing issues of our times". Occhetto opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions as a compromise.

Occhetto positions have been called "left-wing populist". Virginia Morceli writing in the Quotidiano Nazionale stated that Occhetto pushes for "a form of macroeconomic populism, strongman rule, a polarisation of society between the "elite" and the "masses" and several socially conservative tendencies." A devout Catholic, Occhetto is "influenced" by Sotirian distributism.