Leuter Sion

Leuter Sion
Sion during the 2020 Presidential Campaign.
1st Interim Chancellor of Gran Aligonia
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 January 2020
Preceded by	N/A
2nd Leader of the Aligonian Alliance of Free Thought
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 July 2009
Preceded by	Bianca Malbi-Arceo
Personal details
Born	Leuter Gardono Sion 14 September 1965 Cagliavale, Gran Aligonia
Political party	Aligonian Alliance of Free Thought (AAFT)
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Residence	14 Rúa Caragialo
Education	University of Villa Romera
Alma mater	National School of Arts and Social Sciences

Leuter Gardono Sion (born 14 September 1965) is a Gran Aligonian politician, author, activist, and former journalist who served as the first Interim Chancellor of the new United Republic of Aligonia from 2019 to 2020, and campaigned unsuccessfully in the new Aligonian government's first Chancellorial election. He has served as the de facto leader of the center-left republican Aligonian Alliance of Free Thought since 2009. Ideologically, he identifies as an anti-imperialist and constitutional patriot, though generally refuses to define himself on the Left–right political spectrum.

Sion was born in Cagliavale to lower middle class parents, who largely alternated between working secretarial gig jobs, and more substantial creative endeavors for companies such as Vetricolor Interactive. After education on academic scholarship at the University of Villa Romera, and subsequently attaining a Master's in Political Science at the National School of Arts and Social Sciences in Lyncanestria, Sion began work as a writer and later as an assistant editor for Aligonian newspaper of record, Xornal Xeral de Aligonia, but grew dissatisfied to what he percieved as political interference in journalistic integrity by the newspaper's owners, the del Villar family, and subsequently resigned his post in 1994. In 1999, Sion created the republican activist lobby, the Aligonian Alliance of Free Thought, with his then-wife Bianca Malbi-Arceo, and is widely considered to be one of the prime ideological movers behind the 2004 anti-monarchical protests in Gran Aligonia, which lead to the ratification of the Valladares-Botello Act and subsequent expansion of powers for the Grand Ministry in 2005.

In 2019, Sion again gained prominence as a leader of the AAFT during a second wave of protests, subsequently becoming a popular but controversial figure for his heated remarks, which many variously characterized as radical, inflammatory, or even revolutionary. In late 2019, Sion came into contact with Prince Veremundo and subsequently set up a rapport with the equally controversial figure, culminating in agreeing with him to establish the United Republic of Gran Aligonia. Sion campaigned for the 2020 election in the republic while maintaining his duties as Interim Chancellor; he lost the election to Artús Montecalvo but continues to maintain a prominent political presence on the archipelago.

Early life

Leuter Gardono Sion was born in Cagliavale, Gran Aligonia in 1965 to Maria-Rosa and Vonticio Sion, educated bureaucrats and entrepreneurs exploring the then-infant field of personal computers. For much of his childhood, Sion reported enjoying the sights and streets of Cagliavale, and called his preliminary schooling experience "idyliic without a doubt, yet concealing its own demons. In his adolescence, Sion got into to different minor incidents with the Xendarmeria, both involving cases of mistaken identity, as the young Sion, being red-haired and fit, had been repeatedly mistaken by passers-by to be XXXX, of South Ottonia. In response to the "corruption" of several city squares by "inconsiderate wealthy visitors", Sion lobbied successfully at the local level as part of a Civil Student Society attached to his high school, though his case was dismissed immediately as it began to gain prominence in Villa Romera. During this time, Sion briefly endeavoured to become a musician, serving as the Bassist for alternative rock band Cardboard God and for thrash punk band Sick Leave.

In 1981, only a month after the young Sion had turned sixteen, his father told him that the family was to move to Villa Romera, where Sion's father had gained a prominent job as a programmer of early personal computers for Vetricolor. Sion reports "immediately falling in love" with the city, and then again to his future first wife, Mariña Mella, in his graduating year of high school. After recieving an academic scholarship, Sion attended University of Villa Romera with his then-girlfriend, afterwards spending some time abroad in South Ottonia and later in Villnueve, Lyncanestria, where he would work odd jobs, "get to know the most interesting people out after seven", and occasionally market computers sold by Vetricolor, of which he was poised to inherit several hundred thousand florins' worth of stock upon his father's death. A year into his life in Villnueve, Sion began studying Political Science at the National School of Arts and Social Sciences, where he often butted heads with professors and administrators alike over what Sion later described as a "law of dogma" surrounding the possibilities of the Belisarian political system in any of its permutations. In 1989, after graduating with a Master's in Political Science, Sion married Mella and began to plan his return to Gran Aligonia.

Early career

Sion began work as a writer and later as an assistant editor for Aligonian newspaper of record, Xornal Xeral de Aligonia, in 1990, where he quickly scored several of the year's top articles, but found himself increasingly "jaded by the ability of journalism to really swing the pendulum" after several of his articles calling for increased legislative power in the then-Principality caused him to receive a temporary suspension from publishing. Furious at the majority shareholders, the del Villar family, Sion sued the newspaper and its official owner Duke Alexandre del Villar for 15 million florins, alleging that del Villar had "deliberately physically threatened the well-being of [his] family", and that he had been restricting publication of positively-spinned stories on his rival, Prince Virxillio. Sion won the case, but only made a profit of 3.9 million florins after having to pay his law firm.

Leuter Sion interviewed by XXANO in 2005.

In 1994, Sion finally left XXA after spending a year in court and other forms of legal limbo. Deciding that he needed to cause more lasting impacts against the corruption he had witnessed, Sion decided to tap into the UVR alumni network and search for fellow activists. It was during this time that Sion divorced from Mella, who had urged him against going into politics. In 1996, after a year of fundraising, Sion met Bianca Malbi-Arceo, a prominent philanthropist of lower-noble birth, and married her in early 1997. Using his new wife's prominent financial assets, and with her support as a talking head at galas and fundraisers, the Sions promptly created the Aligonian Alliance of Free Thought (AAFT). A strong and internationally respected proponent of Aligonian democracy, the organization served as the chief face of the protests of 2005. Sion personally headed many protests and often gave speeches and television interviews, serving as the public face of the AAFT. By 2005, the Xendarmeria had an internal mutiny of members unwilling to continue policing the protests. Subsequently, Duke Virxillio passed the Valladares-Botello Act, which expanded the powers of the Grand Ministry by introducing veto power.

Though Malbi-Arceo had become the public face of the organization among meetings with high-level donors, Sion instead continued his work in investigative journalism regarding the ins-and-outs of the Aligonian government. Sion was arrested twice for "seditious speech" in 2009 but was released after the local Villa Romera court dismissed the charges in 2010.

AAFT Leadership and 2018 protests

After unsuccessfully running for the seat of North Salgado near Villa Romera in 2015, Sion divorced Malbi-Arceo, citing "irreconcilable differences". After the divorce, Sion assumed leadership of the AAFT, with his ex-wife moving to Vardana. He soon began organizing protests and electoral candidates, while hosting a political commentary web-show called "Charla de Pensamento Gratuíto" (Ang: Free Thought Talk). Sion's use of the internet to influence voter-bases and market his political party is considered one of the pioneering uses of the internet in international politics and has drawn comparisons to other grassroots political movements worldwide, such as the Ostrozavan Red Wave and Artús Montecalvo's successful campaign against him in 2020. Throughout the mid-late 2010s, Sion, as the leading left-of-center voice on the Archipelago, often made endeavors to psychologically understand his opponents, notably asking for letters or e-mails from monarchists to be sent to him anonymously in 2016.

This 'letter campaign' initially held a reputation of being a publicity stunt even within the AAFT, but this changed when Sion revealed internally that one of the people writing to him had been Prince Veremundo himself. Intrigued by the Prince's proclivity for discussing the failures of monarchy with what was his government's main republican rival, Sion continued to develop a rapport with Veremundo. By late 2017, various Aligonian conspiracy and papparazi sites had begun to catch wind of Sion's casual referral to the Prince in conversation, but further communication between the pair would continue to remain unproven for some time. Though Sion had begun plans for a run as Mayor of Villa Romera in the 2018 election, growing undercurrents in anti-monarchist sentiments began to accelerate after Archbishop Hugo Marin of Sidora excommunicated the Abelláns and several other prominent families from the Fabrian Church, attributing this to the 'decadence and waste of these dynasties' younger members'. Early 2019 saw the beginning of what would become the Gran Aligonian protests of 2019, and though organized in large part by Sion and the AAFT, many other undercurrents of chaos persisted which hampered the protestors' attempts to move as a unified force on issues.

Though Sion initially challenged Marin, but after the Archbishop's words begat a movement idolizing a transition to a form of Sarpetic socialism, Sion approached Marin and began discussions to create a united front. Despite early successes in negotiations, communications burnt down in May of 2019 after a verbal altercation between Sion and Marin. Subsequently, the AAFT was approached by Olaya Cadavid of the Migrant Workers's Union of Aligonia, with whom he quickly re-established a path towards creating a concrete continuation of the government. Throughout this time, Prince Veremundo continued to communicate with AAFT and MWU leadership behind the scenes, with many witnesses describing his tone of voice over video call and phone as "resigned" or even "depressed".

Finally, on 16 December 2019, Veremundo released his address of abdication, admitting to the public and international community that he had been communicating personally with Sion in light of the decline of the Gran Aligonian monarchy. Sion acknowledged that the move had involved many other governmental ministers and bureaucrats dissatisfied with their jobs.