Mohammed el-Faswa

The Right Honourable Mohammed el-Faswa OSCG (post.)
محمد الفتوى‎‎
31st Prime Minister of the Aininian Republic
In office 5 August 1982 – 17 July 1988
President	Jean-Marie Breton
Preceded by	Émile Berthelot
Succeeded by	Jérome d'Ardouin
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 6 March 1979 – 17 July 1988
Deputy for Marlane―Quatre-Moulins
In office 10 May 1978 – 17 July 1988
Mayor of Quatre-Moulins
In office 24 March 1972 – 1 March 1976
Personal details
Born	(1926-01-24)24 January 1926 Saint-Martin, East Notasia
Died	17 July 1988 (aged 62) Fort-Françilien, Risagne
Nationality	Aininian
Political party	Social Democratic
Spouse	Fatima Nuri
Alma mater	University of Talon
Profession	Economist
Military service
Allegiance	Ainin
Branch/service	File:Ainarmy.png Aininian Army
Years of service	1951 - 1956
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	217th Infantry Brigade, 1st Armoured Division
Battles/wars	Nautaryan Revolution

Mohammed el-Faswa (24 January 1926 – 17 July 1988), sometimes known simply as Mohammed Faswa, was a politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of Ainin, becoming the first and so far only Arab, Muslim and Nautaryan-born person to do so, from July 1982 until his assassination in July 1988. A member of the Social Democratic Party, his term coincided with a major transformation of Aininian society and foreign policy.

Born in the then-Aininian province of East Notasia to a doctor and a university administrator, he grew up in the affluent Saint-Martin suburb of La Savanne. After secondary school, he was conscripted into the Aininian Army but deferred university after the required two years of service to obtain a promotion of sergeant. He fought for Ainin against revolutionaries during the successful Nautaryan Revolution. At its conclusion in 1955, he was evacuated to Ainin and granted an honourable discharge. He then attended the prestigious University of Talon on a scholarship, from where he graduated summa cum laude with a doctorate in economics.

He settled in Quatre-Moulins, Montagnes and took up a short stint at the National Agricultural Bank. He was elected in 1972 as the city's mayor, becoming the first Muslim mayor of any Aininian municipality. He was then elected in 1978 as Social Democratic deputy for Quatre-Moulins in the National Assembly of Ainin, becoming the first Muslim deputy in metropolitan Ainin and coming into the national spotlight. After the disastrous 1978 election, he launched an insurgent bid for the party leadership and was narrowly elected SDP leader, making political history once more. In the aftermath of the Recession of 1980, he led the Social Democrats to victory in the 1982 election and became prime minister.

Domestically, his ministry oversaw the economic recovery after the Recession of 1980, the increased role of government in enterprise, the introduction of affirmative action programs known as the Preferential Laws, and the passage of the Twenty-third Amendment to the Constitution of Ainin which created a de facto federal system of government. Internationally, he coined the Faswa Doctrine which emphasised on the necessity of international cooperation between liberal democracies, began negotiations for Aininian accession to the Esquarian Community, and oversaw major improvements in Namo-Aininian relations that paved the way for the establishment of the West Esquarium Treaty Organisation.

On 17 July 1988, he was shot and killed on the steps of the Fort-Françilien Museum of Contemporary Art by white supremacist Benoît Proulx. His death caused widespread rioting in Muslim neighbourhoods throughout Ainin and led to street battles in Iberville. After a public funeral at the Grand Mosque of Huimont attended by half a million people, he was buried in the Muslim Cemetary of Huimont. Today, he is commemorated by numerous honours and has left an influential legacy that represents the apex of the Progressive Era of Aininian politics.

Early life and education

A portrait of Faswa from secondary school, c. 1939

Mohammed el-Faswa was born on 24 January 1926 in Saint-Martin, then-capital of the Aininian province of East Notasia, to doctor Alla Mahmoud al Faswa and University of Saint-Martin administrator Nadia Farouk. The Faswas lived in La Savanne, the most affluent and a predominantly white district of the city. He was homeschooled until age 11, when he was enrolled in the La Savanne Vocational Academy, a prestigious secondary school.

Leadership of the Social Democratic Party

The Social Democrats under Faswa came into the 1982 election in a strong position. The Recession of 1980 continued to have major negative effects on the economy and the nation was still feeling the aftermath of the 1981 race riots and disastrous military intervention in Nautarya, making the ruling Progressive Conservatives extremely unpopular. The Social Democrats campaigned on the promise of economic recovery, social equality and international cooperation, emphasising on Faswa's cosmopolitan heritage to cast him as the flag-bearer of a new generation of Aininians that would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.

The Progressive Conservatives, on the other hand, ran a negative campaign that painted Faswa as a radical and attempted to play up his Muslim faith, associating him with Islamist extremists. These campaign tactics were roudly panned by media and public opinion, and contributed to the disastrous defeat suffered by the party in the election. The Social Democrats won 251 out of 433 seats in the National Assembly of Ainin while the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to 108 seats and a share of the popular vote barely larger than that of the Liberal Party.

Assassination

Vous désiriez la mort avant qu’elle se présentât, et lorsque vous l’avez vue, vous avez balancé.
Translation: Ye did indeed wish for death before ye met him: Now ye have seen him with your own eyes, and ye flinch!

Al Imran 3:143, Epithet on Mohammed Faswa's grave

Honours

Domestic

• Order of Saint-Charles the Great (posthumous, 1993)
• Mohammed-Faswa-Talonée Airport in Doval, Linaque
• Mohammed Faswa Boulevard in Huimont, Isle-Royale
• Place du Sergeant-Faswa in Fort-Françilien, Risagne
• Place Mohammed-Faswa in Iberville, Jaspère

Foreign

• Aucuria: Order of King Viltautas the Great, Commander's Cross (1985)
• Aucuria: Order of the Star of Liberty, Grand Cross with Chain (1989, posthumous)
• Katranjiev: Knight of the Order of Apostol I (1986)
• Luziyca: Order of Liberty, Knight (1984)
• Luziyca: Order of Liberty, Commander (1989, posthumous)
• File:Nautarya.png Nautarya: Martyr of Nautarya (1990, posthumous)