Mafjas Skenterby

The Honourable Mafjas Skenterby
Prime Minister of Vyvland
In office 3 November 1996 – 30 April 1998
Preceded by	Anhelm Ferog
Succeeded by	Rikard Fegaad
Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 April 1998 – 28 August 2000
Preceded by	Rikard Fegaad
Succeeded by	Sofia Beket
Domestic Minister
In office 4 November 1994 – 3 November 1996
Preceded by	Denis Eeris
Succeeded by	Lisbef Goydkoiv
Welfare and Pensions Minister
In office 8 September 1988 – 25 June 1989
Preceded by	Welelm Snoifer
Succeeded by	Welelm Taolin
Member of Parliament for Vlud (province)
In office 25 June 1989 – 23 December 1993
Member of Parliament for Siveer-Wejros
In office October 1972 – 25 June 1989
Personal details
Born	200px (1937-12-28) December 28, 1937 Vlud, North Vyvland
Died	200px
Resting place	200px
Nationality	Vyvlander
Political party	Socialist Party
Spouse	Johana Aasmusder
Children	Anke Skenterby, Johana Skenterby
Parent	200px
Alma mater	University of Mafiy

Mafjas Skenterby (pronounced /maðjaz ʒenteɾbʉː/) was the Prime Minister of Vyvland from 1996 to 1998. He is a member of the Socialist Party, which he led from 1994 to 2000, in addition to being Domestic Minister (a position considered second-in-charge in the government) from 1994 to 1996. For his two years as Prime Minister, Skenterby led a coalition government with the Liberal Party and Greens. Skenterby's term in government was marred by disputes with then-President Erik Menjreng, who often refused to co-operate with Skenterby's government through frequent use of his veto power. As a result, the government collapsed after just under eighteen months in office, prompting an election, which saw Skenterby resign his position to Rikard Fegaad. Skenterby maintained his party leadership until 2002, when Sofia Beket took over the role.

Early life

Skenterby was the first Prime Minister of Vyvland to be born after the country's partition in 1935. He was born in the staunchly left-wing town of Wohldon (now Wohldon-Masiaas), which to this day is one of the poorest in Vyvland. However, his parents owned a relatively successful small chain of shops in the town and its surrounds, and were thus able to earn a decent living. Skenterby describes the experiences with abject poverty in his early life as guiding him to arrive at his left-of-centre political beliefs. He was one of three successive Prime Ministers to be educated at the University of Mafiy, one of the country's most successful universities.

Early political career

Skenterby entered into politics after having studied for a PhD in the subject in Mafiy. Initially, he stayed on as a part-time academic and lecturer at the university and ran for local seats, often to test particular campaigning methods for students. He also maintained a large number of other jobs during the period. This theoretical experience helped Skenterby to succeed in election for the seat of Siveer-Wejros, situated to Mafiy's immediate east, and then to rise through the ranks of the Socialist Party. Skenterby was first appointed to the National Commission under Abram Zymeker's third coalition in 1998, with the ministerial portfolio for Welfare and Pensions, a department which had just seen a great expansion in its budget.

The Socialists lost the following year's election, and Skenterby retired to the opposition benches as the Shadow Welfare and Pensions Minister, now representing Vlud province as a provincial party-list MP. A distinguished political debater, Skenterby was able to win the support of his party for its leadership election in 1994, prior to the general election of that year, and in replacement of Zymeker. The election saw Linda Sgartermaan's Liberal government resoundingly defeated after only ten full months in office, and thus the Socialists and Christian Democratic and Conservative Party enter a grand coalition under Anhelm Ferog, with Skenterby, as the junior partner's leader, becoming Deputy Prime Minister. Disagreements between the coalition partners over the handling of the bombing of the Luziycan military base at Syfmion in the Third Namo-Luziycan War ended the partnership prematurely. Thus, an election was called soon afterwards. As a result election, Skenterby's winning Socialists formed a coalition with the Liberals, with Skenterby therefore becoming Prime Minister.

Premiership

The 1996 parliamentary election coincided with a presidential election prompted by Enrig Dalder's resignation. This was won by KDC's Erik Menjreng, who proceeded to use an obstructionist policy. As such, Skenterby's term was the least productive in Vyvlander legislative history, with an average of one bill passed every forty days. For four months in 1997, no bills were passed, and large parts of the education system shut down, as no budget could be passed during the term. In early February of 1998, both the President and National Commission resigned, prompting a parliamentary election and presidential election at the end of April. Skenterby was resoundingly defeated in this election, with Rikard Fegaad's KDC winning 207 seats, the most won by any party since reunification.

Post-premiership

Despite the defeat, Skenterby remained as party leader until 2000, mostly maintaining the support of his party, as many perceived his time as Prime Minister to have been sabotaged my Menjreng. Through being the leader of the largest non-government party, Skenterby was appointed as Leader of the Opposition, although he made few gains against Fegaad's generally strong and popular government. In an unexpected decision, Skenterby decided to resign his position and call a party leadership election shortly before the 2000 party conference, which was won by Sofia Beket.

Skenterby continued to represent Vlud province until the 2009 general election. He has begun to write books on political history and electoral strategy since then, the most well-known of which is The Idiot's Guide to Election Victory (De Wuppmyndvrovyr ty Sdemgeweneng), which has sold over a hundred thousand copies around Esquarium in both light-hearted and more scholarly editions.