Jens Haagensen

Jens Haagensen
Prime Minister of Lyngaard
In office 5 February 2003 – 21 February 2018
Preceded by	Rainier Wrensted
Succeeded by	Christoffer Burchardt
Leader of the Opposition
In office 8 May 1999 – 5 February 2003
Preceded by	Leif Erik Sørensen
Succeeded by	Stygge Palladius
Opposition Minister of Development, Investment, and Trade
In office 2 June 1997 – 8 May 1999
Preceded by	Ellen Holmstadt
Succeeded by	Peter Brixtofte
Opposition Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
In office 7 June 1994 – 2 June 1997
Preceded by	Steen Olsen
Succeeded by	Anders Suhm
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
In office 1 December 1988 – 22 February 1991
Preceded by	Bente Haugedal
Succeeded by	Nikolaj Hartvig-Møller
Personal details
Born	(1948-02-02) 2 February 1948 Regnhavn, Lyngaard
Political party	Socialistisk Arbejderparti (1964–present)
Spouse	Maria Munksholm (1978–present)
Alma mater	Regnhavn Polytechnical University

Jens Haagensen Is a Lynsk politician and the former Prime Minister of Lyngaard from 2003 to 2018, making him one of the longest serving prime ministers in the country. He served as leader of the Socialist Workers Party from 1999 until 2018, Leader of the Opposition from 1999 to 2003, and served in multiple government and opposition cabinet positions. He was a member of the Lundsthing from 1972 until his retirement from national politics in 2018. He has also served as a member of the Regnhavn City Council at various points, most notably from 1972-1984, 1986-1988, 1992-1999, and from 2019 onward.

Born in Regnhavn, Haagensen studied at the Regnhavn Polytechnical University after finishing his education at age 15, declining to attend gymnasium. He trained as a welder and eventually joined Metalarbejderforening, and became an apprentice welder. working as a fabricator and repairman for the shipping company Forenet Fragtselskab. He would soon be elected a ombudsman within MAF, later that year in 1972 he would successfully run for local city council in Regnhavn. The Socialist Workers Party, would add him to their list of ML's for the upcoming elections in 1972. He would serve multiple positions within the government. Most notably he would be a the Chief Advocate for the Ministry of Labor in the 70's, and later he was a member of the National Urbanization Board, Rural Affairs Board, and Chairman of the Board of Labor. He would also hold multiple Cabinet and Opposition Cabinet level positions. Most notably he served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs during the brief premiership of Niels Vemming from 1988 until 1991.

in 1998 Jens would challenge SAP leader Leif Erik Sørensen after the Mydtskov Affair, and won at that years party confrence with 64% of the vote. Haagensen tenure as opposition leader was seen as aggresive and disruptive. His criticisms of the National Rights and Security Act helped his party to win a majority in the 2003 elections. As prime minister, Haagensen enjoyed high popularity figures. He sucessfully renegotiated government contracts with the National Aviation Union, preventing a strike. he also finished the National Roads and Rail Initive, which doubled the length of the nations Freeway, and passanger rail infrastrcture. He maintained Lyngaards involvement in JSEC operations international, most prominently in Sulekh, and Upper Asema. He also passed the Tax Reform Package, which drastically changed how taxes were done in Lyngaard. He also passed the Møller-Mosklædteg Trade and Securities Act which set stricter regulations how the financial industry. He also passed the New Oppertunities Act, which oppened more trades, particularly pink-collar, and grey-collar work, to apprentiship systems that allowed people to work their way into a trade. as well as establishing new national guidlines on hiring and training people's formally convicted of criminal offenses.

Haagensen's party suffered from combative internal factions. After the proposal of the District Tax Reform Bill, Deputy Party Leader and Treasurer of the SAP, Berit Larsen would defect from the party and form her own, the Reform Coalition in 2014. Some voters would shift allegiance to the National Workers Coalition after Haagensen publicly rebuked the idea of establishing a new public housing credit scheme. His party would lose ground in the 2018 General Election, pulling the party to second place for the first time in nearly 20 years. Haagensen would resign leadership of the party after conceding defeat on election night. He would return to local city politics afterwards, which he had been intimately involved with for decades while an ML.

Since his departure from national politics, Haagensen has attempted to maintain a low, hyper localized profile. He is considered to be one of the best Prime Ministers of Lyngaard. His policies on public infrastructure and labor rights have made him a hero of the countries left. He his a philanthropist, supporting vocational schooling for teens and young adults, funding charities which help immigrants integrate into the workforce, and has donated much of his earnings to the Royal Cancer Research Institute. Critics will point to his handling of the Deir al-Bahr Incident, the Battle of Mina al-Abtal, and the Exchange Fraud Scandal. Despite this, Haagensen tends to rank above average, if not in the top 5 of prime ministers, according to yearly public surveys.

Early Life and Family

Haagensen was born to Carl Haagensen and Anna Margrethe Haagensen (née: Freuchen) in the Bækbro neighborhood of Regnhavn. His father worked as a Foundryman for Forenet Stålvirksomhed, while his mothered worked several jobs as a dressmaker, bookkeeper, and a domestic worker among others throughout his early childhood. He attended St.Hedvig State School. He was noted as an average student, noted by his teacher as enjoying pulp novels more than his studies. Once a teacher claiming him to be an "unmotivated ninny" in a letter to his parents. Haagensen would decline to attend Gymnasium after year 10. insead opting to pursue Vocational education at the Regnhavn Polytechnical University. There he trained as a welder. He would enroll in an apprensticeship program sponsered by the National Metal Workers Union, of which he would become a member in 1965. He would work at a ship yard, doing meantinance and repair work on large freight ships in the Regnhavn Port. Around this time he was known to have taken part in political demonstrations and rallies as part of the Leangue of Socialist Youths during the Royal Crisis. During a counter-protest in 1966 a young Haagensen would be stabbed in the leg by a far-right protestor, and then violently arrested by the police as they broke up the demonstration. After this Haagensen would become more directly involved in politics. He would be a member of the Workers Self-Managment Committee between 1967 and 1970, elevating his profile in party politics. He would also be made a Chair member of the MAF Local 278 Hall, and be tasked with youth outreach andd political organization.

Haagensen has five siblings, three older brothers, Aleksander, Gejr, and Reinhold, one younger sister, Anelise, and a younger brother, Byrge. Aleksander is a librarian in Bydug and is married with 1 child. Gejr is a former Førstesergent in the Lynsk Royal Army and now works as a translator. Reinhold was a trained auto mechanic, and semi-pro rallycross racer, who died in 1979 after sustaining injuries in a crash. Anelise is a practicing hemotologist, and Byrge is a public relations specialist working in the pharmacutical industry. Initiallly the family name was spelt Hågensen, documented as early as 1792 with Jakobus Hågensen, a peseant farmer in the Medøxnej River Basin recorded in church records after he had been confirmed and burried at the Cathedral of St. Luke the Beloved. After the Second Lynsk Civil War, Haagensens paternal ancestory Carl Henning Hågensen would emmigrate to Arcadia, settling down in Gotham, and later Clearwater where the family worked as fishermen. During this time the family would Albanise their name to Haagensen. in 1937 the Family would move back to Lyngaard, choosing not to revert their name back to the original orthography. This has caused some confussion, as the name is pronounced like Houn-sen, however in the albosphere his name is commonly pronounced HAG-en-son. A notable instance was when Arcadian president Harry Runningwolf Jenkins used the albonic pronunciation while introducing Haagensen at the 2007 JSEC Security Confrence. His maternal lineage is thought to have been descended from early indentured servants brought to the kingdom as early as 1629.

Political Career

Early Political Career

Logo of the National Metalworkers Union of Lyngaard, where Haagensen got his political start.

Haagensen would be elected an Ombudsman within the MAF in 1970, capping off a short career in activist politics. Since 1966 Haagensen had made a close friendship with Johannes Melkiorsson, an SAP politician in Regnhavn. Haagensen would be encouraged to run for City Council in 1972. Haagensen would launch his campaign in 1971, Doing public speaking events throughout the city. He ran on a platform of urban renewal, addressing the housing gap, and addressing the cities crime rate. He would win a seat, reprasenting District C12 on the council. Haagensen, at age 24 would be the youngest ever members of the council. Later that year, Local Party Leader Julius Neumann would recomend Haagensen's name be put on the list of new candidates for the Lundsthing in the 1972 General Election.Haagensen would be put on the list 3 month before the general election. Thanks to quirks in the lynsk political system, Haagensen could act as both a Councilman, and a ML similtaniously.

Before the General Election, Haagensen helped to mobilize student activitist in pentioning public rail extentions to St. Maud's University, Vemming University of Liturature and Fine Arts, the Ipsen Institute of Engineering and Practical Sciences, and the Regnhavn Polytechnical University. Which was approved by the SAP majority. His last policy before the general election was the allocation of $27 Million to instal 47 pedestrian footbridges, spanning the M9, and M3 Freeways that pass through the city. Allowing for pedestrians to cross these large streets safely, connecting more communities and granting people greater freedom of movement. The foot bridges would finish construction in 1979.

Member of the Lundsthing (1972-1988)

Haagensen served a junior Member of the Lundsthing (ML) from 1972 to 1977, during this period of time he was the parties spokesperson on labour affairs in Regnhavn and the South Cost Megalopolis Region.