Giorgio Macciocchi

His Excellency Giorgio Macciocchi
Giorgio Macciocchi in March 2016
49th President of Marirana
In office 28th January 2013 – 28th January 2018
Prime Minister	Rosa Michelozzi Enzo Alfano
Preceded by	Dario Lorenzin
Succeeded by	Lorenzo Occhetto
Personal details
Born	(1969-02-19) February 19, 1969 Aquinas, Vittico, Marirana
Political party	Anti-Revolutionary Party
Other political affiliations	Coalition for Democratic Action
Spouse	1
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Aquinas
Occupation	Politician Economist

Giorgio Macciocchi (born 19^th February, 1969) is a Mariranan politician and businessmen who served as the 49^th President of Marirana from 2013 to 2018. He had previously served a the CEO of Ferrano di Gruppo, a mining conglomerate with interests in the construction, banking and mass media. He is a member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party.

Macciocchi was born the son of a mining magnate, succeeding his father as the chief executive of the company in 2001, subsequently expanding the company to also invest in construction, banking and mass media buying the company Trasmissione Giornaliera, the second largest media company in the country. He became involved in politics in 2006 when he was appointed by President Dario Lorenzin as the head of the committee for economic growth which suggested the creation of special economic zones. In 2012, he was sole candidate in the Coalition for Democratic Action presidential primary winning the presidency with 50.64% of the vote against left-wing candidate Lorenzo Occhetto.

Largely seen as a neoconservative, as President Macciocchi has taken a hardline approach to the war on drugs in Marirana, implementing a nationwide stop and search programme, giving police officers the authority to shoot suspected drug users on sight and expanding anti-drug police forces. He has also sought a military solution to the communist insurgency, although this has resulted in the war to escalate under his presidency. Macciocchi has also championed economic liberalism, overseeing privatisations and deregulation in response to the 2012 Mariranan recession. Macciocchi has attracted criticism for his expansion of police powers and disregard for civil liberties, which has led some to accuse Macciocchi of turning Marirana into a police state as well as being accused of corruption, nepotism and cronyism.

In 2017 Macciocchi was accused of embezzling money intended for relief of the 2016 Mederio earthquake, leading to opposition legislators to attempt to launch an impeachment process against him. However the House of Councillors failed to reach the qualified majority requiered to open impeachment proceedings against him. Macciocchi was the most unpopular Mariranan president since polling began in 1986 with his approval rating as of November 2017 standing at 2%. In 2018 he was succeeded by Lorenzo Occhetto.

Early life and education

Giorgio Macciocchi was born in 1969 as the first son of three children to a wealthy industrialist. His father Matteo was the CEO of the Ferrano di Gruppo, a mining conglomerate, whilst his mother Camilla is from a wealthy family of land owners.

Macciocchi had a private primary and secondary education, entering the University of Aquinas in 1977 at the age of 18 to study a degree in Economics, writing his dissertation on Economic Development in Asteria Inferior. During his university education he was supportive of the military governments economically liberal policies, and graduated from the university in 1981 to work in his father's company.

In 1988 following the restoration of democratic rule Macciocchi joined the Partito Anti-Rivoluzionario (PAR) which won government under Oliviero Michelozzi. Macciocchi was on the right-wing liberal side of the party, supporting economic deregulation and privatisation alongside a tough stance on the communist insurgency. Macciocchi worked as an adviser to the Michelozzi government, supporting the GIFA's Economic Restructuring Policies for Marirana that included liberalisation of financial markets, privatisation of the majority of state assets, cutting wages, austerity and eliminating subsidies. Critics contend these policies led to an increase of poverty and inequality in Marirana, although Macciocchi attributed these outcomes to economic reform being pursued to slowly.

When questioned about the military dictatorship in 2011, Macciocchi said "it is true that I supported economic reform...but I also supported political reform to democratic politics, as only with free elections and free markets can Marirana develop and grow."

Business Career

Macciocchi at a business conference in 2009

In 1996 Macchiocchi was appointed on the executive board of Ferrano di Gruppo. In 2002 his father retired as CEO of the company resulting in Macchiocchi to take over the company instead. In 2003 Macchiocchi announced the conglomerate would expand its investments in the construction industry announcing the company would pay for the development of over 2,000 luxury residential apartments in Santa Maria. The profits from this venture allowed the company to invest in banking services in 2004 and in 2007 purchase the Trasmissione Giornaliera media group, at the time the third largest mass media group in Marirana. Under Macchiocchi's direction the Trasmissione Giornaliera became the second largest media group in Marirana behind only the Quotidiano Nazionale.

In 2014 Macciocchi was reported to be one of the richest men in Marirana with a net worth of $500 million. The sources of funding of Ferrano di Gruppo's investments are unknown due to a complex system of holding companies. Some have speculated Macchiocchi's companies have colluded with organised crime to achieve such capital.

In 2006 President Roberto Vernizzi invited Macciocchi as the Chairman of the committee on economic growth. Macciocchi recommended that there should be the creation of special economic zones within the country where corporate, income and capital gains taxes would not be in effect ad regulations would be kept to a minimum. As a result the government in 2011 announced it had began the development of a SEZ in the Vittico province at the port town of Erbè near the capital.

2012-13 election campaign

Macciocchi campaigning in the 2013 election.

On the 20^th January 2012 Macciocchi announced online that he would seek to run for the Coalition for Democratic Action's (CAD) nomination for president. Stating he was "neither crook nor thief" (né truffatore né ladro) Macciocchi promised to promote international investment, reform the public sector and create jobs to deal with the 2012 recession as well as implement more stringent anti-corruption measures. In terms of security policy, Macciocchi called for militarising the police and transferring power to the executive to better deal with the Mariranan insurgency.

Macchiocchi quickly was recognised as by the elites in the CAD which recognised that after the unpopular presidency of Roberto Vernizzi and the success of political outsider Dario Lorenzin in 2008 that a non-political figure would be more likely to win the election. As well as this the leader of the CAD and Prime Minister Rosa Michelozzi was illegible to run being under the age requirement of 45. With left-wing candidate Lorenzo Occhetto rising in the polls Macchiocchi was quickly recognised by party bosses as the candidate best placed to win the election, resulting in him to be rubber-stamped as the CAD's candidate in their 2012 presidential primary.

Macciocchi during the election had strong support from press outlets of both the right and left alongside the political and business establishment. This led to Occhetto on the left and right-wing candidate Guglielmo Silva to characterise Macciocchi as the "candidate of the elite" which Macciocchi denied, stating he was the "outsider candidate" who would "reform government to run it like a business". Macciocchi accused Silva of wanting to return the military dictatorship and Occhetto of wishing to institute a left-wing authoritarian regime.

During the electoral campaign Macchiocchi made several controversial comments considered both racist and homophobic. In December 2012 he stated in a speech "look at drug dealers, look at where the drugs are...there's a problem with northern communities"which was widely seen as a dog-whistle racist attack of northern native people's communities. A week later he stated "I would rather this country be under communism than allow men to marry other men", later stating he had been "misquoted".

In the first round Macciocchi came second in the vote share with 9,101,225 votes (34.73%) to Occhetto's 9,963,391 (38.02%). In the second round Macciocchi narrowly achieved victory with 13,636,743 votes (50.64%) to Occhetto's 13,292,054 (49.36%).

President

Economic policy

Macciocchi's government has been largely defined by neoliberal economic policies. When Macciocchi came to power he inherited an economy in weak growth, with its foreign reserves depleted, its currency in free fall after a devaluation conducted in 2009 and a large fiscal deficit. As a result Macciocchi on the advice of the Global Institute of Fiscal Affairs implemented fiscally conservative policies slashing the state budget, privatising over 130 state-owned enterprises (mostly small firms) and reducing tariffs to encourage foreign-direct investment.

Macciocchi singing into law reform of the labour market.

On the 17^th March 2014 Macciocchi ordered for the lira to end the free-float it had experienced between 2011-2015 instead placing it under a managed float with an inflation target between 1-5%. After experiencing rocketing inflation from the devaluation in 2011 the transition to a managed float enabled a greater degree of economic stability.

In spring 2014 the government announced it would launch a reform of the pension system, raising the age of those eligible for the pension from 57 to 65 and privatising sections of the system to be handled by private pension schemes. The reform met strong opposition from sectors of civil society with Macciocchi's approval rating dropping as a result. However economists praised the move as helping fix a potential blackhole in the budget. Macciocchi following pensions reform stated that Marirana was "open to business" passing in March 2016 a law liberalising conditions for foreign direct investment and in June 2016 was able to pass through parliament a law creating a second special economic zone in the town of Veroli near Santa Maria.

In 2016 the government unveiled plans to overhaul the labour market that aimed to benefit employers and limit trade union power. This included a cap on damages that courts could award for unfair dismissals, greater protections for companies regarding legal action concerning unfair dismissals, multinationals being able to close loss-making plants more easily and stricter restrictions on the process of collective bargaining, with restrictions on such being already some of the most stringent in the world. Macciocchi's labour market liberalisation was heavily approved by international investors and the business sector but resulted in the approval rating of the government to reach record lows, with mass protests being held in Marirana's largest cities.

Under Macciocchi the economy went back to steady growth with the economy averaging 2-4% growth per annum. However, the economy still suffered from high levels of debt with Marirana having an external debt of $76,747,521,600 (35.01% of the nominal GDP). As well as this under Macciocchi the poverty level did not substantially decrease, standing at 54.27% in 2018, one of the highest in the region with the majority of economic growth being concentrated in urban centres and special economic zones. The escalation of the insurgency led to the government's surplus to decrease as the government increased military spending.

Foreign policy

Macciocchi with Asterian President Ronald White.

Views

Macciocchi has been considered an advocate for neoconservatism, supporting economic neoliberalism and a hawkish foreign policy whilst being more moderate on social issues. Macciocchi self-identifies as a "conservative with social empathy" with his rhetoric incorporating compassionate conservative and anti-communist themes. Macciocchi has condemned the Mariranan political system as being to bureaucratic and has called for it to be run like a business with greater executive decision making.

Macciocchi identifies as pro-life, but indicated that he would not veto a more liberalised abortion law if there was significant support in the Parliamentary Assembly. He has been accused of ignoring LGBT+ rights stating that when asked if his government would implement gay marriage that Marirana was "not ready" for such a move and that "there is a certain number of rules that cannot be removed". Macciocchi has said that his government will not re-introduce the death penalty and said reconciliation with native groups is "necessary" for Marirana to prosper.