Pila Ebadeldar

Her Excellency Pila Ebadeldar MP
President of Sarenium
In office 3 July 2006 – 3 July 2016
Preceded by	Henrram Bligoukar
Succeeded by	Katayos Keria
60th Prime Minister of Sarenium
In office 6 October 1992 – 10 March 2004
President	Henrram Bligoukar
Deputy	Siyamalor Bernah
Preceded by	Fereshus Kazin
Succeeded by	Berar Hadiciar
Leader of the Opposition
In office 10 June 1990 – 6 October 1992
Preceded by	Hushlavius Mancator
Succeeded by	Khashavid Noore
Leader of the National Labor Party
In office 10 June 1990 – 10 March 2004
Preceded by	Huslavius Mancator
Succeeded by	Berar Hadiciar
Personal details
Born	Pila Shiresta Ebadeldar (1947-06-21) 21 June 1947 Barcelona, Province of Iberia, United Republic of Sarenium

Pila Shiresta Ebadeldar (Born 21 June, 1947) is a Saren politician, who served as the ~~th president of the United Republic from 2006 till 2016. She previously served as the 60th Prime Minister of Sarenium from 1992 until 2004, and as Premier of the Province of Iberia from 1982 until 1990. She led the National Labor Party from her entrance into federal politics in 1990 until her retirement as Prime Minister in 2004. She led the National Labor Party to a landslide victory at the 1992 general election, and replicated similar results at both consecutive general elections, 1996 and 2000, when she remained leader. Ebadeldar retired as Prime Minister and resigned her seat in Parliament in March of 2004, being succeeded by her Foreign Secretary Berar Hadiciar. She became known as a member of 'New Labor', as many of her political views reflected a pioneering 'pragmatic ' political philosophy. She is the longest serving Saren Prime Minister in modern history, while being the longest serving woman Prime Minister and longest serving National Labor politician to hold the office. She was also became the first Labor Leader to hail from a parliamentary seat in Iberia, and the first Labor Premier of Iberia not from Adalia, Madrid or Sevilla.

Born and raised in Barcelona, Ebadeldar attended Barcelona Elementary School, before advancing into Barcelona Middle School and lastly concluding her formal schooling at the Barcelona Advanced Secondary College in 1965. She gained admission into the University of Granada for her undergraduate studies, obtaining a Bachelor of Science (Honors) and graduating in 1969. She worked as an engineer at Hispano Automotive for the next few years before seeking preselection to the Iberian Legislative Assembly in 1974. At the 1978 election she was one of three Labor members of the Assembly, and sought leadership of the small caucus. She made history leading the caucus to a victory at the 1982 provincial election, and was re-elected at the 1986 and 1990 provincial elections. Shortly after her re-election, changes at the federal level provided opportunity for her to seek preselection and entry into federal politics. Easily winning the by-election for Gràcia in 1990, she was promptly elevated to national party leader and would go onto winning the 1992, 1996, and 2000 national general elections.

On her retirement from party politics and the Saren Parliament, she capped off a twenty-two year career serving between provincial and federal politics. After a short hiatus, she was nominated for and elected as President of the United Republic at the 2006 Presidential election. Her nomination was supported by the vast majority of MPs, and she faced no opposition after the parliamentary vote and was thus declared elected unopposed. As President she appointed three of the current seven Judges on the High Court of Sarenium, and utilized the platform of her office to push both of her Prime Ministers to address the nation's overdependence on foreign oil. She became patron of in excess of three hundred associations in addition to the existing associations traditionally patronaged by past Presidents. She retired from the office of President in 2016 and was succeeded by Katayos Keria.

Early life and education

Ebadeldar was born Pila Shiresta Ebadeldar on 21 June, 1947 at the Barcelona Women's and Children's Hospital, in Western Barcelona. She completed her schooling in Barcelona, attending Barcelona Elementary School, and Barcelona Middle School, and lastly Barcelona Advanced Secondary College after which she obtained her ICE.

One classmate of hers would go on to become a later political ally as Chair of the Iberian Trades Council, Manoucus Carroya. Ebadeldar became the first in her family to attend University, utilizing a Thamesen Grant to attend the University of Granada. While at the University of Granada, she would become a member of Iberian Young Labor, and would be elected President of the Granada University Student Union (GUSU). In this capacity, and as a student activist, she spearheaded formation of the Provincial Association of Students in Iberia (PASI), and became it's first President. Upon graduation, Ebadeldar remained politically active while working as an engineer for Hispano Automotive. A union delegate, and part-time campaigner, she sought preselection in 1974 for the Iberian Legislative Election to the Conservative-held seat of Eixamples.

Entry into Iberian politics

Ahead of the 1974 Iberian general election, a multi-decade series of Conservative governments was widely expected to be re-elected. Iberian Labor held no seats in the Barcelona metropolitan area, and Pila Ebadeldar was among a group of young guns deemed likely to run - and lose unwinnable races. On election night, she and four other Labor candidates flipped Conservative seats across Iberia, nowhere near enough to deliver a Labor government in Iberia, but wins that immediately elevated their national profiles. None more than the former student activist and engineer, who won the seat of Eixamples off a Conservative incumbent of thirty years. The seat of Eixamples covers Barcelona's immediate inner-West and at the time was the site of a rapid increase in population as Barcelona's second wave of urbanization took place. Driven by young professionals, new students, and a new wave of migrants, Ebadeldar's victory led to an immediate promotion to shadow cabinet as Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Shadow Assistant Minister for Youth.

In 1978, despite popular Iberian Prime Minister Arge Alach being deposed in a party room coup by Caleh Soroud, the Iberian Conservatives themselves remained in a dominant position. Driven mostly by popular Premier Baston Aritroyan, and an unpopular strike among farmworkers in Andulasia hampering the Labor campaign, Iberian Labor was reduced to three seats at the 1978 provincial election. Labor retaining the seat of Eixamples was considered particularly shocking, as it was the only Labor-held seat to swing towards Labor. In light of this, and with the support of then-Secretary of the Iberian Trades Council Manoucus Carroya, Ebadeldar was unanimously elected Opposition Leader.

Provincial Opposition Leader

With Premier Aritroyan entering a third term as Premier, expectations were generally that Pila Ebadeldar would be a short-term Opposition Leader until such time as the Iberian Labor Party could find a stronger leader. The then thirty-one year old Opposition Leader's youth was considered a political weakness, and her holding a seat widely expected to return to the Conservatives on her retirement was viewed as likely un-endearing to party leadership, and the wider ILP. Further, aided by Manoucus Carroya, she embarked on a strategy to reorient the Iberian Labor Party's dedication to socialism towards policies viewed as friendlier to the middle class. As Opposition Leader she opposed the introduction of the provincial GST, labelling it regressive and cruel, while introducing amendments to exempt fruits, petrol and other 'daily goods for survival'. Her address in July 1979 near Seville attacking the Tories for 'shameful nondevelopment, visionless complacency and a failure to innovate', led to a boost to her personal approvals and resulted in the ILP drawing even with the Conservatives for the first time in over four decades in public opinion polling. Throughout 1980 she positioned the ILP as the party of visionaries, proposing new policies on housing, transport and productivity. Her proposals for Iberian high speed rail from Barcelona to Adalia via Madrid as a means of economic revitalization and encouraging sustainable growth became the cornerstone of her Premiership later on.

By 1982, initial expectations four years earlier of a narrowly re-elected Aritroyan Government were replaced by misplaced predictions of a close election. Instead, in March of 1982, the Iberian provincial election resulted in the election of Pila Ebadeldar's Iberian Labor in a landslide election win. She became Iberia's second female Premier, it's youngest Premier and it's first Premier from the ILP in over forty years.

Premiership

First term

Ebadeldar wasted little time assembling a ministry of newly minted politicians. Many of her ministers being first-term members of the Iberian Legislature, and a significant share holding little to no political experience prior to election. She opted to serve as her own Treasurer, and as newly created Minister for Women. As the first Labor Premier of Iberia in over forty years, the Ebadeldar Government embarked on a wide ranging set of reforms. Donah Corcorah and Gregorastan Bijanor were made Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Education respectively as the two most senior members of the caucus and fellow survivors of the 1978 wipeout. Corcorah was also made Deputy Premier and as the public face of infrastructure projects in the state developed a personal rusted on appeal within the wider electorate.

Between 1982 and 1986, the Ebadeldar Government sought to enact a wide range of liberalist reforms, most of these reforms were met with opposition from the Conservative benches. At the time, the Council of Citizens, which formed the upper house of the Iberian Legislature was dominated by non-Labor entities, and remained held by the Conservative majority and it's allies in the Farmers Bloc, Civic Union and other independent groupings. Ebadeldar herself had originally wanted to negotiate compromises with the Council, but was persuaded by her cabinet to wage a public war against Councilors for exercising overreach from their traditional perch of reviewing a sitting Government's legislation. She critiqued Conservatives for offering no constructive solutions, and labeled them the No-No-No Caucus. She bargained with the Farmers Bloc predominantly to break the Conservative blockade to in turn be able to enact her reforms.

In her first budget she began what became known as the Ebadeldar Era in Iberia. Funding for the arts was tripled, funding for highways not yet commenced was redirected into public transport projects, and farmland was protected from further suburban sprawl by the Iberian Housing Act requiring greater urbanization, leading to the lifting of 'maximum heights' in the province's major metropolitan areas. local councils were also partitioned in Adalia, Madrid and Barcelona, and to a lesser extent in Seville, Lisboa, and Porto. The intended outcome of greater inner-city voices was achieved with the election of new Labor Mayors in all of those major cities' inner core. Further political reforms were achieved in 1984, ending a period of subtle malapportionment which had contributed to forty years in opposition for Iberian Labor, by creating the Electoral Commission of Iberia which redrew the electorate boundaries in time for the 1986 election. The size of the Iberian Legislative Assembly was increased by a factor of one-half to facilitate greater representation across the province, and achieve support from the Farmers Bloc and Civic Union in reforming the Citizen's Council, to facilitate a more representative chamber. This was achieved by requiring all members of the Council to be elected on a province-wide slate, and increasing it's size from twenty-four to thirty. While half would continue to be elected at each election, the wealth requirements were abolished, and it's electoral roll was united with the legislative assembly's. Laws allowing voters aged sixteen or seventeen to pre-register to vote were enacted, and the fine for failing to vote in provincial elections raised from a meaningless 10c₹ to 10₹, representing a factorial increase of 100. Polling places were made more accessible and established in universities, churches, schools and public parks to minimize 'excuses' to note vote. Lastly, an early voting period was introduced of one week alongside roving polling centers in remote and regional parts of the province.

Pila Ebadeldar represented a new form of Labor Premier, and as Premier of the most populous, and most economically vital province, she engaged in conflicts with Prime Minister Caleh Soroud on more than one occasion. Her proposed high speed rail plan would be more amenable to the public if federal funding could be provided, while the federally proposed tertiary education reforms required unanimous support among provincial Premiers to ensure national consistency. When in late 1984 Soroud declared "no federal funding for Iberian pipe dreams", Ebadeldar announced the province would "ensure our universities are equitable, open and accessible", ending the Soroud Government's plans for tertiary education reform. Her policies liberalizing access to abortions, introducing adoption for gay couples or fluoridating water were obstructed by the Citizen's Council and thus became platforms of the 1986 Labor campaign for a second term.

1986 Iberian election

Ebadeldar arrives in Salamanca to begin her second term as Premier of Iberia (March 8, 1986)

Expectations of a heated election floundered quickly as Ebadeldar embarked on a wide-ranging provincewide campaign, targeting all conservative elements in Iberia with various strategies. Most impactful was her successfully attaching Conservative Opposition Leader Handar Ronehr to the increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Caleh Soroud. Ronehr's opposition to Iberian High Speed Rail was further used to suggest he would cancel the planning works done to date. Ebadeldar made waves as a Labor leader visiting Gibraltar with the intention of plucking the seats of the south coast, widely considered blue ribbon seats from which champions of Conservative policies would emerge, her intention to produce competition in these regions proved successful on election night as the divisions of Gibraltar, Cadiz and Beltani proved upset wins. Retention of all Labor seats was a feat of it's own at the 1986 election, as was successfully flipping four open Conservative seats. In the end, the Ebadeldar Government was declared re-elected early in the night with strong swings in it's favor.

Second term

Returning to Salamanca with a greatly improved mandate as Premier, she declared herself a champion for nation-leading reforms. With her reforms leading to the end of conservative control of the Citizen's Council, she was required instead to negotiate with her choice of the Liberal Party, the newly formed Iberian Greens, or the Civic Union. All three parties supported the newly elected Premier's mini-budget in November of 1986 funding construction of a high speed rail link from Adalia to Adalia International Airport, and from Madrid to Barcelona. With the latter considered particularly important for viability, she advocated for the Soroud Government to offer some federal support. After the Premiership Conference in December of 1986, it is reported that she informed her cabinet to expect Soroud to face greater challenges in the new year. In February of 1987, Soroud faced a leadership challenge from the backbench to no avail. The wound was however significant and enabled Ebadeldar to attack Soroud with increasing frequency on various fronts. In March that year she attacked the federal government as 'cowardly and inept'. Weeks later she attacked them as 'visionless and tired'. Her attacks culminated in an address to the national press club in August of 1987 laying out both the case for high speed rail funding federally before launching into a press conference that lasted in excess of four hours, as the Premier insisted on answering every single question possible. Her insistence and prowess bolstered her own national profile as a 'desirable Prime Minister', and is seen as the beginning of her foray into federal politics.

Within weeks, fellow Iberian Sialum Hawhin, Soroud's Minister for Industrial Relations was elected the new Conservative Leader federally and begrudgingly agreed to fund the remainder of the line from Madrid to Adalia. The new Prime Minister's announcement was upstaged by the Premier announcing that freed up provincial funds would be used to fund two additional high speed rail lines, from Madrid to Gibraltar, and a Salamanca connection to Madrid. Widely considered to sour relations between the two Iberian women, Ebadeldar's victory after five years of advocacy for federal funding freed her hand to pass a range of liberal social laws, including an abortion access law of free access up to twenty-six weeks and limitations thereafter, a law permitting adoption of gay couples engaged in civil unions or defacto relationships of over five years, drinking liberalisation, and policing reform that restricted preemptive policing and encouraged more community engagement when policing.

In the January 1989 issue of the National Times, she was declared 'Person of the Year', a widely commented upon snub of the recently re-elected Prime Minister Sialum Hawhin who's hard fought re-election into a Coalition Government had paled in comparison to the 'beacon of positivity and good government from the North'. Generally seen as likely to win re-election, potentially overwhelmingly, the provincial Conservatives struggled to obtain consensus on the right candidate to confront her bid for a third term in 1990. Accordingly, when the Conservatives put up a third opposition leader of that parliamentary term in September of 1989, Ebadeldar paid them no attention, occasionally using their predecessor's name and asking if they would still be around next week. Her demeanor never deviated from the traditional motherly kindness she espoused her entire career, and led to an approval rating as high as 71% in January of 1990, just two months before the provincial election. On March 1, 1990, the Iberian Conservatives conceded defeat over two weeks before the election was due to be held, to widespread mockery. Ebadeldar declined to accept victory, insisting that she would continue to campaign, and seek a 'proper mandate'.

She was re-elected in a triumphant landslide, erasing over half of the Conservative caucus, winning seats in parts of Adalia that had never offered the Labor party over 30% of the two-party preferred at any level of the seat, or at any booth. The scale of her victory reduced the Iberian Conservatives to a caucus of less than five members, and resulted in a major humiliation for the Hawhin Government considered part of the culmination of events leading to the resignation of Sialum Hawhin as Prime Minister in early February of 1991.

From Iberia to Seria

Shortly after Pila Ebadeldar's re-election to a third term, federal Labor MP for Gràcia, Boran Dastanen passed away after a long bout with bowel cancer. Dastanen had held the seat for over forty years and a Iberian Labor officials prevailed upon Premier Ebadeldar to consider entry to federal politics. Federal Labor Leader and Opposition Leader Hushlavius Mancator was determined to prevent this entry, as it would likely mean a challenge to his leadership shortly thereafter. At the close of nominations, the local branch nominated Pila Ebadeldar in absentia, while no other nominations were received. Ebadeldar then accepted the nomination and resigned as Premier and Provincial MP, winning the federal electorate handily at the by-election in late May 1990.

Within a week of being sworn in, Hushlavius Mancator was challenged to a spill motion by Iberian backbenchers furious at his futile attempted intervention in local preselection matters. Ebadeldar did not participate in the public debate, until after the spill motion passed. Mancator was forced to step aside in an upset defeat against "Another Candidate", and Ebadeldar was drafted by the Iberian caucus, who crossfactionally supported her as new Federal Leader. She was challenged by two other candidates from various provinces, but won handily on the first ballot, with both candidates immediately endorsing her thereafter.

1992 general election

Shortly after assuming federal leadership of the Labor Party, Labor under Ebadeldar assumed a narrow national lead predicated entirely on her popularity in Iberia. Labor enjoyed an average of 60% of the two-party preferred vote in Iberia, an increase of approximately fifteen points from the previous general election in the two years between Ebadeldar's ascent and the general election. Over the following two years, Ebadeldar toured each province with extended publicity, and highlighted Conservative policy differences with precision. Her emphasis on local campaigning for such an extended period led to known federal Labor figures leading the parliamentary rebuke of the Hawhin Government. This had the effect of increasing the visibility of the wider Labor frontbench, and presenting the NLP as a Government-in-waiting. Shadow Transportation Secretary Berar Hadiciar became pivotal in rebuking the Hawhin Government on rail, Meteh Elianam as Shadow Finance Secretary became well known for toe-to-toe matches against Hawhin's Finance Secretary Fereshus Kazin. This enabled the NLP to run a broad national campaign with multiple well known faces by the general election.

Further reforms internally democratized party participation, and emphasized party organization ahead of an election modelled on the Iberian Labor Party's success. Lastly, Ebadeldar rebuked the hard-left of the party and openly encouraged them to leave or win, delivering an address at the 1992 NLP Conference that appealed to voters without niche ideological elements. Her embrace of market-oriented solutions was seen as a rebuke of the Holamites within the NLP. By election day, 1992, the NLP had led every national opinion survey for over two years, and would be swept into office with a landslide majority.