Phodric Dormond
Dr. Phodric Dormond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pantolaro of the Fostana | |
| Assumed office 10 September 2020 | |
| 1st Premier of the Caropsyne Pontanore | |
| In office 5 April 1993 – 14 May 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Fostana Rule |
| Succeeded by | Haldric Maldian |
| Member of the Pontiana | |
| In office 5 April 1993 – 14 May 1996 | |
| Constituency | Fornænda Pirus |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 19, 1948 Fornænda |
| Nationality | Caropsyne |
| Political party | Moderate |
| Spouse | Jena |
| Children | 1 daughter (Alsarta) and 1 son |
| Residence(s) | Fornænda (Pirus), Carops |
| Education | PhD Biochemistry |
| Alma mater | Imperial University Fornænda |
| Profession | Politician, Chemist |
Phodric Valanas Dormond (born: 19 May 1948) was the 1st Premier (Pontissiano) of the Caropsyne Pontanore following the end of sixty years of Fostana rule. The political ideology he established while in office has defined the divide in current Pontanore politics which persists to this day. He is currently a member (Pantolaro) of the Fostana.
Early Years and Personal Life
Phodric Dormond was born on 19 May 1948 in the Pirus District of Fornænda under Fostana rule. His father owned a chemist shop and his mother was a civil servant at the Education Directorate. The district he grew up in was abuzz with the construction of many housing projects to accomodate the influx of residents streaming in from the countryside in the years following the Great War. As a teenager, he would work in his father's chemist shop which would spark curiousity in the sciences. He also grew to love the piano since mother would teach him at night after finishing his homework. His talent as a pianist continues to this day.
Dormond would receive his doctorate in chemistry from the Imperial University Fornænda's Pologi College in 1970. He would meet his future wife Jena one night while taking a break from lab experiments as he was playing a piano in the fine arts building. She herself was a musician. Phodric would propose to her by playing and singing a tune he composed himself. Three years later they would marry and over the next five years have two children, Alsarta, their elder daughter and a son. Upon receiving his doctorate, he would join one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in a manageral role due to his extensive dissertation. The position paid very well and made raising his family sigificantly easier but he knew that many Caropsynes were less well-off than him. He and his wife would donate considerable Credita to charities, the Imperial University, and performing arts organizations - particularly those in Pirus. In the early 1980's, he would meet Haldric Maldian. In short order, both men would become close friends.
Political Career
Rise to Power
The aristocratic Fostana had been in control of Carops and her territories ever since they removed the last democratically-elected Premier and declaring a national emergency in 1933. Their grip on power had begun to collapse in 1990 as several members were implicated in a range of controveries involving improper member conduct and damaging social policies placed upon the country due to their longstanding reactionary politics. Dormond watched the heavy-handed supression of the Hermalas Socialist Uprising in 1991 and the Fostana's failed attempt to use the military to disperse the Ariatra Protests in 1992. This created a flame within him to do something about it and he didn't have to wait long for the opportunity to present itself as following the protests in Ariatra, Fostana Chair Rolmand Roth decreed that the Pontiana would be reopened and democracy would retored.
Elections were set for 3 April 1993. Dormond decided that the best way he could rebuild his beloved country was to run for the Premiership himself. Taking advantage of the business network he had been developing over the years, he would go on to establish and lead the Moderate Party. Reaching out to Maldian, the two crafted a manifesto that made it appear like they were the centrist party on the ballot when in fact in fact they were actually conveying an assortment of center-right policies, state intervenion in the economy, and strong civic nationalism coupled with an expansive military and police force. Maldian would be tasked with delivering Ariatra for the party. When the polls closed, the Moderates won the highest number of seats in the Pontiana, making him Premier by law, however, they did not have an outright majority to govern alone and was able to secure a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats and the Liberty Party after a day and a half of deliberations. He officially took office on 5 April 1993.
Premiership
On the first day of Dormond's Government, the Premier made a speech before the Pontiana and proclaimed the establishment of the Second Pontanore. His Premiership is recognized for having been responsible for the reconstruction of numerous Caropsyne institutions left behind during Fostana rule including the National Health Service and the educational system. His Government would invest three times the funds spent during the Fostana period into the military and the police forces. They claimed such a build-up was essential to the defense of the Pontanore and to properly project the nation's true strength. Unbeknownst to anyone except Dormond and Maldian, the Damosca would receive a considerable amount of the credits being invested. The build up was led by Maldian. Within six months, the Liberty Party left the coalition, but he still have enough votes to get his policies enacted.
Dormond was popular for much of his term at home as he peeled back many of the reactionary social policies enacted by the Fostana and helped to reduce unemployment which some had cited was a factor that contributed the 1992 Protest in Ariatra. Dormond received credit for getting the Pontiana to pass legislation to recognize the Pelsai community on Casona as the indigenous population and had its language and cultures protected by the Pontiana in 1995. His Government would also enact important environmental protections.
Abroad, however, things were not all calm. Dormond and his political ally Haldric Maldian (who had become both Defense and Interior Minister) began to implement aggressive foreign policies that were antgonistic against countries whose foreign policy disagreed with that of the Pontanore's. This included the Republic of Curiastan whom they believed to be a threat to long-term influence in developing countries. Respective countries would blame Dormond or the nation's intelligence service, the Damosca, for committing the attacks but this was always denied. Phodric had two big successes on the international stage. First was the signing of the Treaty of Taerisz with the Republic of Ardalia in 1994 which finally normalized relations between the two countries, aided by Foreign Minister Seranoda before their working relationship soured. Second, he met with the various heads of state of the numerous Thearean nations and amongst them they agreed on the basic framework that would eventually lead to the creation of the Thearean Community in 1997.
Downfall
Phodric Dormond fell from grace during the events of the Great Oil Crisis of 1996 where he was perceived as inept and slow to react to problems facing the Pontanore. Members of his own party including backbencher Alza Permentanna demanded his resignation. Foreign Minister Miria Seranoda fled to Ardalia where she gave a fiercely critical address on State Television on Dormond's involvement in the oil crisis, accused the Premier of being ruled by the Damosca who coaxed him into pursuing a violent and bloody foreign policy. Afterwards, she presented a dossier to the Pontiana's Executive Committee listing notable terrorist acts for which she claimed Dormond was responsible for orchestrating.
Seeing that he had lost the confidence of the Caropsyne people in response to the events that had unfolded and had word from his allies that a motion was being drafted to remove him from the Premiership, Dormond formally announced his resignation. Dormond was succeeded by Haldric Maldian after a snap election. Although the poll results presented a similar outcome to the election of 1993, Maldian was able to reestablish the original governing coalition by offering top ministries to his partners including the Liberty Party who had walked out six months into the Government.
After the Premiership
The once-popular Premier saw his influence largely evaporate following the events of the Oil Crisis. to Eda Pontanoresca, the former Premier was given a desk job at the Damosca by Bureau Chief Zarmal. The same story also stated that he would go on to seek treatment for depression at a secure hospital for a time. In 2000, his Moderate Party would become politically toxic to most voters because of his and Maldian's hardline foreign policies (influenced by Zarmal) that led to the violent Siege of the Pontiana. Seranoda, his former Foreign Minister, would become Premier and press forward with a far-left political agenda.
Dormond would keep to himself and consistently refuse to comment on the policies of his successors for the next twenty years. He has only recenly reappeared in the spotlight when it became known in the press that Dormond would be appointed by Premier Ilmer Yutrias to serve on the reformed Fostana as a former Premier. It is widely criticized in the media who called it out as one of his more controversial nominations.