Anya Bishop

Anya Bishop
37th President of Zamastan
In office January 23rd, 2019 – November 9th, 2019
Preceded by	Zacharias Castovia
Succeeded by	Foley Sakzi
Congresswoman for Zian-3
In office September 22nd, 2014 – January 23rd, 2019
Succeeded by	Abbie Chapman
Personal details
Born	(1984-06-02) 2 June 1984 Nanaimo, Zian, Zamastan
Citizenship	Zamastanian
Nationality	Zamastanian
Political party	Blue Conservative Party (Zamastan)
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Domestic partner	Marcus Fraiser
Children	Cynthia Fraiser
Residence	Zian Presidential Mansion
Education	Zamastan Southwest Univeristy
Military service
Allegiance	Zamastan
Branch/service	Zamastanian Air Force
Years of service	2003-2014
Rank	Captain
Unit	23rd Fleet
Battles/wars	Second War in Vulkaria

Anya Bishop is a Zamastanian politician who served as the 37th President of Zamastan, succeeding Zacharias Castovia following his resignation on January 23rd, 2019. She was elected in an emergency referendum, in which she won 53% of the vote. She did not remove any members of the Presidential cabinet following the transfer of power. Her term was marked with controversy over questionable ethics decisions, a criminal probe into her chief of staff, and her combative relationship with the press. Following an order in which she dispatched military forces against "PoverTea" Movement protesters, she was condemned by both the Congress Chamber and the Senate and was then voted out of office through a vote of no-confidence. Another emergency election followed, putting Speaker of the Chamber Foley Sakzi in power.

During her presidency, she oversaw a period of economic downturn for which she was blamed by both sides of the political spectrum. Bishop famously lashed out against liberal party members who criticized her on her policies. She withdrew from the 2013 Nuclear Comprehensive Plan after a personal spat with Zayyaan al-Akhtar, raising concerns that Zalluabed would restart their nuclear arms program. Before her presidency, she was a congresswoman from Zian's 3rd District, prior to which she served in the Zamastanian Armed Forces in the Zamastanian Air Force for 11 years, becoming the force's youngest ever female pilot. Bishop was the second female President of Zamastan, the first being Elene Abotsford. In post-presidency, Bishop remains largely isolated from politics and rarely attends public events, opting to not attend official presidential functions including the state funerals of Quinn Werner and Elijah Daniels.

Early life and education

Anya Gantia Bishop was born in Nanaimo, Zian, Zamastan on June 2nd, 1984. Her parents were Timothy Anderson Bishop, a prominent lawyer in the Tofino-metro area, and Martha Perisha Bishop was one of Zamastan's most prominent criminologists. Being raised in a "law-and-order" family, Anya attended primary school in the Tofino school districts in campuses popular with policemen's and politician's children. In 1998, when Anya was 14, her mother was killed in one of Tofino's most crime-ridden neighborhoods while assisting police on an investigation. This event shook Timothy's professional career, and he descended into heavy drinking and eventually became destraught in his relationship with Anya. Anya left her home to attend Zamastan Southwest Univeristy, where she studied Criminal Justice and Political Science, as well as history and psychology.

Air Force

She graduated in 2003, after only two years, and joined the air force. At this time, Zamastan was embroiled in the Second War in Vulkaria, and Anya became the Zamastanian Air Force's youngest pilot at the age of 19. She flew 34 recorded sorties and provided air cover for ground forces in the cities of Amstelveen and Barneveld. At one point, her plane took damage from a surface to air missile, and the glass covering of her jet was ripped apart in mid-air. She was able to land the plane and survive to complete another 8 sortie missions before the Zamastanian forces withdrew. She continued to serve in the air force until her father's passing in 2014, at which point she was honorably discharged.

Political career

Following her absence from the air force, Anya ran for congress in the 3rd District of Zian, which includes the city of Nanaimo. She won her office seat on Election Day, September 22nd, 2014, running primarily on criminal justice reform and improvements to the state of policing in her district. She won consecutive terms in 2016 and in 2018.

Foreign Relations Committee

President Cassious Castovia appointed Bishop to the Foreign Relations Committee in late 2014. In 2015, she was part of a special envoy to Zalluabed, where she was one of several Zamastanian diplomats to meet with President Mohamed Abdollahia Mohamed. She was also one of the first Zamastanian politicians to visit Elastan during a state visit in 2017.

Other political action

She was one of the few members of the Conservative Party who stood against President Castovia's decision to use military force against Gladysynthia during the Gladysynthia Crisis in October and November of 2018, but she became a vocal supporter of the signing of the Treaty of Mönusÿnthys 2018-9B, which she attended as part of Castovia's diplomatic envoy.

January 2019 emergency referendum

Following the Delavian Bribery Scandal and the resignation of President Zacharias Castovia, she noticed her opportunity and announced her candidacy in the emergency election. Bishop was facing off against many candidates, four prominent candidates being Maisey Mcvey of the Conservative Capitalist Party (CCP) and Cain Blackwater of the Green Liberal Party (GLP). Individual candidates running independent campaigns were billionaire and Mayor of Providence Lonnie Obotsman, and oil tycoon Jacob Gregotsman. Bishop won the election on January 23rd, 2019, receiving nearly 53% of the popular vote across the several dozen candidates who were running.

Presidency

Domestic policy

Legislative

January 31st saw her first week as President end with humiliation in the political spectrum, as her education increase proposal was shut down by members of her own party due to worries regarding hiked taxes for middle-class families who were already enrolled in public education. The complete and sudden reversal by the Conservatives on their incumbent president was marked by The Tofino Times as a "betraying failure not seen by a President in the nation in fifty years".

On March 15th, 2019, Bishop marked her first legislative victory in the Congressional Hall, passing her proposed 2.6% increase for the defense budget. The budget diverted money from the Gladysynthian border defense - which was undergoing the process of demilitarization anyways - and put it towards a new aircraft carrier to operate as Zamastan's third, alongside the ZMS Upham and the ZMS Redeemer.

Many protests against her presidency and its economic policies occurred during the first months of her administration, specifically the "PoverTea" Protests, which often resulted in clashes between demonstrators and police.

On August 4th, 2019, Congress passed a sweeping gun control measure that banned most semi-automatic assault weapons and initiated a six-month buy back program. This was hailed as one of the best pieces of legislation signed by a modern Zamastanian president.

Economy

Bishop has been described as "the advocate of the free-market". As President she significantly reformed the banking sector, removing barriers to investment abroad, mandatory purchases of government securities and direct credit. Her administration introduced a major overhaul of the Zamastanian economy. They introduced a welfare to work program, led a program of privatization, reduced the size of the public sector, reformed and streamlined the taxation system and passed laws against monopolies and cartels with the aim of increasing competition. Bishop extended capital gains taxes from companies to individuals, which allowed him to enlarge the tax base while reducing taxes on incomes. As the Zamastanian economy started booming and unemployment fell significantly, Bishop was widely credited by commentators as having performed an 'economic miracle' by the middle of her tenure. However, the rampant investment resulted in a market crash in September of 2019, stagnating the economy to a virtual standstill in global markets.

Terrorism

On May 4th, 2019, a man intentionally drove his truck into Bishop's Presidential motorcade, striking her vehicle, killing her driver, and leaving her with a broken arm.

A string of attempted bombings in early-August 2019 on the Congressional offices, the Tofino Metro, and then a successful bombing of an open air restaurant which killed 2 people led to massive manhunts in the Tofino-Arinals Metropolitan Area. A man who had ties to Al-Fijar was arrested in connection to the bombings, but never confessed to the attacks.

Foreign policy

Anya Bishop assumed the presidency and became the second woman to hold the office since Elene Abotsford in 1972. One of her first acts as President was to attend a meeting in Mönusÿnthys with Premiere Seswitch LaFlaunce following the promise for a second summit a month earlier by President Castovia. The meeting attributed to the thawing of relations with Gladysynthia following the 2018 crisis.

In July 2019, Bishop initiated a trade dispute with Yuan that swept over the Coalition of Crown Albatross and caused a global economic downward shift. Though the dispute ended in September, the dispute was widely seen as one of Bishop's worst political blunders.

Bishop's administration faced significant issues with the regime of Martin Saint-Yves in Ossinia during the course of her presidency, as pirate raids against international shipping gradually increased from years prior.

During her time in office, Bishop visited abroad in many nations.

National disasters

On March 23rd, 2019, record flooding hit the district of Pahl, devastating communities and leaving over 7 million people displaced along nearly every moving body of water (rivers and streams). On the 24th, the human toll was calculated at over 102 dead, with more than 3,000 unaccounted for [1]. This led to Bishop's first ever declaration of a national emergency, and she was hailed for her response and leadership during the crisis, but was criticized for her failure to visit the disaster zones in the hardest hit suburbs of Abagene and Emerald.

On August 31st, 2019, the Coastal Valley Earthquake devastated the coast of Zamastan, almost entirely flattened the city of Kelowna, and killed over 4,300 people. The great remainder of the year was dedicated to recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Removal from office

The 2019 "PoverTea" Protests, also known as the PoverTea Movement, were a series of progressive socio-political movements and protests that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the lack of "real democracy" in Zamastan, though it expanded to several other nations in smaller forms, such as in Austrolis, Avergnon, and South Sotoa. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and new forms of democracy. The movement had many different scopes, since local groups often had different focuses, but its prime concerns included how large corporations (and the global financial system) held influence in government in a way that disproportionately benefited a minority, undermined democracy and caused instability. Another primary concern was that President Anya Bishop's administration had eased lobbying laws via executive order, an act which made corporate influence in Congressional Hall an even greater risk.

The protests were widely refered to as the PoverTea Movement due to the de-facto leader of the activists, Brendan Dennadeer, and his speech during a march in which he said "corporations sit back and drink their tea while the rest of us sit in poverty." Dennadeer was arrested twice during the course of the 10 month-long protests.

The first "PoverTea" protest to receive widespread attention occured in Tofino, Zian, on February 23rd, 2019. By April 15th, PoverTea protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 600 communities in Zamastan, with the largest movements being in Tofino, Alanis, Emerald, Providence, Titania, Jade Harbor, and Tregueux. On November 2nd, two police officers and three protesters were killed and over 300 people were injured when protesters and authorities clashed in Tofino, marking the first time there had been casualties of any kind during the movement. The deaths of the officers prompted President Bishop to order the Zamastanian Army onto the streets of Tofino, saying in a statement that the army was to "reinforce authorities under threat, but to keep the peace and prevent further casualties or fatalities on either side." The army fired on protesters after several more hours of clashes, killing an additional four protesters.

The events of November 2nd pushed Congressional Hall to condemn Bishop (469-30-1 in Congress, 84-16 in the Senate) for her actions, leading for Speaker of the Chamber Foley Sakzi to declare a Vote of No-Confidence. On November 9th, Bishop was removed from the Presidency in a 68-30-2 vote, marking the first time a President had been removed from office by legislative action in Zamastanian history. After Bishop's removal, the PoverTea protests largely subsided, as now-President Foley Sakzi (elected in an emergency vote on November 16th) introduced an economic reform bill and stimulus package to boost the economy and cut lobbying by corporate entities by 50%.

Political views

File:Bishop Political Spectrum.JPG

President Bishop's Political Spectrum ranking as of March 26th, 2019. The chart takes into account her public voting/legislative records as well as public speeches and statements.

Anya Bishop has been quoted as "having changed (my) views as I've experienced life and circumstances in my nation." She is a member of the BCP but is ranked as slightly left leaning, because of her social views regarding women's reproductive and gay rights. She, however, remains economically conservative enough in most aspects to stay well-liked among most conservative voters. She has described herself as a "social libertarian", "fiscally conservative", but being "progressively open for change dependent on how the world forms around me." Critics describe her as indecisive, and too open to shifting her views when pressure mounts or, as her former congressional aide quoted to the Tofino Times, "when something doesn't work immediately, she will conform to whatever works."

On social issues, Bishop has come out in favor of same-sex marriage and believes abortion should remain legalized, but only at the local levels and not past second-term in the trimester of a pregnancy. She is opposed to criminalizing people who use cannabis and has pledged to hold a referendum on whether or not to legalize cannabis in her first term as President. She has, however, vowed to crack down on drug use that specifically includes substances known to cause death or significant health problems.

She advocates a lower rate of immigration, suggesting a drop of around 20,000–30,000. Calling it an "infrastructure issue", she argues, "there hasn't been enough planning about population growth, we haven't necessarily targeted our skill shortages properly". However, she wants to increase the intake of refugees in the coming years.

Personal life

Bishop is the second President to enter the Presidency without a spouse. On September 12th, 2019, she confirmed with her partner of three years, Marcus Fraiser, that she was pregnant and would step down for six weeks in March of 2020 for a maternity period. Following her departure from the Presidency, she has said that her life with family will remain private. She gave birth to a daughter named Cynthia.

Bishop is a member of the Church of Zian, but has been known to identify as agnostic. She owns a golden retriever named "Lorrie", which resided with her in the Zian Presidential Mansion and is immensely popular with guests to the residence.