Charissa Clarke
Charissa Clarke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria | |
| In office 26 July 2018 – 04 September 2018 | |
| President | Kieran MacKenzie |
| Preceded by | Suleman Chaher |
| Succeeded by | Keitha Noguera |
| Secretary for Defence | |
| In office 12 May 2018 – 26 July 2018 | |
| President | Kieran MacKenzie |
| Prime Minister | Suleman Chaher |
| Preceded by | Rafael Mendietez |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 10 September 2010 – 15 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Sunita Chambers |
| Succeeded by | Iona Woods |
| Constituency | Ecanta |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Amanda Cartwright August 2, 1969 Region 17, Kerlile |
| Nationality | Lauchenoirian or Kerlian (disputed) |
| Political party | Communist Party |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | University of Annatown |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Lauchenoiria |
| Branch/service | Army |
| Years of service | 1987-2000 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | Kerlian-Lauchenoirian War |
Charissa Clarke (born August 2nd 1969) was Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria for a period in 2018. She succeeded Suleman Chaher following his death. She is currently serving 25 years in a Sanctarian prison for the murders of Suleman Chaher and Leanna Walker, and for identity fraud.
Clarke also served in the military during the Kerlian-Lauchenoirian War, which took place alongside the Kerlian Civil War after Lauchenoiria backed those rebelling against the government. The conflict took place almost entirely on Kerlian soil.
From the age of fourteen, Clarke lived in a children's home in Annatown, after her parents were allegedly killed in a car crash and she had no other family. She claimed this had led her to campaign for greater support for orphaned children and for young adults who have had experience of living in care.
In August 2018, during the negotiations to end the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War, it was revealed that Clarke had been born Amanda Cartwright in Kerlile, casting doubt upon the account of Clarke's past that had previously been given.
Early Life
Clarke was born on the 2nd August 1969, to Harriet Cartwright, a prisoner following an attempt to flee Kerlile with her husband, in Kerlile. Her mother died shortly after. She was raised in a Kerlian orphanage until the age of three, when she was transferred to a classified Kerlian programme known as the 'Aurora Programme'. Speculation suggests this was a deep-cover training programme, however Kerlile has not admitted to its existence.
At the age of fourteen, Clarke appeared at an orphanage in Annatown, Lauchenoiria. She claimed to be the daughter of a couple killed in a car crash who had been isolationists. She was given identification which granted her Lauchenoirian citizenship, despite her lack of proof of her identity at the time.
At the age of sixteen, Clarke left the children's home and moved in with a boyfriend. The relationship did not work out, and she spent most of the subsequent few years moving around and working different jobs. At the age of eighteen, she joined the military.
Military Career
In 1987, at the age of eighteen, Clarke joined the Lauchenoirian Army. As the country was not at war at the time, she completed her training seeing no action. She entered into an officer training programme which she completed as the only woman that year.
In 1992, following the outbreak of the Kerlian Civil War, Lauchenoiria offered military aid to the insurgent Democratic Kerlian State, and Clarke was sent overseas. She remained in Kerlile until 1997, when Lauchenoiria withdrew their forces.
She was honourably discharged in 2000.
University
After leaving the military, Clarke returned to the town of her birth to attend the University of Annatown, initially to study chemistry. After one year, she decided to switch her degree to political science, repeating her first year.
During her time at university, she was an active member of the Communist Society, and joined the Communist Party of Lauchenoiria. She was also President of the Mature Students Society in her last three years at university, and ran a campaign encouraging people who wished a career change to return to university.
She graduated in 2005 with a First Class degree in Political Science.
Political Career
Director of Campaigns
After graduation, Clarke was employed by the Communist Party as their Director of Campaigns in the run up to the 2006 election. The party was behind in the polls for the first time since before the Lauchenoirian Communist Revolution, and some have credited Clarke with managing to turn it around and secure the party victory in that election.
She was also the architect behind the pro-immigration campaign encouraging foreign citizens to work in Lauchenoiria and reverse the population drain that occurred over the 2000-2010 decade. This campaign achieved moderate success, stabilising the population after years of decline.
Member of Parliament
Clarke was elected to the Federal Parliament of Lauchenoiria on the 5th September 2010, taking office on the 10th. Her name was well-known among Communist supporters, which led to her victory in a constituency that had been held by the Green Party since the 1996.
She was considered for a ministerial role by the Communist government of Alexander Oswald, however turned down the offer in order to focus on her constituency work.
She retained her seat in the 2014 election, despite the Communists losing their majority, and became a vocal opponent of Laura Moore and the capitalism referendum. She campaigned for 'No' in the referendum, and was one of the main public supporters of a No vote. She appeared in one televised debate against Moore.
Secretary of Defence
On the 9th May 2018, Home Secretary Suleman Chaher deposed Prime Minister Laura Moore in what some called a coup d'état. Three days later, Chaher named Clarke his Secretary of Defence.
In her role, she has been primarily responsible for liaising with Kerlile and Gonhog regarding their alliance in the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War. Some commentators suggested her relationship with Kerlile may be strained due to her participation in their conflict in the 1990s, however this has not appeared to be the case.
Clarke is credited with being one of the major architects of Lauchenoirian strategy in the war, and has been fulfilling many of the roles traditionally carried out by the Prime Minister while Suleman Chaher has been in hospital following a gunshot wound sustained during an assassination attempt carried out by Leanna Walker.
Prime Minister
Following Suleman Chaher's death, Charissa Clarke was appointed Prime Minister by President Kieran MacKenzie. She continued the strategies in the war which Chaher had begun, however she allowed Kerlile to increase their involvement in the war.
In August 2018, she initially turned down an offer by Sanctaria to host peace talks, but then later accepted the offer. She travelled to Sanctaria to participate in such talks, when it was revealed that she had in fact been born in Kerlile.
Conviction
Following the conclusion of peace talks in Haven, Clarke elected to remain in Sanctaria rather than return to either Lauchenoiria or Kerlile following accusations that she was a Kerlian sleeper agent.
Charissa Clarke was convicted of the murder of Suleman Chaher, ordering the murder of Leanna Walker, and of identity fraud by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up by the Haven Accords and sentenced to 25 years in a Sanctarian prison in July 2019.
Controversy
Clarke claimed to have been the daughter of Lauren and Ryan Clarke, and born in Annatown, Lauchenoiria. In reality, she was born on this date to Harriet Cartwright in Kerlile. She claimed the Clarke family lived in an isolated house in the countryside, where she was home-educated until the age of fourteen, when her parents were killed in a car crash outside Annatown. She was then taken into care by the state, however they found it difficult to place her with foster parents due to her supposed isolated upbringing.
This story of Clarke's origins was alleged to have been false in August 2018 following information released suggesting Clarke was actually a Kerlian raised as part of a deep cover training programme known as the 'Aurora Programme'.