Efrem Lacovara
His Excellency The Right Honourable Efrem Lacovara | |
|---|---|
 Efrem Lacovara, 1998 | |
| 4th President of Imagua and the Assimas | |
| In office 23 April, 1968 – 23 April, 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Eric Fleming |
| Preceded by | Eric Fleming |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Brockett |
| 9th Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas | |
| In office 23 April, 1960 – 23 April, 1968 | |
| President | Eric Fleming |
| Deputy | Marguerite Ernman |
| Preceded by | Martin Ellingham |
| Succeeded by | Eric Fleming |
| Legislative Councillor for San Pietro | |
| In office 16 December, 1984 – 6 May, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Ildefonso Terracina |
| Succeeded by | Morgana Calabretta |
| Member of Parliament for Lo Priore | |
| In office 23 April, 1948 – 23 April, 1968 | |
| Preceded by | constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Erasmo Rallo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Efrem Lacovara 14 January 1919 San Pietro, Assimas, Etruria |
| Died | 6 May 2013 (aged 94) Cuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas |
| Resting place | Saint Michael's Cemetery, San Pietro |
| Nationality | Etrurian (1919-1946) Imaguan (1946-present) |
| Political party | Democratic Labour Party (1947-2013) |
| Spouse | Corinna Lacovara |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Università di San Pietro |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Etrurian Revolutionary Republic |
| Years of service | 1943-1946 |
| Rank | Soldato |
Efrem Lacovara (b. 14 January 1919, d. 6 May, 2013) was the fourth President, serving from 1968 until 1972, and the ninth Prime Minister, serving from 1960 until 1968, making him the first Imaguan of Etrurian descent to serve as head of government, albeit the second to serve as head of state after Venanzio Mazzone.
Lacovara was born in 1919 to two migrants from Etruria, and grew up in poverty. However, his aptitude helped him achieve a high-quality education, and was able to enter the Università di San Pietro by 1938. After his graduation, he served in the Etrurian militia until the end of the Solarian War.
After the end of the Solarian War, Efrem Lacovara joined the Labour Party, and established the local constituency association. In 1948, he was nominated by the newly-established Democratic Labour Party to run for the constituency of Lo Priore, which he won, and served as a member of parliament from 1948 until 1968. For much of this period, he was a backbencher, but was nominated to be nominee for the premiership in 1959. The following year, he defeated Martin Ellingham to become the first Prime Minister of Etrurian descent in Imaguan history, while Eric Fleming became the first President to be of Bahio-Imaguan descent.
Under his premiership, Efrem Lacovara oversaw the implementation of universal healthcare, three amendments to the Imaguan constitution, as well as the separation of Cuanstad from Saint Ellen's, a booming economy, and social housing. This allowed him to win a second term in 1964 against Oswald Dunning.
In 1968, with Eric Fleming reaching his maximum term limit, Efrem Lacovara ran for the presidency, while Eric Fleming ran for the premiership, with both of them winning. However, a growing anti-incumbency factor meant that in 1972, both of them were trounced by Isaac Egnell and Querano Piro respectively.
Following his defeat in 1976, Lacovara continued being an influential member of the Democratic Labour Party, although his position declined over the years, especially after the publication of his controversial memoirs in 1981, The Saviour. He would be appointed to serve in the Legislative Council for San Pietro in 1984, and would serve until his death in 2013 in his sleep.
Early life
Efrem Lacovara was born on 14 January, 1919 in San Pietro as the only son, and second of three children to Gerino Lacovara, and Lidania Lacovara, both of whom were recent immigrants from the Etrurian metropole. He grew up in poverty, with his parents taking up odd jobs to make ends meet.
He began attending school in 1925, attending Saint Thomas' School. In 1930, he continued on to the Giovanelli Middle School, attending until his graduation in 1933. Despite his family's poverty, he won a scholarship to attend the Calogero High School, which was a Liceo Classico. There, he excelled in his studies, with many teachers noting that he could become a competent administrator.
In 1938, after finishing his studies at Calogero, he was able to enter the Università di San Pietro, where he majored in public administration. After completing his degree by 1943, he was conscripted to serve in the Etrurian military, serving until the end of the Solarian War. However, he served mostly as a guard for the local armory.
Following the end of the Solarian War, he decided to join the Labour Party.
Early political career
Establishment of the local constituency association and the 1948 elections
After Imagua officially annexed the Assimas Islands in January 1947 via the First Amendment to the Imaguan constitution, the Imaguan government was forced to conduct a hasty redistricting to ensure that all residents in the newly-established Assimas Parish would be represented in the Lesser House of Parliament.
Thus, shortly after Efrem Lacovara joined the Labour Party, he was quickly nominated to be their candidate for Lo Priore, representing his neighbourhood of Lo Priore in San Pietro, where his family lived, as Lacovara was one of the few members of the Labour Party to be based in Lo Priore at the time.
However, shortly before the writ was dropped for the 1948 elections, the Labour Party merged with the Democrats to establish the Democratic Labour Party. However, Efrem Lacovara was confirmed to be the nominee for Lo Priore.
Thus, in the 1948 elections, he ran against Conservative candidate Orio D'Ambrosia. During Lacovara's campaign, he pledged to ensure that the people of Lo Priore would be represented, and that he will do everything possible to ensure that "all in the Assimas" will benefit from the union.
When the results came in, Lacovara won with 62% of the vote, compared to D'Ambrosia's 27% of the vote, allowing him to take his seat as the first Member of Parliament for Lo Priore.
Backbencher
On 23 April, 1948, Efrem Lacovara was sworn in for his term as Member of Parliament for Lo Priore in the Lesser House of Parliament.
During his first term, Lacovara famously urged the Imaguan government to "treat all Assimans as equals, not as prisoners of war" in his maiden speech, which caused a stir, but helped boost his popularity within the Democratic Labour Party. As well, he focused on representing the issues facing his constituents in Lo Priore, which made him popular among his constituents.
Thus, in 1952, he faced re-election against Conservative candidate Francesco Colavita, and Democratic candidate Vinebaldo Lucido. Despite a strong campaign by Colavita, Lacovara won with 48.7% of the vote, compared to Colavita's 39.7% of the vote, and Lucido's 10.2% of the vote, allowing Efrem Lacovara to serve a second term in the Lesser House.
During his second term, while he remained a backbencher, his influence continued growing within the Democratic Labour Party, allowing him more of a say in deciding government policy under Prime Minister Marguerite Ernman's government. As well, he continued advocating for the interests of his constituency of Lo Priore, which helped boost his popularity among his constituents.
This allowed Efrem Lacovara to secure a third term in 1956, defeating Conservative challenger Patrizio Martello and Democratic challenger Rodolfo Osso with 52.3% of the vote.
Leader of the Opposition
While the Democratic Labour Party became the official opposition in the Lesser House of Parliament, Efrem Lacovara's stature was such that at the leadership convention in July 1956, Lacovara succeeded Marguerite Ernman as the leader of the Democratic Labour Party.
During his tenure as leader of the opposition, Efrem Lacovara criticised the policies of the Conservatives, as he believed that the policies would not benefit the people of Imagua, and especially on the Assimas Islands. During this period, Imagua's manufacturing sector started to decline, and Lacovara blamed the Conservative government for "neglecting our nation's manufacturing sector" and for "hurting the workers of our country."
This helped increase support for the Democratic Labour Party, while the Conservative government under incumbent Prime Minister Martin Ellingham became unpopular as they refused to address the problems facing Imagua's manufacturing sector. Nonetheless, the Democratic Labour Party was still divided between the left and right wings, with Edwin Covington representing the party right-wing. This meant that Lacovara had to spend much of his time trying to "assuage both sides" in order to help get the Democratic Labour Party to return to government in the upcoming general election.
At the 1959 leadership convention, Efrem Lacovara supported Eric Fleming's candidacy to be the DLP's presidential candidate, under the condition that he "reign but not rule" over Imagua. This helped Eric Fleming become the presidential nominee for the DLP, while Lacovara was confirmed to be their prime ministerial nominee.
Thus, when the writ was dropped in the 1960 election, Efrem Lacovara began his campaign to become Prime Minister. He promised to institute universal healthcare for all Imaguan citizens, to advance Bahio-Imaguan interests in politics, and to make the rich "pay their fair share." This helped increase Lacovara's popularity among the Imaguan voters, especially with Martin Ellingham's continued unpopularity among the population.
When the results came in on 25 March, 1960, the Democratic Labour Party secured fourty-two seats, to the Conservative's twenty-eight, or an increase of ten seats for the DLP. This allowed the Democratic Labour Party to form a majority government.
Lacovara also won his constituency for a fourth term, defeating Conservative candidate Loris Fontana and Democratic candidate Rodolfo Osso.
Premiership
First term
On 23 April, 1960, Efrem Lacovara was sworn in as Prime Minister, succeeding Martin Ellingham. That day, he appointed his cabinet, naming former Prime Minister Marguerite Ernman as the Deputy Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas.
With President Eric Fleming upholding his end of the bargain to "reign and not rule," this effectively made Lacovara the most powerful person in Imagua and the Assimas, as it became a parliamentary republic. This allowed him to implement his government's agenda.
One of his priorities was to introduce universal healthcare, as while Ernman had introduced free emergency healthcare in 1955, he sought to introduce a "comprehensive" universal healthcare system so to ensure that all Imaguan citizens would be able to be treated without having to pay their physicians. Thus, he passed legislation to introduce universal healthcare, with effect from 1 April, 1961.
However, shortly after it was approved, Efrem Lacovara was faced with an issue: the capital city, Cuanstad, had for decades been the most important economic centre on Imagua, which led to many in the outer regions of Saint Ellen's such as Altaithe and New Burdale demanding separation from Cuanstad. Thus, in August 1961, the Fourth Amendment to the Imaguan constitution was passed, which made Cuanstad a separate parish from Saint Ellen's, with the capital of Saint Ellen's moved to Altaithe.
During this period, Efrem Lacovara oversaw a booming economy in Imagua, as tourism increased, while exports from Imagua's oil sector were a main source of the Imaguan economy. Although Imagua was experiencing deindustrialisation at this point in time, Efrem Lacovara's government was popular, as the economy was doing incredibly well during this period. Despite criticism from the Conservatives that the economy was only doing well in spite of the policies of the governing Democratic Labour Party, the popularity of the DLP government remained high.
This meant that in the 1963 leadership convention, Fleming and Lacovara were again acclaimed to run for a second term as president and as prime minister respectively.
When the writ was dropped in 1964, Efrem Lacovara ran against Oswald Dunning of the Conservative Party. While Dunning argued that Lacovara's policies were providing short-term prosperity at the cost of "long-term poverty," Lacovara criticised the Conservative platform for being "exclusionary" and for "not doing enough for the ordinary people."
This meant that when the results came in, the DLP gained fourty-five seats, while Eric Fleming remained President, which allowed both of them to remain in power.
Second term
On 23 April, 1964, Efrem Lacovara was sworn in for his second term as Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas. His cabinet was largely identical to his first term, with Marguerite Ernman remaining his Deputy Prime Minister.
During Efrem Lacovara's second term, he continued to oversee Imagua's continued economic growth, which allowed Lacovara more freedom to institute social policies, such as affirmative action programmes for the Bahio-Imaguan population, social housing for the poor residing in "Coian squalor" (i.e. conditions that would not be unlike Coius at the time), and ensure that the benefits of the economic growth "went to the average person" and not "the elites in Cuanstad." As well, with President Eric Fleming serving only as head of state, the clear separation between the head of state and the head of government was normalised, which firmly confirmed Imagua's status as a parliamentary republic.
Two amendments to the Imaguan constitution were passed during Lacovara's second term as Prime Minister, with the Fifth Amendment passed in July 1965 to guarantee education in both Estmerish and Vespasian, regardless of where the student resided in Imagua and the Assimas, and the Sixth Amendment in May 1967, which lowered the voting age from 21 years to 18 years.
By 1967, as Eric Fleming was nearing the end of his second term as President, Efrem Lacovara declared at that year's leadership convention that he would run for the presidency of Imagua, while Eric Fleming would run for the premiership. After voting, they were both confirmed, with Erasmo Rallo to run for Lacovara's seat in the Lesser House of Parliament.
Thus, in the 1968 general election, he ran against Conservative nominee Soccorso Frontino for the presidency. Lacovara pledged to continue the policies of Eric Fleming and vowed that as President, he would represent Imagua abroad and advocate for Imaguan issues while allowing Fleming to continue to build on his successes.
Thus, when the results came in, Efrem Lacovara defeated Frontino with 53.5% of the vote, which allowed him to become President. With Eric Fleming also maintaining control of the Lesser House, Fleming would also become Prime Minister.
Presidency
On 23 April, 1968, Efrem Lacovara was sworn in as the fourth President of Imagua and the Assimas, succeeding Eric Fleming, who was officially named Prime Minister.
As President, Efrem Lacovara continued his predecessor's role and "reigned but did not rule" over the country. This meant that Lacovara served as head of state, and rarely, if ever intervened in the day-to-day workings of government. Nonetheless, Lacovara did exert influence over Imaguan politics, as he continued advocating for social policies to improve Imaguans, and ensuring that the wealth of Imagua would go towards the people. He also travelled across the world, representing Imagua and the Assimas on the international stage at international conferences and meetings.
However, despite his continued personal popularity, a growing anti-incumbency factor meant that the Conservatives were likely to win the upcoming general elections: while at the 1971 leadership convention, both Lacovara and Fleming were confirmed for a second term by the governing Democratic Labour Party, it was clear that they would face an uphill battle.
Thus, when the writ was dropped on 28 January, 1972, he faced Conservative presidential nominee Isaac Egnell. While Lacovara criticised the Conservative platform for being "inhumane" and "only caring for the rich," Egnell campaigned on making a "better Imagua for everyone," and arguing that continued DLP rule would impoverish Imagua, as well as saying that the DLP had run out of ideas.
While Efrem Lacovara performed well in the televised Vespasian debate held by the Imaguan Television Service, Egnell performed well in the Estmerish language debate, and combined with the popularity of Querano Piro, effectively guaranteed a Conservative victory.
Thus, on 24 March, 1972, Isaac Egnell won the presidential election with 64.6% of the popular vote, with Lacovara only taking 32.5% of the vote. Lacovara conceded defeat that night, and would spend the next month preparing for Isaac Egnell to become the Imaguan president.
Later life
Post-presidency
After Isaac Egnell was sworn in as President of Imagua and the Assimas, Efrem Lacovara remained a member of the Democratic Labour Party, although he did not participate in active politics, as he believed that it was time for "young people" to take the lead.
At the 1975 leadership convention, he endorsed Travis Marshall for the premiership nomination, and endorsed Alberico La Macchia for the presidential nomination, and at the 1979 leadership convention, he endorsed Marguerite Ernman for the premiership, and Casimiro Fioravanti for the presidential nomination.
In 1981, he published his memoirs, The Saviour, which did not sell well, due to its extensive use of "wooden language," and accusations of using the white saviour trope in the work with Lacovara taking all the credit for Fleming's achievements. Following the book's flop, Lacovara became irrelevant in politics, and was not invited to the 1983 leadership convention.
Senatorial career
Following the election of a Democratic Labour government in 1984, with Marguerite Ernman becoming President, and Edmondo Privitera becoming Prime Minister, Efrem Lacovara was surprised when in late 1984, he was appointed to the Imaguan Senate.
Despite his surprise, Lacovara accepted the appointment made by Ernman, and was sworn in on 16 December, 1984, succeeding Ildefonso Terracina, who retired in June 1984.
Thus, in the 1980s and 1990s, Efrem Lacovara served in the Senate, and was noted for his diligence in his work and how he was "punctual" to every Senate meeting. However, his role as Senator effectively sidelined Lacovara from politics, and his influence diminished within the Democratic Labour Party. Despite his reduced influence, Lacovara did do occasional public appearances as a fundraiser to help raise funds for the Democratic Labour Party, most notably during the 1995, 1996, and 1997 elections.
However, beginning in the early 2000s, Efrem Lacovara started to reduce his involvement with the Senate, on account of his health, and moved to a retirement home in Cuanstad in order to remain close to the Senate, while at the same time ensure that he received medical care. However, he still remained a Senator, and did his best to attend "at least one session per year."
Final years and death
In April 2011, Efrem Lacovara suffered cardiac dysrhythmia and was hospitalized for several weeks at the King Charles Memorial Hospital. After being discharged from the hospital, Lacovara stated his intention to "continue serving in the Senate until God tells me it's time to leave." However, he continued to receive anti-coagulant therapy.
In October 2012, Lacovara was hospitalized again after suffering from a complete heart block. While Efrem Lacovara did receive a pacemaker, and was discharged in January 2013, he died in his sleep on 6 May, 2013, and was found dead in the morning by the nurses at his retirement home.
After an autopsy determined the cause of death was sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, Efrem Lacovara was laid in state in the Senate chamber of the Parliament Building in Cuanstad to allow Imaguans to pay their last respects to him.
On 11 May, 2013, Lacovara's state funeral was held, with the leaders of the Democratic Labour Party attending, with Prime Minister Edmondo Privitera giving a eulogy. Following the service, he was transported back to his hometown of San Pietro, where he was interred at the Saint Michael's Cemetery.
Personal life
Efrem Lacovara first met 22-year old singer Corinna Mongelluzzo at a concert in 1945, and they married in 1947, remaining married until her death in 2002 at the age of 78. They had two children together: Ricardo Lacovara, born in 1949, and Dianora Alberici, born in 1953.
He was a devout Solarian Catholic, especially supporting the Church's social teachings.
He spoke Vespasian as a first language, and was fluent in Estmerish and Western Imaguan Creole.
Political views
Efrem Lacovara was a democratic socialist, believing that the economy should be run to benefit the people, not just the rich elites. However, he rejected the approaches in Swetania and Chervolesia as being "too radical for Imaguans."
He was a supporter of universal healthcare, official bilingualism in Imagua and the Assimas, affirmative action, reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, and equal rights for all. In his later years, he came out as a supporter of the environmentalist movement, a supporter of free universal education, but came out as an opponent of the LGBT movement, opposing the decriminalization of homosexuality, and the legalization of abortion.
Honours
Domestic
- File:ImaguaFlag.png Companion of the Order of Imagua, 1973
Foreign
- File:Order of Estmere ribbon Grand Cross Special Class.svg Grand Cross with Special Class of the Order of Estmere (1981)
