Sotir Godo
Sotir Godo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sotir Godo in 1992 | |
| President of Austeria | |
| In office 23 July 1990 – 7 October 1996 | |
| Premier of Austeria | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Keler Cumani |
| President of the Socialist Party of Austeria | |
| In office 28 September 1989 – 13 July 1996 | |
| Vice-chairman | Malan Demachi |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Keler Cumani |
| Chairman of the Presidium of the Austerian People's Republic | |
| In office 28 May 1987 – 23 July 1990 | |
| Vice-chairman | Victor Dobrescu |
| Preceded by | Traian Gheorghe |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 October 1943 Prassos, Greater Solarian Republic |
| Died | 11 March 2006 (aged 64) Prassos, Austeria |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place | Prassos, Austeria |
| Nationality | Austerian |
| Political party | |
| Spouse | Georgina Lungu (m. 1964) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University of Prassos |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | "Sot" |
Sotir Godo (23 October 1943 – 11 March 2006) was an Austerian politician who was the last de facto leader of the Austerian People's Republic from 1987 to 1990 and the first president of Austeria from 1990 until 1996. He oversaw the country's transition from a single-party socialist state to a democratic multi-party republic, and the country's first years as a democracy.
Godo was born in Prassos. He studied political economy at the University of Kartha Faculty of Economics and joined the Austerian Labour Party while as a student. During the 1960s Godo served as an economic advisor at a collectivized agricultural farm near Kartha before he was appointed as lead researcher of socio-economic problems at the Kotta Equalist Institute, where he was singled out for special favor. In 1983, he was selected to lead a research group to investigate the underlying causes of the Austerian Conflict, which lead to the formation of his personal political beliefs. Upon the completion of his report, he wrote his political manifesto, Shoqëria e Madhe (Great Society), which attracted attention from across the Labour Party.
In 1985 Godo was elected to the Presidium under the premiership of Adil Majko and was promoted to Vice-chairman in 1987. After the reformist counter-coup during the Olive Revolution in October 1987, he was selected to be de facto leader of the provisional government. He opened up negotiations with Etruria which would led to the Yndyk Agreement which ended the Years of Blood and the single-party rule of the Labour Party. Godo oversaw the adoption of a provisional constitution and the transition of Austeria into a multi-party democracy, the introduction of new political, economic, and cultural freedoms to the country, as well as the inclusion of national minorities into the new state. In 1989, Godo was elected head of the recently renamed Labour Party, now called the Socialist Party of Austeria.
The Socialist Party won the first free Austerian legislative elections in 1990 and Godo was elected President of Austeria by the Senate. His Presidency oversaw the country's shift to a market economy while the government retained control over key economic resources of the state, which temporarily halted the country's economic decline. Despite the inclusion of minorities into the government, Godo strongly opposed ethnic and sectarian politics in favor of a common Austerian identity, centered around a non-ethnic form of nationalism. His efforts to establish a dominant-party state led by the Socialist Party failed after the resurgence of ethnic and sectarian violence led to major splits in the Socialist Party and the outbreak of the Years of Blood. Godo responded by passing constitutional amendments that empowered the Presidency and using security agencies to crackdown on violent and nonviolent ethnic and sectarian movements. The 1994 elections saw the Socialist Party lose its majority to various sectarian and ethnic political parties despite being subject to harassment and suppression. Godo initially sought to run for re-election; however, after the Socialist Party failed to renominate him, he withdrew his candidacy. Godo retired to his family home where he died in 2006.
Godo remains one of the most controversial and polarizing political figures in Austerian history by the public and academics. He is widely credited for his role in ending the First Years of Blood and the country's transition to a representative democracy, for which he was highly popular. His supporters credit his presidency for stabilising the country amidst political and economic crises and the Years of Blood, but his detractors accuse him of centralizing power, authoritarianism, electoral fraud, as well as allegedly authorizing excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings by security forces in response to sectarian and ethnic violence. In particular, scholars have criticized him for allying with and empowering the Equalist era security apparatus, which allowed them to form a deep state in Austerian politics that remains to this day. Nevertheless he is more positively regarded than his successor Keler Cumani, who is considered by scholars and the public as among the worst presidents.