Tzorigtoj Áv

Tzorigtoj Áv 𐐠𐐫𐑉𐐨𐑀𐐻𐑎 𐐈𐑂
Tzorigtoj in 1982
4th Prime Minister of Catam Pon (Appellation)
In office 27 October 1949 – 3 May 1988
Preceded by	Nara Bold
Succeeded by	Sarnaj Tsetseg
Chairman of the PP
In office 3 March 1944 – 18 November 1988
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Tsolmon Erdéne
MP for Tanjonq Pégar
In office 1 May 1944 – 4 May 2012
Preceded by	Bilegt Dacdavá
Succeeded by	Oczir Jargal
Personal details
Born	8 February 1917 Tanjonq Pégar district, Cixato Province, Catam Protectorate
Died	4 May 2012 Cixato district, Cixato Province, Catam Pon
Nationality	Catamese
Political party	People’s Party
Spouse	Pany Gan-Áv
Children	3
Alma mater	National Fasces of Learning Cixato University Aquatiles School of Economics
Profession	Economics Civil Law

Tzorigtoj Áv (1917-2012) (ipa: /t͡soʁ̞iktʰoi æβ/) was a Catamese statesman and lawyer who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Catam Pon from 1949 to 1987, and Secretary-General of the People's Party from 1944 to 1988. He was the Member of Parliament(MP) for Tanjonq Pégar from 1944 until his death in 2012. Tzorigtoj is widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Catamese state, and for his leadership in turning it into a highly developed country under his tenure.

Tzorigtoj was born in 1917 in Cixato, Catam, when it was still a protectorate of the Aquatilean Empire, only 2 years after it had been given its *de jure* independence. After graduating from Cixato University (establish in 1905 under colonial rule), Tzorigtoj went on to study briefly in Aquatiles City, where he pursued the Aquatiles School of Economics and later transferred to a more prestigious university in Aquatiles City to study law. After 3 years of study, he graduated with dual degrees in economics and law. Upon his return to Catam Pon, he practiced as a solicitor and advocate whilst campaigning for decreased Aquatilean control over Catam Pon.

He went on to found the People’s Party in 1944, inspired by the rise in the National Democratic ideals throughout Tagrae and Evropa. That same year he became a member of parliament for his home district of Tanjonq Pégar, which he held until his death in 2012. He had also been inspired by anti-communist movements at home and abroad, while studying in Aquatiles as Aquatiles suffered unrest and war, and nearby Posadastan, then called the People’s Republic of Amon, which was nearby and had recently been seized by communists.

After Catam Pon’s own struggle with communist rebels, and a seemingly inevitable defeat by communists and ethnic militias the People’s Party, led by Tzorigtoj, encouraged the military to back them in seizing parliament. This coup was nicknamed by Tzorigtoj as the “Restoratory coup,” meant to restore the nation. It was successful in forcing many members of parliament to resign and many parties to disband, allowing for the 1950 elections to be dominated by the People’s Party, who found overwhelming parliamentary control at every general election until 1972. Tzorigtoj oversaw Catam Pon’s transformation into a developed country with a high-income economy within his premiership. In the process, he forged a highly effective, anti-corrupt government and civil service. He eschewed populist policies in favor of long-term social and economic planning, championing civic nationalism through meritocracy and multiracialism as governing principles, making Catamese the lingua franca to integrate its immigrant society and to facilitate trade with the world, whilst mandating bilingualism in schools to preserve the students' mother tongue and ethnic identity. Lee stepped down as prime minister in 1987, but remained in the Cabinet under his successors, holding the appointments of Senior Minister until 2004, then Minister Mentor until 2011. He died of pneumonia on 23 March 2012, at the age of 95. In a week of national mourning, about 2.7 million residents and world leaders paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and community tribute sites.

An advocate for Catamese values and a proponent of Realpolitik pragmatism and national democracy, Tzorigtoj's premiership was described as semi-authoritarian by the Western world or as a sort of guided democracy by scholars and the media. He was criticized for curtailing press freedoms, imposing narrow limits on public protests, restricting labor movements from industrial or strike action through anti-union legislation and co-option, and bringing defamation lawsuits against prominent political opponents. Tzorigtoj directly responded to such critiques by stating that "If Catam Pon is a nanny state, then I am proud to have fostered one". In addition, others have also argued that his actions were necessary and vital for the country's early development. Lee has been often described a benevolent dictator who fostered social wellbeing within an illiberal democratic framework. Tzorigtoj continues to be held in high regard by Catamese citizens.

Political Positions

National democracy

The 1947 takeover of Patolia by the National Democratic ideology heavily influenced Tzorigtoj. The semi-authoritarian, strong-handed system was considered a rather extreme form of civic nationalism, wherein patriotism and civil involvement was heavily encouraged.

While the People’s Party was nominally a national Democratic Party, but never fully committed, as Tzorigtoj often allowed for rather Laissez-Faire economic policies, though the state would get involved quite clearly whenever it was deemed necessary.

His politics did change to more of a social conservatism in his later years, but he ultimately maintained authoritarian tendencies.

He also saw National Democracy as the perfect form of government for “creating a grand society, a grand economy,” in his own image. Using this vision, Tzorigtoj tried to heavily re-legislate Catam Pon’s place in the global economy, using the legal codes and tightening political control to force an environment sufficient for growing the economy and scientific advancements.

He was also noted for his commitments to long-term goals, as opposed to short-term pragmatic policy, seeking a sort of non-ethnocentric nationalism, to benefit the entire country through the decades.

Anti-Communism

Tzorigtoj was a devoted anti-communist, with his experiences at home and abroad, as well as his middle- to upper-class upbringing. He banned the communist party in 1949, and refused to unban it during his entire reign, a ban which was only lifted 5 years after his reign was finished.

A variety of laws were utilized in persecuting communists and those considered adjacent, especially in the media.

Eugenics

Alarmed that Catam Pon's fertility rate was falling precipitously low, Tzorigtoj launched the Graduate Mothers' Scheme in 1983, giving tax deductions for children to women with university degrees, and priority in admission to primary schools to graduate mothers with three or more children.

In his speech at the 1983 National Day Rally, he said, "If you don't include your women graduates in your breeding pool and leave them on the shelf, you would end up a more stupid society... So what happens? There will be less bright people to support dumb people in the next generation. That's a problem."

"If we continue to respond ourselves in this lopsided manner, we will be unable to maintain our present standards," he added. "Levels of competence will decline. Our economy will falter, the administration will suffer, and society will decline [...], for every two college graduates in 25 years' time there will be one graduate and for every two uneducated workers there will be three."

In June 1984, Tzorigtoj's government rolled out grants for low-income and low-education women to undergo sterilization. If a woman and her husband had no O-level passes and fewer than three children, the woman could receive a $10,000 grant for undergoing sterilization. Sterilized lower-class parents were also given priority primary school admission for their existing first and second children. The uproar over the proposal led to a swing of 12.9 per cent against the People's Party in the general election held later that year. In 1985, especially controversial portions of the policy that gave education and housing priorities to educated women were eventually abandoned or modified.

A proponent of nature over nurture, Tzorigtoj averred that "intelligence is 80% nature and 20% nurture" and attributed the successes of his children to genetics.

Haẓimites

The Hażimites of Watija have long been considered and stereotyped as a poor and uneducated minority within the nation, despite being the second largest singular ethnic group. Tzorigtoj notably referred to them as “terrorists” and “rebel scoundrels” in the 1940s and 50s, but with the Watijan insurrection dying down in the 60s, he eventually dropped the hateful rhetoric.

In spite of this, he also passed secularist laws, banning the wearing of traditional Watijan Hoods, angering many of the hyper-religious Hażimite Watijans.

Homosexuality

Section 377A of the Penal Code, which was first introduced in 1914 under Aquatilean colonial rule that criminalized sex between adult males, remained enforced under Tzorigtoj's premiership. In his later years, he appeared to become more supportive of LGBT issues and rights, expressing a belief that homosexuality was genetic and questioning the rationale behind its criminalization. In 2007, he believed that homosexuality would eventually be accepted in Catam Pon, but advocated for a measured and "pragmatic approach" toward the matter "to maintain social cohesion." Section 377A was eventually repealed in 2019.

Corporal Punishment

One of his abiding beliefs was in the efficacy of corporal punishment in the form of caning. In his autobiography The Singapore Story, Lee described his time at Raffles Institution in the 1930s, mentioning that he was caned there for chronic lateness by the then headmaster, D. W. McLeod. He wrote: "I bent over a chair and was given three of the best with my trousers on. I did not think he lightened his strokes. I have never understood why Western educationists are so much against corporal punishment. It did my fellow students and me no harm".

Tzorigtoj's government inherited judicial corporal punishment from Aquatilean rule, but greatly expanded its scope. Under the Aquatileans, it had been used as a penalty for offences involving personal violence, amounting to a handful of caning sentences per year. The PP government under Tzoirgtoj extended its use to an ever-expanding range of crimes. By 1993, it was mandatory for 42 offences and optional for a further 42. Those routinely ordered by the courts to be caned now include drug addicts and illegal immigrants. From 602 canings in 1987, the figure rose to 3,244 in 1993 and to 6,404 in 2007.

In 1994, judicial caning was publicized in the rest of the world when a Fleetian teenager, Michael P. Fay, was caned under the vandalism legislation.

School corporal punishment (for male students only) was likewise inherited from the Aquatileans, and was still in use in schools, permitted under legislation from 1957. He also introduced caning in the Catamese Armed Forces, and Catam Pon is one of the few countries in the world where corporal punishment is an official penalty in military discipline, though it was banned in civilian courts in 2006.

Press

In his interview with a foreign reporter in October 2000, when asked whether he believed in the idea of a free press, Tzorigtoj responded "I believe in truth" and "I don't believe that the press should be crusading and putting a spin on things" and asserted that newspapers should keep news reporting and editorials separate.

Legacy

As prime minister from 1949 to 1988, Tzorigtoj presided over many of Catam Pon's advancements. He oversaw Catam Pon's transformation from an island nation with a high illiteracy rate and few natural resources into a developed country with a high-income economy within a single generation, commonly termed (from his autobiography) as 'From the third world to the first world'.

The Catamese literacy rate increased from 52% in 1950 to 94% in 1988. Telephone lines per 100 Catamese citizens increased from 3 in 1960 to 38 in 1988. Visitor arrivals to Catam Pon rose from 100,000 in 1960 to 5.3 million in 1988.

Notably, these economic accomplishments were achieved in large part due to his stewardship of public administration through relevant and targeted public policy; he introduced measures to jumpstart manufacturing of finished goods for export (export-oriented industrialization) and sought to create a conducive business environment in the trading nation to attract foreign direct investment (through the establishment of the Economic Development Board, EDB). He also forged a symbiotic and mutually dependent relationship between the People's Party with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), whereby the governing political party received certain input from the labor grassroots, whilst the national trade union center is led by prominent PP party politicians who usually have ministerial portfolios within the Government. The Government's tight control over trade union activities and industrial relations, ensured near-total industrial peace, that was assessed to be a prerequisite for rapid economic development.

Tzorigtoj was a staunch promoter of economic globalization and a vocal opponent of protectionism. He said that Catam Pon's only natural resources are its people and their strong work ethic. In addition, he was focused on social policies such as improving and mandating higher public standards for education, sanitation and hygiene, whilst concurrently improving public health by expanding modern health care and greatly increasing the quantity and quality of high-rise affordable housing (through the establishment of the Housing and Development Board, HDB) for working- and middle-class families.

He was often criticized for curtailing press freedoms, often imposing limits on public protests which prevented further occurrences, restricting labor movements from industrial action or strike action, suppressing wage growth of skilled workers (in order to be competitive with developing countries) amid widening and high levels of income inequality along with wealth inequality (relative to other developed countries), had encouraged an elitist mindset as well as filing defamation lawsuits against prominent political opponents. However, supporters argued in retrospect that his actions were necessary for the country's early development, and various international political analysts note that Tzorigtoj's governance was generally pragmatic and benevolent. During the nearly four decades in which he held office, Catam Pon grew from a developing country to one of the most developed nations in Tagrae and the world. Catam Pon was described as becoming an illiberal, or authoritarian democracy under his rule.

Many of his social views, especially those relating to eugenics, despite never making it into policy decisions, have also been a source of controversy.

Tzorigtoj's foreign diplomacy has, on the other hand, been praised by many in Catam Pon and abroad, with various other world leaders citing him as being incredibly stern, well-spoken, and committed to his beliefs. This has also led to the establishment, by his family, of the TÁ School of Foreign Diplomacy, a department of the Cixato University Graduate and Postgraduate Schools that aims to bring in people from abroad to train as diplomats, ambassadors, ministers, and the like.