Anna Alexopoulou

Anna Alexopolou (born 1968) is a Theodoran politician who served as the 4th and longest-serving Mesazon of Theodorous and the Parathalassias from 2004 to 2013.

Early life and career

Born in the Soviet-controlled Crimean ASSR, Alexopolou joined the pro-independence Hellenic Self-Determination Front (HSDF) in 1987, and when the erstwhile Theodoran Republic gained its independence in 1989, she became a member of the Optimates party, formed by the HSDF's right-leaning wing.

Senatorial career

Alexopolou was elected to the Senate on the Optimates' list in 1995, but joined a group of dissidents from her party and the opposing Populares party to form the new Centre Union, inspired by Venizelist ideals.

Alexopolou was placed second on the Centre Union's list in the 1998 and 1999 elections, but in each case, the party won only a single seat, meaning that she failed to secure election. In April of 1999, she ran in the Centre Union's leadership election, and won with 41% of the members' vote. She then led the party into the 2002 election, in which the Centre Union increased its seat count to 5, winning Alexopolou a seat. In 2003, both the Optimates and Populares were implicated in the "Spoils of War" embezzlement scandal, leading many of their supporters to defect to the Centre Union. When a snap election was called in 2004, therefore, the party won 11 seats, coming in second place behind the Communist Party of Crimea (CPC).

1st term as Mesazon

After the 2004 election, the far-left Communist Party of Crimea won a 13-seat plurality in the Senate, but as all other parties refused to collaborate with the Communists, the task of forming a government instead fell upon Alexopolou, whose Centre Union had come in second place with 11 seats. Alexopolou quickly finalised an agreement with the newly-created minority interests Movement for our Rights party, but their 3 seats were insufficient to grant Alexopolou a majority. Alexopolou therefore had to secure the abstention of the Communists for her investiture vote. Three weeks after the seating of the new Senate, Alexopolou finally reached an agreement with the CPC, finding common ground with the party in her intentions to clean up the corruption revealed by the Spoils of War scandal. Alexopolou was officially appointed as the new Mesazon on February 11th, 2004. During her first term, Alexopolou pursued an anti-corruption agenda, prosecuting dozens of senior government officials for their involvement in the Spoils of War scandal while implementing anti-corruption safeguards. She also continued the Principality's European Union accession bid. These two objectives required delicate political manoeuvring; Alexopolou had to maintain good relations with both the Communists, who supported anti-corruption efforts but not EU accession, and the Optimates, who were more pro-European but sought to protect their party members from Alexopolou's purges. Alexopolou was nonetheless successful on both fronts, and the Principality joined the EU in 2006. When an election was called in 2007, therefore, Alexopolou and her party were at the peak of their popularity, and the Centre Union secured an absolute majority of 16 seats.

2nd term as Mesazon

After winning an absolute majority in the Senate, Alexopolou was able to seek a second term as soon as the new Senate was convoked on January 17th, 2007. Alexopolou was re-elected without incident. Alexopolou aimed to focus on the Principality's EU accession bid during her second term; however, the 2007–2008 financial crisis almost immediately derailed her plans. The European debt crisis soon followed, acutely affecting the Principality, which soon found itself facing a sovereign debt larger than several years of its GDP. Alexopolou responded by implementing austerity policies...