Aleksander Shelyapin
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Aleksander Shelyapin Александер Шеляпін | |
|---|---|
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| President of Soravia | |
| In office January 8, 1983 – September 8, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Himself (as State Minister of the UPSR) |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Lecsko |
| State Minister of the UPSR | |
| In office July 17, 1971 – January 7, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Ivan Sytnikov |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Chairman of the Party for the Lushkina FSR | |
| In office March 19, 1955 – November 6, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Ippolit Yanayev |
| Succeeded by | Lavrentiy Bessonov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 October 1917 Kolodyazhnoye povit, Garbuzy Oblast, Soravia |
| Died | 10 March 2002 (aged 84) Samistopol, Soravia |
| Resting place | Necropolis Heroyam, Samistopol |
| Political party | ZVNP (1941–83) PF (1983–91) |
| Spouse | Amalia Gunina (m. 1944) |
| Signature |  |
Aleksander Yermalayovych Shelyapin (/ʃɛljɑ'pɪn/, born 27 October 1917) was a Soravian bureaucrat and politician who served as the final State Minister of the UPSR between 1971 and 1983, as well as the first post-Union president of Soravia between 1983 and 1989. His 18-year total tenure oversaw a number of significant events, including violence in Kantemosha, Vedmed and Zalykia, the dissolution of the UPSR, as well as some détente with the global north.
Born at a country home in Kolodyazhnoye near Garbuzy, Shelyapin's family were relatively affluent amidst the Great Collapse. He joined the ZVNP in 1937, aged 20, one year after Vladislav Pudovkin declared the party the sole political front of the Soravian people. A technocrat known for his competence and reliability, Shelyapin gradually rose through the party ranks in his native Lushkina FSR, eventually being elected Chairman in 1955. In the 1960s, he became one of the most influential and notable éminence grises within the Polkom during the Tozulyak era, second only to Oleksii Dobrovolsky, for whom he shared a notable enmity. After Dobrovolsky's resignation as the PDP's Chief of Staff in 1971, Shelyapin became the first in line to the State Ministry, a position he assumed a few months later.
Ultimately, Shelyapin was unable to prevent the continued political and economic decline of the UPSR, with worsening conditions and rising nationalist fervour amongst the non-Marolevic populations of the Union leading to sporadic violence in Kantemosha, Vedmed, Zalykia as well as in West Arciluco. After years of violence, Shelyapin eventually began leading a reformist stance, opening negotiations for Kantemoshan and Vedmedi independence in 1977 to the opposition of hardlider unionists in the ZVNP, but remained determined to keep the Marolevic parts of the country within the Union. Both countries would gain their independence in 1978 and 1979 respectively, but controversially Shelyapin refused to budge on issues in Ambrazka, leading to the beginning of sustained violence in Kantemosha and Ambrazka. The Miersan War in 1980 further damaged the UPSR's perception of power abroad, with little aid sent in the wake of growing ethnic violence in other parts of the UPSR. The near-complete destruction of West Miersa in 1981 concerned Shelyapin and the ZVNP, who became weary of the spread of socialism to the west. Negotiations began as to the civil end of the UPSR, which eventually came to fruition in the 1983 Instrument for Future Cooperation, whose signatories superceded into the Samistopol Cooperation Organisation.
Shelyapin remained as the inaugural post-Union president of Soravia, rebranding the ZVNP into the Patriots' Front. His role in leading a peaceful end to the Union earned him the 1983 Foirbeis Peace Award, and gave Soravia a good international reputation, leading to a major détente with the north. This amnesty only briefly lasted, with northern leaders condemning Shelyapin after he refused to withdraw troops from Zalykia, who continued to surpress the Zalyk independence movement that had been growing since the 1970s. Violence in Zalykia continued until the end of the Shelyapin's tenure.
Shelyapin is seen as a controversial figure both domestically and abroad. While known for his competence within the party, as a statesman he garnered a reputation for his rashness and letting personal feuds influence his policy. Internationally he is more favourably viewed, being seen as a reformist who led the UPSR to a mostly-peaceful dissolution and being an arbiter of positive relations between West and East Euclea.