Axhnar Matzenk
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Axhnar Matzenk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 7th President of Visargia | |
| Assumed office 10 November 2013 | |
| Prime Minister of Visargia | |
| In office 24 September 1996 – 22 September 2000 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 22, 1944 Heimkar, Visargia |
| Political party | Mutualist Party (1961-2013) Independent (2013-present) |
| Spouse(s) | Segine Matzenk (married 1968; died 2002) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Barinze |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Visargia |
| Branch/service | Visargian Army |
| Years of service | 1963-1965 |
Axhnar Matzenk is the 7th President of the Third Visargian Republic who is currently serving the second of the two six year terms he is eligible for. Matzenk first rose to prominence as the Leader of the Mutualist Party, having been elected in 1990. After leading the party to victory in the 1996 election he became the Prime Minister of Visargia, an office he would hold until 2000. There was considerable attention to his resignation as Leader of the Mutualist Party in the run up to the 2000 election due to his wife's ill health. Matzenk would withdraw from politics following his wife's death in 2002 and only provided occasional interviews to the media. In 2013, he would return to politics and announce his candidacy in the 2013 presidential election. He won election in the first round, becoming the first non-incumbent officeholder to do so. He was re-elected for a second term in 2019.
Matzenk's leadership of the Mutualist Party was credited for returning the party to the political centre. Unlike previous Mutualist leaders he no longer advocated for mass scale state ownership within the Visargian economy and supported encouraging foreign business investment in Visargia. However, he was still a staunch believer in the welfare state with his most notable achievement as Prime Minister being the abolishment of tuition fees and the introduction of the graduate tax to fund university education. This policy and its legacy has led to him having high levels of popularity among the left-leaning youth of Visargia.
Matzenk's Presidency has been characterised by a time of political fragmentation, and at times instability, in Visargia. The declining popularity of the country's two major political parties, the Mutualist Party and the People's Party, has led to Matzenk having more involvement in the day to day running of the nation than the traditional President in the Third Republic. Despite this, Matzenk has been praised for his calm navigation of the country's political landscape and his non-partisan nature. This has made him one of the most popular Presidents in modern Visargian history, and has also led to him being ranked as the country's most popular current politician in all of the last 8 years.
Early life
Axhnar Matzenk was born on 22 March 1944 in Heimkar, East Wahelin, Visargia.