Huan An
Huan An Хуан Ан | |
|---|---|
| File:HuanAn.jpg | |
 Deputy for the 14th Legislative District in the Namorese Central Council | |
| Assumed office 1 May NMR 2353 | |
| President | Alicia Wolf Kaitlyn Khan Fu Wen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1, NMR 2311 (age 66) Vansong, Minjian |
| Nationality | Namorese |
| Political party | File:NDPsymbol.png New Democrats |
| Spouse | Tian Chunchia |
| Children | Huan Gongha Huan Ke Tian Pusia |
| Alma mater | Xiangmen University |
Huan An (Namorese: Хуан Ан) is a Namorese politician currently serving as a deputy serving the 14th Legislative District in the Namorese Central Council.
Born in Vansong, Minjian, in NMR 2311, Huan spent his early years as a political commentator. He was especially known for his opposition to the Liberationist Party of Namor, then Namor's ruling party; his criticism of Namorese domestic and foreign policy earned him the title of "the man the Establishment hated the most" by the Mojing Sibo. Even so, he refused to enter politics himself until he chose to do so in the NMR 2363 elections, becoming a deputy for the 14th District.
Since becoming deputy, Huan has proposed many bills aimed at reducing government spending and undermining Namor's progressive tax system. This has made him one of the most prominent New Democrats in the Central Council. He has been labeled as a "reactionary" by left-wing politicians; within his own party, he is viewed positively although his opposition to certain ideals considered incontrovertible in Namorese politics has also made him a divisive figure. He has sometimes come at odds with the New Democratic administration of Fu Wen; the administration and the New Democrats' ruling faction are seen as "walking a fine line between center and right," whereas Huan is seen as being in the "pure right."
Huan describes himself as a right libertarian.
Political Commentator
Huan was born in September 1, NMR 2311 in Vansong, Minjian, located not so far from the city of Xiangmen. Huan is of mixed ethnicity - he is three quarters Kannei Namorese and a quarter Qianrongese. His maternal grandfather had fled to Namor from Qianrong as a result of Zheng Hye-Jeou's purges, and was a close acquaintance of Hsu Ji-Lung, another Qianrongese exile. Huan's mother, who was half Qianrongese (Huan's grandmother was a Kannei whom his grandfather married after settling in Namor), married Huan Shuande, a Kannei from Minjian.
Huan An did not experience a smooth childhood. His father was labelled a counter-revolutionary during the Green Fever (for listening to foreign broadcasts) and the family came under constant harassment by authorities. It wasn't until NMR 2325 (ten years after the Fever ended) when Huan Shuande was cleared of all charges. By then, Huan was 14. He describes his father's status as a counter-revolutionary and the hardships his family endured as several of the factors that shaped his worldview, specifically his political views.
I was among the first Namorese of that generation to see through the rose-colored glasses and realize that we as a people were not living the life we're told we've been living. This was not a People's Republic, this was a Party's Republic, ruled by a small elite committee of men. Of course, saying such things back then could get you punished.
Huan took part in the high school newspaper as a columnist, but was expelled from the paper after criticizing Gelai Antelope. He almost suffered the same fate while writing for the newspaper of Xiangmen University after he wrote an opinion piece calling Liberationism "outmoded." The municipal government, which was then headed by a Liberationist, demanded that Huan apologize, but the university intervened and the government backed down. Huan proceeded to earn a full-time job as a columnist in the Minjian Daily.
As a columnist, Huan An was one of the leading critics of Kong Jo's administration. He exposures of corruption by several close associates of Kong's government earned him considerable fame. He also famously predicted (incorrectly) that Kong Jo would be Namor's last Liberationist leader. He made the same prediction in regards to Su Shui and was incorrect as well. Nevertheless, Huan's criticism of the Liberationists made him one of the leading voices of the early Namorese opposition, with the Mojing Sibo calling him "the man the Establishment hated the most." His following accompanied growing calls for him to become involved in politics, to which Huan initially turned down but later accepted.
Political career
Minjian District Assembly
In NMR 2345, Huan An ran for District Assembly as an independent and won. Although many called on him to run for Central Council, Huan did not belong to a major party at the time (and refused to join one), and independents could rarely be elected to the Central Council due to the electoral system. He told the press he would consider joining a party and running for Central Council "once I'm convinced this is the right path for me." At the same time, Huan remained active as a columnist.
Huan led anti-Chen protests in Minjian in the aftermath of the disputed NMR 2348 election. He called Alicia Wolf the legitimate President-General of Namor.
Central Council
Ahead of the NMR 2353 election, Huan announced that he would join the New Democrats and run for Central Council, ending his political career as an independent. He joined the list of top New Democratic deputies who, if elected, would represent the 14th Legislative District. That year, the New Democrats were given 25 seats in the Central Council. Huan took one of them. He was known for having responded to Alicia Wolf's election as President-General as a "re-election," since he believed Wolf, not Chanin Chen, was the legitimate victor of the NMR 2348 election.
Huan was quickly identified as the leader of the right libertarian faction among CenCo New Democrats, as opposed to the more moderate center-rightist faction. As deputy, he voted against many bills supported by Wolf, the DemSocs and other left-wing parties, vowing to "oppose any legislation that makes the fat bureaucracy fatter." His criticism of the Wolf administration grew, and in NMR 2356 he accused Wolf of being an "old guard in a progressive woman's clothing." The statement was widely perceived to have been sexist; the administration fired back by calling on Huan to "reevaluate his principles." Huan retracted his statement, noting that "it might have been somewhat offensive," but added "I need not restrain myself with the left's political correctness." His response made him more popular among libertarian New Democrats.
Controversy rose in the NMR 2368 election when Huan was accused of receiving money from the Central Intelligence Agency, which was allegedly funding the campaign of several pro-detente New Democrats to form a "Chinlupai lobby" in the Central Council. Huan made headlines after threatening to decapitate a reporter who repeatedly asked him questions about campaign financing. He later apologized, but maintained the accusations were false. A probe by the Central Council subsequently found that the accusations against Huan were "baseless," and Huan was re-elected to the Central Council.
In NMR 2375, Huan proposed the Fair Taxation Act, which proposed abolishing Namor's graduated income tax and replacing it with a 25% flat tax. The legislation, which passed the corresponding legislative cadre and made it to the floor of the Central Council, met a filibuster by Antelope Shohai. During the filibuster, Huan tried to interrupt Antelope by saying "I move that this socialist's time ends and that he be towed out of the floor," to which Antelope responded "Excuse me, but you should be the ones shutting up because you had so much time talking with rich people." Eventually, Antelope successfully prevented the CenCo from voting on the Fair Taxation Act, much to Huan's chagrin. However, the act gave Huan national attention and set the foundation for his participation in the NMR 2378 election.
NMR 2378 election
Huan An became the second New Democrat to announce his candidacy in the NMR 2378 presidential election.
He attracted attention after becoming the first Namorese presidential candidate to propose a territory-wide referendum in Luziycan-administered Nantai, with the aim of letting its inhabitants, rather than the Namorese and Luziycan governments, decide the territory's political status. Luziycan politicians responded to Huan's proposal positively. Not so long after proposing a referendum, Huan flew to Kenyen, the capital of Nantai, becoming the first PRN politician to visit the territory. There, he met with Chief Executive Kung Alicia and several other Nantainese politicians. The move was highly controversial back home due to the fact that Huan did not readily inform the government beforehand of the visit, and fears that Huan would make unofficial deals with Luziycan officials. The visit did not affect Huan's standing in the polls, which revealed him as the front-runner in the New Democratic presidential primary.