Phodric Dormond
Dr. Phodric Dormond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pantolaro of the Fostana | |
| Assumed office 10 September 2020 | |
| 1st Premier of the Caropsyne Pontanore | |
| In office 5 April 1993 – 14 May 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Fostana Rule |
| Succeeded by | Haldric Maldian |
| Member of the Pontiana | |
| In office 5 April 1993 – 14 May 1996 | |
| Constituency | Fornænda Pirus |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 19, 1948 Fornænda |
| Nationality | Caropsyne |
| Political party | Moderate |
| Spouse | Jena |
| Children | 1 daughter (Alsarta) and 1 son |
| Residence(s) | Fornænda (Pirus), Carops |
| Education | PhD Biochemistry |
| Alma mater | Imperial University Fornænda |
| Profession | Politician, Chemist |
Phodric Valanas Dormond (born: 19 May 1948) was the 1st Premier (Pontissiano) of the Caropsyne Pontanore following the end of sixty years of Fostana rule. The political ideology he established while in office has defined the divide in current Pontanore politics which persists to this day. He is currently a member (Pantolaro) of the Fostana.
Early Years and Personal Life
Phodric Dormond was born on 19 May 1948 in the Pirus District of Fornænda under Fostana rule. His father owned a chemist shop and his mother was a civil servant at the Education Directorate. The district he grew up in was abuzz with the construction of many housing projects to accomodate the influx of residents streaming in from the countryside in the years following the Great War. As a teenager, he would work in his father's chemist shop which would spark curiousity in the sciences. He also grew to love the piano since mother would teach him at night after finishing his homework. His talent as a pianist continues to this day.
Dormond would receive his doctorate in chemistry from the Imperial University Fornænda's Pologi College in 1970. He would meet his future wife Jena one night while taking a break from lab experiments as he was playing a piano in the fine arts building. She herself was a musician. Phodric would propose to her by playing and singing a tune he composed himself. Three years later they would marry and over the next five years have two children, Alsarta, their elder daughter and a son. Upon receiving his doctorate, he would join one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in a manageral role due to his extensive dissertation. The position paid very well and made raising his family sigificantly easier but he knew that many Caropsynes were less well-off than him. He and his wife would donate considerable Credita to charities, the Imperial University, and performing arts organizations - particularly those in Pirus. In the early 1980's, he would meet Haldric Maldian. In short order, both men would become close friends.
Political Career
Rise to Power
The aristocratic Fostana had been in control of Carops and her territories ever since they removed the last democratically-elected Premier and declaring a national emergency in 1933. Their grip on power had begun to collapse in 1990 as several members were implicated in a range of controveries involving improper member conduct and damaging social policies placed upon the country due to their longstanding reactionary politics. Dormond watched the heavy-handed supression of the Hermalas Socialist Uprising in 1991 and the Fostana's failed attempt to use the military to disperse the Ariatra Protests in 1992. This created a flame within him to do something about it and he didn't have to wait long for the opportunity to present itself as following the protests in Ariatra, Fostana Chair Rolmand Roth decreed that the Pontiana would be reopened and democracy would retored.
Elections were set for 3 April 1993. Dormond decided that the best way he could rebuild his beloved country was to run for the Premiership himself. Taking advantage of the business network he had been developing over the years, he would go on to establish and lead the Moderate Party. Reaching out to Maldian, his friend crafted a manifesto that made it appear like they were the centrist party on the ballot when in fact in fact they were actually conveying an assortment of center-right policies, state intervenion in the economy, and strong civic nationalism coupled with an expansive military and police force. Maldian would be tasked with delivering Ariatra for the party. When the polls closed, the Moderates won the highest number of seats in the Pontiana, making him Premier by law, however, they did not have an outright majority to govern alone and was able to secure a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats and the Liberty Party after a day and a half of deliberations. He officially took office when the Pontiana convened for the first time following the election on 5 April 1993.
Premiership
On the first day of Dormond's Government, he made a speech before the Pontiana proclaiming the establishment of the Second Pontanore and pledged to use the mandate he had been given to rebuild their great nation and restore frayed relations with the international community hampered by the heavy-handedness of the Fostana.
In the early days of his tenure, his Government would be responsible for rebuilding numerous institutions such as the National Health Service and improving the educational system. In alignment with his manifesto, he and Maldian urged the Pontiana to triple the investment in the military nd police forces, far more than what had ever been expended by the Fostana. When questioned by members of the chamber, they claimed that such a build-up and moderization program was essential to the defense of the Pontanore and to properly project the nation's true strength. Though most of the allocated funds went to rearming the military which was being overseen by Maldian, tens of millions were secretly siphoned off to finance the Damosca and their covert operations worldwide. Six months into Dormond's government, the Liberty Party left the Government but their departure still gave him enough votes to get his policies enacted.
He maintained a high level of popularity for much of his term at home as he proceeded to repeal many of the reactionary social policies enacted by the Fostana and the investments his Government made helped to reduce unemployment which some had cited as a factor that contributed the 1992 Ariatra Protests. He was credited for getting the Pontiana to pass legislation in 1995 to formally recognize the Pelsai community on the island of Casona as the indigenous population and its language and culture protected. He was also responsible for passage of the first comprehensive environmental protection law since a Fostana declaration in 1973. Things at home may have been calm, that was not the case abroad.
He and his political ally the Defense and Interior Minister, Haldric Maldian, began to implement an aggressive and antgonistic foreign policy against countries whose foreign policy disagreed with those of the Pontanore's. One nation of particular note was the Republic of Curiastan whom they believed to be a threat to long-term influence in developing countries. Respective countries would blame Dormond or the nation's intelligence service, the Damosca, for committing the attacks but this was always denied - although today we knew such actions were pressured by Zarmal.
Despite the increasing number of 'incidents,' Phodric had two big successes on the international stage that were achieved with his Foreign Minister Seranoda before their working relationship soured. A key win was the signing of the 1994 Treaty of Taerisz between the Pontanore and the Republic of Ardalia which would finally normalize relations between the two countries over a decade later following war between the two. The other major breakthrough was at a meeting of various heads of state of the numerous Thearean nations in November 1995 where they all agreed upon the basic framework that would lead to the creation of the Thearean Community in 1997.
Downfall
Phodric Dormond's popularity quickly dropped during the events of the Great Oil Crisis of 1996 where he was percieved by the public as inept and slow to react to problems facing the Pontanore. Members of his own party including backbencher Alza Permentanna demanded his resignation. Fearing for the safety for herself and her family, Miria Seranoda fled to Ardalia where she gave a fiercely critical address on State Television on Dormond's involvement in the oil crisis. She accused him of being ruled by the Damosca who coaxed him into pursuing a violent and bloody foreign policy. Afterwards, she presented a dossier to the Pontiana's Executive Committee listing notable terrorist acts for which she claimed Dormond was responsible for orchestrating (known today as having been pressured to commit them by the Damosca under Zarmal's influence).
Seeing that he had lost the confidence of the Caropsyne people in response to the events that had unfolded and had word from his allies that a motion was being drafted to remove him from the Premiership, Dormond formally announced his resignation. Dormond was succeeded by Haldric Maldian after a snap election. Although the poll results presented a similar outcome to the election of 1993, Maldian was able to recreate the original governing coalition by offering top ministries to his partners including the Liberty Party who had walked out six months into the Government.
After the Premiership
The once-popular Premier saw his influence largely evaporate following the events of the Oil Crisis. According to Eda Pontanoresca, the former Premier was given a desk job at the Damosca by Bureau Chief Zarmal. The same story also stated that he would go on to seek treatment for depression at a secure hospital for a time. The political party he had created, the Moderates, would become politcally toxic to most voters following the violent Siege of the Pontiana which was caused in due part to the hardline foreign policies (influenced by Zarmal) both he and Maldian had implemented during their tenures in office. Seranoda, his former Foreign Minister, would become Premier and press forward with a far-left political agenda, setting off the ongoing political battle between the New Left and Dormondist ideology.
Dormond would keep to himself and consistently refuse to comment on the policies of his successors for the next two decades. Phodric reappeared in the spotlight when it became know that he would be appointed to serve on the Fostana by Premier Ilmer Yutrias following the latter's success at enacting sweeping reform of the ancient chamber. News of his appointment was widely criticized nationwide and has been regarded as one of Yutrias' most controversal nominations. Dormond took his seat on 10 September 2020.