Samuel Czenko
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The Honourable Samuel Czenko Самуел Цзенко | |
|---|---|
 Czenko in 2018 | |
| 14th President of Narozalica | |
| In office 15 May 2010 – 9 May 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Dimitry Dubrinsky |
| Chancellor | Radek Teres Albina Semanco (acting) |
| Preceded by | Mergen Baynev |
| Succeeded by | Valentina Goga |
| In office 6 May 1999 – 11 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Lukaš Smajda |
| Chancellor | Boleslav Batsov David Zunik |
| Preceded by | Ivan Lecsko |
| Succeeded by | Mergen Baynev |
| Minister of Transport | |
| In office 19 January 1994 – 18 April 1999 | |
| President | Ivan Lecsko |
| Preceded by | Bohumil Bacsov |
| Succeeded by | Darja Balamuta |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Petr Czenko November 8, 1964 Tumsha, Sarkola, Narozalica |
| Political party | Patriots' Front |
| Children | 2 |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Narozalica |
| Branch/service | Army |
| Years of service | 1981–1985 |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Battles/wars | Second Narozalic Civil War |
Samuel Petr Czenko (/'tʃɛn:koʊ/, Narodyn: Самуел Петр Цзенко; born 8 November 1964; aged 55) is a Narozalic politician who served as the 14th President of Narozalica from 2010 to 2020, taking over from Mergen Baynev, and having previously held the position between 1999 and 2004. He also served a five-year term as the Minister of Transport between 1994 and 1999 under Ivan Lecsko.
Czenko was born in 1964 in the now-disputed Sarkola region of Narozalica (disputed by Velzemia), and attended school in Tumsha until the age of 16, when he travelled to Benkovce for military training, officially enlisting in the army in March 1981, aged just 17. He saw mostly urban combat as a private and corporal in eastern Narozalica. He was discharged with honours in 1985, two years after the conclusion of the civil war. He studied economics for three years at the Benkovce Mathematics Institute, graduating in 1988 with a degree.
Czenko entered politics in 1990, seeking election in the Voynaskul in the East Benkovce district, but only garnered 29.5% of the vote. He relocated back to Tumsha and was elected there, representing the dominant Patriots' Front, in 1993. In 1994 he was assigned Minister of Transport, furthering rail links domestically, and notably proposing the idea of a Trans-Euclean rail system that would travel from Samistopol in Narozalica to Drosnja in Gibany. The idea never came to fruition as he was nominated for the presidency after Ivan Lecsko resigned following corruption scandals in 1999. He was elected to his first presidential term in 1999, serving under 2004 and overseeing small growth in the Narozalic economy. He raised the military budget from 4.6% to 5.1% of the GDP in 2004, however he resigned from the presidency in 2004 following the death of his youngest daughter. He re-entered politics in 2007, and was re-elected into the presidency in 2010. Czenko's tenure since has been littered with reports of political imprisonment, corruption, bribery and totalitarianism. The Crossing 93 incident in 2009 led to Narozalica's suspension from the International Council of Democracy for the first time ever. Czenko has been re-elected in 2015 with 66% of the vote.
Early life
Samuel Petr Czenko was born on November 8, 1964 in Tumsha, a city in the disputed Sarkola state of Narozalica, to parents Bořek Czenko (1931–) and Linda Czenka (1940–2005) (née Burczak). Czenko was the eldest of four children, himself, brother Šimůnek, and sisters Lora and Zudmila. Czenko's father was an industrial factory worker in Tumsha and his mother was a cook in a restaurant in downtown Tumsha. Czenko's family had little political involvement preceding his birth, however his father was a union member for factory workers across Narozalica until it was forcefully disbanded by Gabriel Tozulyak in 1968. Czenko attended Mikulcov School for Boys from age five until sixteen, reportedly having a proficiency in maths and a passion for money and economical problems. Instead of travelling to university, Czenko enlisted in the 17th Benkovce Support Battalion fighting in the Second Narozalic Civil War, against the advice of his parents. He was shot in the upper left arm at seventeen whilst fighting in Benkovce, a wound he has later said he is "proud of". He joined the Young Patriots' Front whilst serving in the army.
Army career and education
Czenko joined the Narozalic Army in 1981, fighting on the traditional nationalist side of the ongoing civil war. He enlisted and was designated a position in the 17th Benkovce Support Battalion. He received a small amount of training in a temporary military boot camp facility some ten miles east of Benkovce, in the nearby village of Habovka. Graduating in October of 1981, he almost immediately saw combat in the eastern front of the civil war. Fighting briefly against Velzemian insurgents in the east and retaking a stronghold along the northern coast. Czenko was wounded during the Hajec Campaign in the north-east.
Once the civil war had concluded in 1983, Czenko's role in active combat dropped drastically, and he and his battalion were mainly assigned policing duties in retaken towns and cities. Among them were towns north of Benkovce, a city which Czenko has later stated felt "like a second home" to him. Due to a lesser need for active personnel, Czenko was discharged in 1985 with the full honours of a civil war participant. He served four years in the military.
Remaining in Benkovce, Czenko decided to pursue his passion for economics and studied the subject at the Benkovce Mathematics Institute, eventually earning a degree in the subject in 1988, but deciding to hunt after a role in the political world instead of traditional economic routes.
Political career
1990–1994: Early career
In the 1990 Voynaskul elections, Czenko sought to be elected to the house in the East Benkovce district, officially announcing his intention to run in the district on March 28. He was running on the platform of the Patriots' Front, the party he had joined as a teenager, on a platform of austerity, economic and military reform and Episemialist conservatism. His main rival in the East Benkovce district was Slava! candidate Libor Labscak. The two both fiercely campaigned for their district, however Labscak was eventually elected with 37% of his district's vote, compared to Czenko's 29.5%. With Labscak enjoying a fairly prosperous second term in the Voynaskul for East Benkovce, Czenko sought after another district to run for, fearing election would be impossible in Labscak now safe seat.