Carwyn Jenkins
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Comrade Carwyn Jenkins AM | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Assembly Member for Erus City | |
| Assumed office 9 November 2008 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Constituency | Erus City-2 |
| Majority | 8 electoral votes |
| Premier of the National People's Assembly | |
| In office 10 November 2008 – 2 February 2009 | |
| President | Robert Lethler |
| Preceded by | Robert Lethler |
| Succeeded by | Kai Roosevelt |
| Chairman of the National Congress | |
| In office 9 November 2008 – 25 February 2009 | |
| General Secretary | Robert Lethler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Kai Roosevelt |
| Executive Commissioner for Internal Affairs | |
| In office 16 March 2009 – 6 December 2009 | |
| President | Robert Lethler Kenneth Maisano |
| Succeeded by | Melissa Anderson |
| Chief Political Officer of the Communist Party | |
| In office 12 May 2009 – 27 February 2010 | |
| General Secretary | Robert Lethler |
| Congress Chair | Kai Roosevelt |
| Succeeded by | Kenneth Maisano |
| Chairman of the Central Advisory Committee | |
| In office 25 February 2009 – 12 May 2009 | |
| General Secretary | Robert Lethler |
| Congress Chair | Kai Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Kai Roosevelt |
| Succeeded by | James Marshall |
Carwyn Jenkins is a prominent Erusian politician, revolutionary, economist and legislator who - throughout his lengthy political career - served in numerous positions in the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Erusia until his retirement from high-level politics in February 2010. Jenkins served as the second Premier of the National People's Assembly from November 10th 2008 until February 2nd 2009, and as Chairman of the National Congress of the Erusian National Communist Party from November 9th 2008 to February 25th 2009, making him the de facto deputy leader of the DPRE during its early days. After a period of disfavour with his colleagues, he returned to the top leadership on May 12th 2009 as the ENCP's Chief Political Officer, a role he occupied until February 27th 2010. Although he would never return to the Premiership, he served as the most senior cabinet minister in the governments of both Robert Lethler and Kenneth Maisano, occupying the role of Commissioner for Internal Affairs from March 16th to December 6th 2009.
Intermicronationally, Jenkins is most well-known for his long-term leadership of the so-called liberal wing of the Communist Party, being the most senior and often the most vocal critic of the single-party state established under the guidance of Robert Lethler. His opposition to the hardliners within the Party and his advocacy of multi-party democracy in Erusia percipitated his fall from power at the 3rd Party Congress, which saw him removed from all senior offices and relegated to the role of chief advisor. Though he returned to the Central Committee and top leadership in May 2009, his continued opposition to the conservative Party Line effectively ensured he would never rise to the post of General Secretary, a post he contested at the 1st and 5th Party Congresses without success. For this reason, some have described him as "the best leader Erusia never had" and the "Ken Clarke of the Communist Party".
Since his retirement from the top leadership of the Communist Party at the 5th Congress in February 2010, Carwyn Jenkins has served as a member of the Central Discipline Commission, the body he chaired as Chief Political Officer. Though she triumphed over him in the February 2010 leadership election, the liberal leader has been a prominent supporter of Kai Roosevelt's government. He continues to represent Erus City-3 in the National People's Assembly, being the longest serving member of the Assembly today having successfuly defended his constituency in all four general elections to date, making his seat the safest Communist seat in the Democratic People's Republic. He is currently one of five individuals serving on the Assembly Standing Committee, making him a "Top Legislator".
Kingdom of Erusia
Carwyn Jenkins was one of several socialist politicians from the former Democratic People's Republic of Bzan who became citizens of the newly established Kingdom of Erusia, widely regarded by his peers as a potential future leader of a socialist government if the Kingdom undertook promised democratic reforms. Along with Robert Lethler he was a vocal opponent of the then-King, Peter Maxwell, being deeply critical of the laws of the Monarchy and becoming an outspoken advocate for political change in the Kingdom.
November Revolution
When socialist representative and de facto leader Robert Lethler called a special session of all former Bzanites in on November 8th 2008, Jenkins attended without hesitation. When Lethler proposed the establishment of an illegal political party and a hostile takeover of the government to establish a new democratic socialist Republic, Jenkins offered his full support for the idea, believing that revolutionary change at an early stage in Erusia's development would be the only way to ensure the nation became successful. Those attending the meeting voted to approve the establishment of an Erusian National Communist Party, holding an immediate leadership election to decide who would serve as the first General Secretary. Jenkins was the only candidate to oppose Lethler, being defeated on the first and only ballot when the future Supreme People's Commissioner won two-thirds of the vote. Jenkins was subsequently unaminously chosen as Chairman of the National Congress, a role now recognised as being synonymous with the deputy leadership of the Party.
Together with Lethler, Jenkins played a key role in the November Revolution that followed. He helped to rally support for the Communist agenda, promising democracy and liberation from oppression, giving the revolution the momentum it needed to succeed. Whilst Lethler went to the King and aristocracy to demand the former's abdication, Jenkins proclaimed the foundation of "a Democratic People's Republic of Erusia" in the early hours of November 9th, marking the official establishment of the modern Erusian nation. A few short hours later the first Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic was enacted, with Robert Lethler being established as the provisional Premier.
Political career
Premiership
Jenkins was automatically installed as one of the first members of the provisional National People's Assembly in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. On November 10, after Robert Lethler was elevated to the Presidency, Jenkins was chosen to serve as the first full Premier of the Assembly. In this new capacity, he was given responsibility for pursuing the provisional legislative agenda that the Communist Party had outlined at its 1st National Congress, being tasked with repealing various laws from the Kingdom that the Communist government opposed and replacing them with socialist legislation. During the early days of his term, Jenkins helped in the drafting, passing an implemention of a mammoth legislative package that saw the rights of women, homo- and bisexuals, ethnic minorities and religious minorities clearly established in written law for the first time. He repealed every law originating from the Kingdom, the vast majority of which were deemed to promote discrimination.
Eight days after his election to the Premiership, Lethler nominated Jenkins for the role of Chairman of the Central People's Bank, a position that effectively granted him full control over the national economy. He was charged with commmissiong a formal study to investigate possible practical economic systems for the Democratic People's Republic, the findings of which were reportedly ill-received by other senior officials in the Party, though the contents of the study's final report have never been published. Jenkins reportedly favoured the implementation of an economic system that was at least partially simulated, establishing a nation with a self-sufficient model economy that could in the future be adapted into a functioning one in a territorially independent Erusia, a suggestion that Robert Lethler did not take kindly to.
As time progressed, Jenkins called for free and fair elections to be held in the Democratic People's Republic at the first possible opportunity, something President Lethler agreed to as soon as effective opposition could be found. When the People's Democratic Front was established as a social liberal alternative to the ENCP, elections were announced for December 2008 - much to the satisfaction of the staunchly pro-democracy Premier. The election ultimately produced a Communist government with an electoral mandate, seeing Jenkins returned as the member for his constituency in Erus City, enabling him to continue his Premiership without disruption. However, two days after the election - the day normal government functions resumed - Jenkins was relieved of his post as Chairman of the Central People's Bank amid rumours that he had become involved in a heated argument with Lethler on the matter of economic development.
From then onwards, Jenkins rapidly began to fall out of favour with the ruling clique in the Communist Party, marking the beginning of the end of his term as the second highest leader in the DPRE. When opposition protests swept the nation in the aftermath of the election, which they claimed had been rigged by the ENCP, Jenkins was reportedly in favour of an independent investigation into the allegations (though he denied claims of fraud himself). This put him at odds with the hardline wing of the Party, which saw the protests as the justification for the establishment of a single-party communist state. Though he reluctantly agreed that temporary harsh measures were needed to deal with the situation, he is believed to have strongly and vocally protested against the decision by the government to pass the Proletarian Protection Act 2009, which saw the abolition of free multi-party democracy in mid-January 2009. Out of favour with President Lethler and other hardliners, Jenkins resigned as Premier on February 2nd.
Fall from power
In the days following his resignation, hardliners mounted an increasingly hostile campaign against him within the Party, calling for his removal from the posting of de facto deputy leader. When it was announced that the Communist Party would hold its 3rd National Congress on February 25, Lethler endorsed Kai Roosevelt as his personal preference for the deputy leadership. It is rumoured that he denounced Jenkins at a meeting of the Central Committee, accusing him of being too weak and liberal, asserting that a stronger candidate was needed to help lead the Party. Jenkins went on to preside over the 3rd National Congress whilst it was in session, the only sitting of Congress he ever presided over. When the time came to elect a 2nd Central Committee, Jenkins was not only removed as Chairman of the National Congress, but a bloc vote by the conservative faction saw him unable to return to the Central Committee. He was subsequently chosen as the new Chairman of the Central Advisory Committee, being succeeded in his former role by Kai Roosevelt, who had also replaced him as Premier.
Cabinet minister and discipline chief
Jenkins and his supporters were reportedly subjected to a campaign of internal political repression, the ultimate goal of which was believed to be his complete purging from the Party, though the campaign ultimately proved unsuccessful when Jenkins threatened to publicise the details of events. In what was seen as an effort to promote Party unity, President Lethler appointed Jenkins as National People's Executive Commissioner for Internal Affairs, a posting that is even to this date regarded as the most senior position in the Erusian cabinet. In his new-found political capacity, Jenkins was charged with a number of important State functions, though he remained only an advisor on policy within the hierarchy of the Communist Party. In particular the former Premier presided over a highly successful citizenship recruitment campaign that saw the Democratic People's Republic grow at a steady rate, attracting a surprising number of active citizens thanks to a careful citizen-government relations campaign orchestrated by the new Commissioner.
Though his efforts in recruiting new active officials to fill the lower ranks were highly successful, towards the middle of 2009 the Communist Party experienced a severe problem with inactivity among those elected to the 2nd Central Committee, to the point where it became impossible to function. Despite efforts to appoint Richard Tobias to the Committee, Robert Lethler was ultimately forced to call an in absentia election for a 3rd Central Committee, including all of its offices. Rather than challenging either Lethler or Roosevelt for their positions, Jenkins instead contested the office of Chief Political Officer. He won the office with little difficulty, becoming the third most powerful official and taking charge of the Central Discipline Commission, effectively returning him to power within the Party. Following this, visible efforts were made by the conservative wing to reconcile with Jenkins and his backers, resulting in the unification all wings of the ENCP for the first time in its history.
He was a prominent supporter of the constitutional reforms that occurred in May 2009, though he strongly campaigned against subsequent reforms in the aftermath of the July General Election that saw the ejection of four non-Communist legislators from the Assembly. He used his authority as the Party's discipline chief to regularly inspect the work of the Central Committee, holding hardline leaders to account on a number of important issues and establishing a convention that the Central Committee and Central Discipline Commission shall always be in polticial opposition to one another as a form of check on the former's power. When Kenneth Maisano became President on July 6th 2009, Jenkins continued to serve in cabinet as Internal Affairs Commissioner. He was re-elected as Chief Political Officer at the 4th Party Congress a month later, also being elevated to the newly-created Politburo Standing Committee. However, he was removed from the cabinet on December 6th for reasons that are not clear, with the official excuse being that the government desired greater separation of powers between the executive and the legislative branches.
2010 leadership bid
On January 22nd 2010, Jenkins shook Erusia's political system to its very heart when he publicly announced his intention to challenge Robert Lethler for the leadership of the Communist Party for a second time. Prior to his announcement, Lethler had been heading for a fifth - and final - term as General Secretary. In his announcement, the former Premier asserted that he was not standing out of a lack of confidence in the leadership of Lethler, but out of a desire to see a change in the political agenda of the ENCP. His decision to stand prompted moderate leader Kai Roosevelt to announce her candidacy for the election a day later. Lethler withdrew from the race on February 3rd, being replaced as the conservative candidate by Kenneth Maisano. Ultimately, Jenkins was unsuccessful in his bid for the leadership. He polled just four of twenty-two votes on the first ballot at the 5th Party Congress, being eliminated on the second ballot when his share of the vote failed to increase. Nonetheless, most now agree that it was his decision to stand that made the subsequent election of Kai Roosevelt and the collapse of the conservative leadership possible.
Semi-retirement
After his defeat in the 2010 leadership election, Carwyn Jenkins confirmed the end of his career as a senior Communist politician, choosing not to seek re-election to the Central Committee. He was subsequently elected as a member of the Central Discipline Commission, the body that he had chaired for most of his political career, along with fellow semi-retiree Michelle Yui. He retired from mainstream politics in order to better serve his constituents as an Assembly Member, according to his press release on the subject, effectively relegating himself to the role of backbencher and political commentator for the duration of his career in Erusia. He serves as the leader of a liberal pressure group and policy think tank established at the 5th National Congress, the Socialist Reform Group.