Shounn Virny

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Shounn Virny
MAV
Virny in Poméxelos, 2016.
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
30 June 2019
Prime Minister Apollo Cerwyn
Predecessor Shassel Marlaryen
Leader of the Liberals
Assumed office
30 June 2019
Predecessor Shassel Marlaryen
Deputy Prime Minister
In office
10 October 2018 – 3 June 2019
Prime Minister Andrew Blackhorse
Predecessor Andrew Blackhorse
Successor Snø Jens
Secretary of Diplomacy
In office
10 October 2018 – 3 June 2019
Prime Minister Andrew Blackhorse
Predecessor Andrew Blackhorse
Successor Apollo Cerwyn
Leader of the National Artists' Guild
In office
14 March 2018 – 18 July 2018
Predecessor Harmê Bertram
Successor Position abolished
In office
26 August 2015 – 5 March 2017
Predecessor Position established
Successor Snø Jens
6th Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona
In office
1 October 2015 – 22 May 2017
Monarch Tarik
Deputy Janina Amosiry
Apollo Cerwyn
Predecessor Léon Galieri
Successor Noa Dargany
Personal information
Citizenship Sabioveronese
Political party Liberal (since 2018)
National Artists' Guild (2015–18)
Cabinet 7th ministry
8th ministry
Religion Pahunism
In this traditional Sabian name, Naiavái is the matronymic and Virni is the family name.

Shounn Viktarios Virny MAV (Sabian: šunn viktario naiavái virni), commonly known as simply Shounn Virny (Sabian pronunciation: [ʃʊn ˈvɪɾniː]) is a Sabioveronese politician who was Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona from 1 October 2015 to 22 May 2017, succeeding Léon Galieri and preceding Noa Dargany. Virny was one of the founders and the first leader of the National Artists' Guild (DSN); he was also the party's last leader before its dissolution in 2018. Virny joined the Liberals after the DSN's dissolution and has led it since 2019, making him the present parliamentary Leader of the Opposition.

Virny has been a Member of the Sabioveronese Parliament since 2015, first representing the single-seat constituency of Kotavari, and after the adoption of the Constitution of 2017, he now represents the region of Gonn. As a member of the Liberals, he was Deputy Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona and Secretary of Diplomacy in Andrew Blackhorse's government from 2018 to 2019.

Virny was the sixth head of government of the Kingdom, and led the seventh and eighth ministries. He was the first Prime Minister to be elected under the 2015 constitution. In August 2016, Virny became the longest-serving head of government in Sabioveronese history, beating Bertrand Rivière. Following the 2016 general election, Virny formed the the eighth government in coalition with the Left Alliance, becoming the first Prime Minister to form two consecutive governments after two elections.

Early life and education

Virny is of Catalan origin. He became a citizen of Sabia and Verona in July 2015. He moved to Salisse shortly after this and began working as an Auror in the capital city while studying law at the University of Elinore. On 20 August he was promoted to Commandant of the Royal Auror Corps by General-Commissioner Donnel Seaworth.

Early career

Virny in 2015, after being elected leader of the National Artists' Guild.

Virny became involved in politics after the execution of Haronos Plan, already in Alios. Virny participated in the first DSN congress, held on 26 August 2015, where he delivered his "Sabia and Verona can be different" speech, which became an influential part of the Guild's manifesto.[1] At the end of the congress, Guild members were entitled to choose a leader, a Chief Artist of the Guild. Virny was nominated by fellow Guild member Orion Bennet, who was elected Secretary of the Guild.

As Chief Artist, he was entitled to run for the post of Prime Minister as the Guild's nominee at the 2015 election. Virny, described as a charismatic and effective leader, led a successful media-based campaign based heavily on the DSN's official newspaper, Sourg ê Mourg ("Ink and Paint"; named so after King Tarik's personal motto). On 20 September 2015, the DSN got 60% of the popular vote and 7 out of 10 seats in the new parliament[2]

Premiership

First mandate

Virny took office as Prime Minister on 1 October 2015, alongside the new Parliament. During his first month in office, most of Virny's administration focused on government spending, tax and budget laws. On 20 October 2015, Virny led the celebrations of the 3rd anniversary of Sabia and Verona.[3] A couple of days later, he oversaw the annexation of land bordering Alios to the south to Austenasia, which was met with a positive response from the Sabioveronese people.[4]

In November 2015, Parliament passed a law that had been proposed by the DSN (led by Virny), creating the National Bank of Sabia and Verona. After appointing E. M. Starlynn as the National Bank's president, Virny announced his administration had intentions to create a fully functional, Sabioveronese-only currency.[5] The next month it was announced the new currency would be known as the groxi.[6] On 1 January 2016, the groxi successfully entered the Sabioveronese market.

First-edition groxar notes.

In February 2016, Virny oversaw the implementation of the Alios Agreement, which officially made Sabia and Verona independent from the Federal Union of Juclandian Lands.[7] In March of that year, he was subject to criticism from the parliamentary opposition for his alleged involvement in the Koringate corruption scandal.[8][9] In April 2016 the Prime Minister and Unity Party leader Andrew Blackhorse met in the Kodesari neighborhood of Alios to discuss the upcoming general election and other topics.[10] On 27 August 2016, Virny became the longest-serving Prime Minister in Sabioveronese history.

In the 2016 general election, Virny's leadership lost over 20% of the general vote and its majority in Parliament.[11] On 21 September 2016, Virny announced he would be entering in a coalition government with the Left Alliance (R). Following the formation of the 8th ministry on 1 October 2016, Virny became the first Prime Minister to form two governments in a row.

Coalition government and La Plata incident

Virny in La Plata, during his controversial visit to Argentina in January 2017.

Virny's second mandate as Prime Minister got off to a rough start with only two Parliament meeting taking place between the 8th ministry's formation in October 2016 to January 2017. On 7 January 2017 Virny was heavily criticized by Andreina Rossini, his Leftist Secretary of Botany, for inactivity and for "colluding with the Liberals" by backing the Liberal-led initiative to join the Grand Unified Micronational as an observer state; Rossini resigned from her cabinet position on the 10th.[12] This was just the beginning of a series of controversies that engulfed the Prime Minister over the following months.

On 17 January, Virny was publicly accused of "not [addressing] the Left's concerns" by Left Alliance leader Apollo Cerwyn, who said Virny was unwilling to discuss the subject of constitutional reform, one of the Left's main platform points.[13] Cerwyn claimed, and later other Left secretaries confirmed, Virny had promised the Left constitutional reform would be discussed at some point early in the second Parliament's tenure.[13] Tensions grew over the following days to the point there was no communication between Leftist and Artist secretaries of the cabinet.[14]

A special Parliament meeting was scheduled for 25 January, in which the topic of constitutional reform was to be discussed by a joint petition of the Left and the Liberals; however, Virny didn't show up to Parliament that day, and was missing for several hours causing great concern throughout the Kingdom. Hours later he posted a selfie in front of the La Plata City Hall, in the capital of Buenos Aires Province, captioned: "Having a blast in #LaPlata today. Still unable to reach @mariuvidal [Buenos Aires Governor María Eugenia Vidal]. We'll see!"[15] The tweet, and the fact Virny had taken a day off to visit Argentina on the day an extraordinary Parliament meeting had been convened, caused great controversy in Alios and prompted sharp criticism for the Prime Minister, who was called to resign.[15]

Opposition to constitutional referendum

Noa Dargany, who succeeded Virny as Prime Minister on 22 May 2017.

Following the incident, dubbed the "La Plata incident" by Sabioveronese circles, there were protests against Virny and for constitutional reform, organized by the Liberals and Leftists but supported by some anti-Virny Artists as well. The pressure from the protests and the opposition in Parliament, which now unofficially included the Left, finally made Virny accept a binding referendum on whether the Constitution should be reppealed and a Constitutional Assembly, to draft a new constitutional document, be convoked; the unwillingness to back the popular pro-reform view and the La Plata incident had already shattered the Prime Minister's popularity.[16] With little chance to win, Virny officially backed the "No" camp in the referendum and made this the official party view, despite there being serious opposition within the party.[17]

On 5 March, the referendum ended with the "Yes" option winning by a landslide; Virny resigned from his position as leader of the Guild shortly after the results were announced; this meant he was unlikely to run for a third mandate as Prime Minister the following election.[18] On 8 March he became one of the 21 delegates from Alios to attend the first session of the Constitutional Assembly.

Upon the approval of the Constitution of 2017 by the Constitutional Assembly on 21 April, new elections were scheduled for 30 April,[19] but after an appeal by the National Artists' Guild, now led by Snø Jens-Galieri, the interim Electoral Commission moved the election date to May 14.[20] Virny was third on the Artists' list, under Jens-Galieri and the party's secondary leader, Harmê Bertram de Asra. At the 2017 election, the Artists received their worst result since the party's formation and were unable to form government; Virny's premiership was quoted by many as one of the main reasons for the Artists' poor performance in the polls.[21] On 22 May 2017, Noa Dargany of the Liberals succeeded Virny as Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona.[22]

Post-premiership

In the 3rd Parliament, Virny continued to co-operate with the governing Liberals, which deepened the divisions within the party and with Jens-Galieri, since the "Jensist" faction (which held the party's leadership since Virny's resignation) sought to collaborate further with the Left Alliance instead. The wedge grew so deep it started to cause what some analysts dubbed a "crisis" within the Artists' Guild, which peaked when Jens-Galieri's own resignation from the leadership on 29 June 2017.[23] Jens-Galieri's resignation (his place was taken by Virnyist MP, Harmê Bertram) gave rise to talks dissolving the Artists' Guild, as its numbers dwindled and polls suggested the 2018 election would result in a dismal outcome for the party. Virny and his circle vehemently denied this, and Virny was the biggest opponent to a hypothetical "unified leftist superfront".[24] The tension culminated when the Jensist faction left the party to become the "Socialist Caucus", which eventually joined the Left to form the Democratic Party.[25]

Personal life

Virny became a Sabioveronese citizen in August 2015, making him the last Sabioveronese citizen to be naturalized in Sabia and Verona before the execution of the Haronos Plan. In an interview held shortly after his election he stated he is a practicing Pahunist, declaring himself a "follower of the Aytana Tree".[1] Virny is an active Twitter user, often twitting about Sabioveronese and international politics.

Honors

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Akershosi nel Enkâkourakal": Ry nezy Pr. Shounn Virnal Sóvethann". Sourg ê Mourg (in Sabian). 23 September 2015.
  2. "Virny and the Guild take the lead". The SiV Phonograph. 9 September 2015.
  3. "Triangle Triceratops Trimester Trivia: Three years of Sabia and Verona". The SiV Phonograph. 20 October 2015.
  4. "Alios celebrates as SiV becomes Austenasia’s neighbour again". The SiV Phonograph. 29 October 2015.
  5. "Virny: "Economic development is my goal"". The SiV Phonograph. 8 November 2015.
  6. "Government reveals new currency designs". The SiV Phonograph. 8 December 2015.
  7. "Risen from ruins: the future of the Juclandian community". The SiV Phonograph. 28 February 2016.
  8. "Koringate: Jens pleads innocent, blames heartache". The SiV Phonograph. 13 March 2016.
  9. "Gentlepeople, start your engines: Goyo and Boulin to run for second terms". The SiV Phonograph. 27 March 2016.
  10. ""A step in the right direction": Virny and Blackhorse meet in Kodesari". The SiV Phonograph. 4 April 2016.
  11. "Decision 2016: Conservatives fall short of majority". The SiV Phonograph. 18 September 2016.
  12. "Botany Secretary resigns over controversial comments". The SiV Phonograph. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Cerwyn: 'Virny has not addressed the Left's concerns' The SiV Phonograph. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  14. "The secret meeting of Liberals and Leftists Virny wasn't invited to" The SiV Phonograph. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Enkâkourak takes day off, causes mayhem" The SiV Phonograph. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  16. "Between a sword and a wall, Virny green-lights constitutional referendum" The SiV Phonograph. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  17. Shounn Virny (Enkâkourak) on Twitter. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  18. "Constitutional referendum: 'Yes' option wins by a landslide" The SiV Phonograph. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  19. "Sabia and Verona has a new constitution" The SiV Phonograph. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  20. "The short race: elections to be held on May 14" The SiV Phonograph. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  21. "Decision 2017: Left and Liberals grow as Artists sink to third place". The SiV Phonograph. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  22. "Parliament confirms Dargany's government" The SiV Phonograph. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  23. "Snø Jens resigns as Artist leader amid party crisis". The SiV Phonograph. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  24. "Bertram: 'No "leftist superfront" under my watch'". The SiV Phonograph. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  25. "The Democratic Party, the long-awaited 'leftist superfront'". The SiV Phonograph. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by
Andrew Blackhorse
Deputy Prime Minister
10 October 2018 – 3 June 2019
Succeeded by
Snø Jens-Galieri
Preceded by
Andrew Blackhorse
Secretary of Diplomacy
10 October 2018 – 3 June 2019
Succeeded by
Apollo Cerwyn
Preceded by
Léon Galieri
Prime Minister of Sabia and Verona
1 October 2015 – 22 May 2017
Succeeded by
Noa Dargany
Parliament of Sabia and Verona
Preceded by
Shassel Marlaryen
Leader of the Opposition
30 June 2019 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
New constituency
MP for the Gonn List
22 May 2017 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
New constituency
MP for Kotavari
1 October 2015 – 22 May 2017
Succeeded by
Constituency dissolved
Party political offices
Preceded by
Shassel Marlaryen
Leader of the Liberals
30 June 2019 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Harmê Bertram
Leader of the National Artists' Guild
14 March 2018 – 18 July 2018
Succeeded by
Party dissolved
Preceded by
Party founded
Leader of the National Artists' Guild
26 August 2015 – 5 March 2017
Succeeded by
Snø Jens