Dominique Horiatio
| Dominique Horiatio | |
|---|---|
| |
| 11th President of Rizealand | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 7, 2008 | |
| Vice President | Stephen Crew |
| Preceded by | Kyle McCarthy |
| Member of the National Council from Firmador | |
| In office December 7, 2003 – December 7, 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Jeanette Swanson |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Jenkins |
| Governor of Firmador | |
| In office December 7, 1999 – December 7, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Al Parker |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Cable |
| Member of Legislative Assembly of Firmador | |
| In office December 7, 1990 – December 7, 1999 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dominique Raymond Horiatio June 9, 1952 Napa, KLR, Rizealand |
| Nationality | Rizealander |
| Political party | NPC-NDP |
| Spouse(s) | Louisa Sandra Horiatio (Alcott)-Oct 11, 1980 |
| Relations | Maria Horiatio Calboa (sister) Martinez Horiatio (brother) |
| Children | Tomas Horiatio (b. 1983) |
| Parents | Sanz Igardo Horiatio Marissa Yuna Horiatio |
| Residence | Orange House (official) Long Beach (Rizealand) (private) |
| Alma mater | UFC-Bagropa (B.A.) Briggs & Harvey Law School (J.D.) |
| Profession | Lawyer Professor of political science Author Politician |
| Religion | Christianity (Roman Catholic) |
| Signature | 
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Dominique Raymond Horiatio (born September 6, 1952) is the 11th and current President of the Federation of Rizealand. Born in Napa, Kuala Lumpur, he is the first President of indigenous Maxtopian ancestry and the second Catholic President to take office. He spent up until his teen years growing up in Napa before leaving and heading to Bagropa against his parents wishes to attend the University of Firmador Central where he got his Bachelor of Arts after getting out of a temporary college party life where he almost got killed in a car accident. He then taught political science and went to Briggs and Harvey Law School to get his JD in Civil and Discriminatory Law. He practiced law for about 10 years and got involved in political activism before getting elected three times in a row to the Legislative Assembly of Firmador. He then won election as Governor of Firmador and served one term before stepping down and getting appointed to the National Council instead. After serving a term as a councillor, he announced his candidacy for Presidency in 2007 and in 2008, he won a close victory against incumbent Kyle McCarthy. He then went on to push heavily progressive reforms and increased Rizealand's success domestically. In 2013, he won a landslide reelection against TNC challenger Sherman Gore and went on to push for a more internationally engaging foreign policy for Rizealand, including membership to the Congress of Nations and International Freedom Coalition as well as involvement abroad in civil disputes including terrorist attacks in Farendale, USJR aggression in New Paris, unrest in Sunarctica, and civil war in Wadiya.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Dominique Horiatio was born September 6, 1952 at the Shiao-Nia Medical Center in Napa, Rizealand, in the Province of Kuala Lumpur and he is the first Rizealand President to be born in Kuala Lumpur. His father and mother were both of Maxtopian heritage. His father, Sanz Horiatio, was an automobile mechanic and was the foreman in a local automobile shop at the time of Dominique's birth. His mother was a local school teacher for an all-Maxtopian school. Horiatio grew up in Napa for most of his young life, both of his parents keeping steady jobs and integrating him with his community. He attended an all-Maxtopian school for most of education career until high school. He worked small odd and end jobs on his free time but curried a love for books and used most of his hard earned cash to buy all the books he could on politics and history. At the age of 19, in 1971, he decided against his parents wishes, who were strong Roman Catholics, to attend a secularist university rather than a Catholic college so he headed off with little to spend to University of Firmador Central in Bagropa. There, he worked hard in his classes and tried to make up for his lack of money by working hard at different types of jobs from a mechanic at some small autoshops to being a janitor and a waiter. He took part in the massive Maxtopian protests that happened across the universities against the discriminatory policies that had been instituted. This is where his first job in politics took place as he volunteered and eventually became a paid staffer for the Mayor of Bagropa, John Kelt, who was running on the promise of ending Maxtopian segregation in the city.
Dominique did succumb to college life like everyone else and one night, after heavy drinking and usage of marijuana and juke, he got into a massive car accident that crushed his left leg and hospitalized him for months. After being released from the hospital, Dominique began to actively attend mass again every Sunday and cut down on his partying so he could focus more on studying. In 1976, he graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts while majoring in Political Science and History. After that, he got hired on part time job at a local community college, teaching political science.
Lawyer and Political Activist
In 1978, Dominique applied to get into the prestigious Briggs & Harvey Law School and was accepted. He spent most of his time teaching college classes and studying to get his J.D. which he completed later in 1980. After graduating, he began to work for a the Agrincoult Law Firm in Bagropa that dealt with civil and discrimination law suits. He dropped his teaching job and spent his free time volunteering to work with many of the civil rights groups that operated out of Bagropa. He also began to start volunteering and working with the New Democratic Party a lot more. It was at the New Democratic Party offices that he met Louisa Sandra, a political director and activist, who became his fiancee and wife a few years later.
Involvement in Local Politics
In 1990, after the current incumbent in one Bagropa's legislative districts decided not to run for reelection, the New Democratic Party officials in Bagropa began to pressure Dominique to run for office for the Legislative Assembly of Firmador so he ran and won the election with a comfortable margin. After the conclusion, of his first term, he decided to run for two more terms. During his last two terms, he became a prominent member of the Legislative Assembly and even served as the right-hand man of the Majority leader.
Governor of Firmador
In 1999, Al Parker finished his last term as Governor of Firmador and Dominique announce his intention to run. He focused the bulk of is campaign on the many social issues and increasing poverty in the slums of Bagropa, promising to fix the broken provincial welfare system that Parker and his Conservative government destroyed. However, it was a close match between Dominique and Ernest Cable, the former majority leader but in the end, Dominique barely beat Cable as the New Democratic nominee and went on to win a landslide victory against Nationalist Republican candidate Todd Steward. As Governor, Dominique pushed for expansion of Firmador's healthcare systems, increased funding for education, and helped completely eradicate the remnants of the poll tax that were meant for keeping minorities out of the polls.
National Councillor
After finishing up his term in 2003, Cable gave Dominique a deal that if he promised to not run for reelection and let Cable run, he would ensure that Dominique would get appointed by the Legislative Assembly as a member of the National Council of Rizealand. Dominique agreed behind closed doors and announced he would not run for reelection. As Cable ran for Governor, he made sure that the New Democrats gave enough votes in the Legislative Assembly, nominating Dominique as one of the two representatives representing Firmador in the National Council. Upon appointment to the National Council, Dominique got to experience the capital life to the fullest. He also was involved heavily in helping with the National Progress Coalition's opposition campaign against TNC-affiliated President Kyle McCarthy. As National Councillor, Dominique headed abroad a lot and met with Rizealand's allies.
Presidential Campaign
2008 Presidential Campaign
On June 11, 2007 in front of the National Council Building in Monegro, Dominique announced his candidacy for President of Rizealand. His announcement began a long battle for the seat as three other prominent New Democrats announced their candidacy for the office as well. The contests however soon narrowed down to two candidates, Dominique Horiatio and Stephen Crew, the former minority leader of the National Assembly for the New Democrats. Both of them engaged in a fierce stand off with heavy campaigning on both sides but in May, days before the party's convention, Crew stepped down from his race against Dominique and was named the Deputy Presidential candidate for Dominique. With little opposition in the National Progress Coalition, Dominique won nomination for NPC Presidential Candidate where he entered a vigorous match against President McCarthy who was running for reelection. Both engaged in a total of four heated debates. October 5, 2008, Dominque Horiatio won the Presidency with 51 electoral votes compared to 40 electoral votes won by McCarthy. He is the first person of indigenous ancestry to be elected President and the second President to be Roman Catholic.
2013 Presidential Campaign
On February 21, 2012, President Dominique announced that he was going to run for reelection. As incumbent, he was unopposed in the NPC primary and both him and Deputy President Stephen Crew received the coalition's nomination for a second term. The TNC opponents were Sherman Gore and Elizabeth Amerise. The two battled again in three debates and Dominique won reelection with 84 electoral votes, crushing his opponent who only received 16 votes in the electoral college.
Presidential Campaign
Domestic Policy
President Dominique's first bill he signed into law already showed his domestic policy direction on the campaign trail in 2008, he pledged to bring about the kind of social and economic reforms that many of the progressives wanted. On February 9, 2009, he signed the Employment Equality Act of 2009 into law that banned all forms of racial, social, political, and gender discrimination against employees. The act also covered equal pay issues for women as well as minority groups. He also issued numerous executive orders outlawing discrimination in the federal workforce hiring protocol as well as opening up thousands of job opportunities across the nation. He also appointed a large amount of females to his Presidential cabinet and appointed a large quota of female and indigenous judges in the court systems.
Economic Policy
President Dominique pushed for a more liberal almost socialist economic policy. This included the federal subsidization of a lot of prominent companies as well as the expansion of the Federation Loan System. At the beginning of his first term, the economy had fallen into freefall so the President Dominique authorized numerous government buyouts as well as the injection of three different stimulus into the budget at various times across 2009 and 2010. He also had the expansion of military and civil jobs opened up to increase employment, cutting the rate of inflation and employment down in half by 2011. The one black mark of Dominique's economic policy was his failure to reduce the every growing budget deficit.
Environmental Policy
Under President Dominique, a huge expansion was made to the budgets of the many national park and preserve systems in Rizealand including increases in hiring and expansion of the different anthropologists and scientists that were working for them. Heavy restrictions were also instituted including cutting down on emissions, reducing air and water pollution, and reverting some of the national energy sources to green energy or clean nuclear energy.
Social Issues
President Dominique became heavily involved in many of the country's social issues, including the landmark decision to legalize gay marriage in 2012 through the Marriage Equality Act of 2012. President Dominique also pursued other reforms such as strengthening the Rizealand's national healthcare system and increasing coverage for more citizens in 2013. He also called for the establishment of special hotels for homeless people or hobos to encourage to settle down and work.
Foreign Policy
President Dominique hinted during his 2008 campaign that his election would usher in a new era of international relations with Rizealand including an "expanded relationship with the international community through trade, support, and diplomacy." He also stated that Rizealand was going to become the number one global leader in Sunalayan affairs as well.
Role in International Organizations
Rizealand was one the three founding nations of the Congress of Nations in early 2014 which has been considered one of the hallmarks of President Dominique's presidency, the result of a summit with Chancellor DesJarlais of the Gulf Empire and President Perry of Texas. The result was an international organization that grew to 13 members and whose official buildings are based in Austin, [[Bagropa], and New York. Rizealand has also joined the International Freedom Coalition and they joined numerous regional organizations that all ended collapsing including the Sunalayan Union, Western Sunalayan Alliance, and the Sunalayan Commonwealth. President Dominique had stressed that the best way for Rizealand to get involved in international affairs was to gain membership to the numerous international organizations.
International Interventions
Under President Dominique's administration, Rizealand saw expanded roles in international conflicts. This included the deployment of troops to Farendale during terrorist attacks from secessionist forces and small league military action against pirate activity in Sunarctica. President Dominique also pushed for some minor involvement in the "Ophion" crisis where the United Soviet Jason Republic created an international union and began to threaten the offset of power with Aznazia, Lindenholt, Smoya, and Rhodevus. With the invasion and spread of Pax-10 in New Paris, President Dominique began to call indirectly for the USJR to cease its military annexation of the country and even went so far as to send an ambassador to speak to the Party Soviet.
East African Crisis
Currently, President Dominique has become very vocal about the civil war in Wadiya where rebel, terrorist, and government factions have increased the violence in their struggle for power. Rizealand has already sent troops into Wadiya and is expected to take a more proactive role in the situation there.
Cultural and Political Image
Dominique has had a very varied cultural and political image. Historically, he is the first President to have indigenous heritage as both of his parents were Maxtopian. He is also the second Roman Catholic to serve as President is very well educated. He also held the country's first live Skype address and has called for the utilization of technology in the government of Rizealand including the expansion of Rizealand onto Facebook and Twitter as well as YouTube. Dominique has also been involved in some scandals though as well including the indictment of Agriculture Secretary Henry Waldworth in having an affair with one of his secretaries caught on camera. Despite the evidence given, President Dominique did not punish Waldworth or fire him, gaining heavy criticism from the right and the Christian Democrats who also attacked his support of contraception, abortion, and gay marriage.
Personal Life
As a boy, Dominique was known by his nickname "Nique" and he kept that name up into his college years. Besides speaking English, Dominique can also speak German, French, Dutch, and Latin. He is a huge fan of soccer and played some small soccer during his years in high school and is right handed. Religiously, he is a practicing Roman Catholic and attends mass every Sunday at the Diocese of Monegro.
