Winslow Harding

Winslow Harding, born on the 10th of September 2110, was a Zokesian politician, serving as the President of Zokesia and Chancellor of Zokesia once. He served Zokesia during a tumultuous time in its existence, and his legacy remains one of controversy.

Winslow Harding President of Zokesia
Personal Details
Born		September 10th, 2110 Ezekialgrad, Zokesia
Died		January 4th, 2192 (aged 81) Ezekialgrad, Zokesia
Nationality		Zokesian
Cause of Death		Natural Causes
Nicknames
9th Chancellor of Zokesia
In Office
01/01/2145 - 12/31/2149
Preceded by		Barthollemu Cillgalli
Succeeded by		Martin Robert Bohrner
15th President of Zokesia
In Office
01/01/2150 - 12/31/2154
Preceded by		John Kallan Kurrman
Succeeded by		Mitchell Shelby O'Till
11th Chancellor of Zokesia
In Office
01/01/2155 - 12/31/2159
Preceded by		Barthollemu Cillgalli
Succeeded by		Martin Robert Bohrner

Early Life

Winslow Harding was born in Ezelkialgrad, Zokesia to a wealthy family, which were some of the largest shareholders of Logi Motor Company. He went to Dreklic school in Ward before returning to Ezekialgrad to take up a job as engineer for one of the sub-assembly plants of Logi in the city.

Political Career and Views

Early Career

Winslow Harding made his career start as deputy minister of Transport in Hochland in 2140, where he worked closely with then Minister of Finance John Kallan Kurrman and established a working relationship.

Chancellor

After the disagreements on the Stahlsieg crisis saw John Kallan Kurrman and his Chancellor Barthollemu Cillgalli fall out with one another, he was tapped to become the President's running mate in the 2145 elections, which JKK won by a large margin.

In 2145, incumbent president John Kallan Kurrman was elected to his second consecutive and third total term in office as Zokesian President. Under his seasoned leadership and steadfast resolve, Zokesia soundly defeated the Stahl Sieg at home and abroad, defeated Surnay and avoided war with Crytil, and established new colonies and lands of opportunity for Zokesians to settle outside of the home country. Hout, Slen, Strelkan South Kafrica, and Syx island were all added to the national crown, and the tourist industry and commercial flights between the interstellar colonies increased, driving the economic boom known as the "Kallan Kurrman Forties". In his inauguration speech, John Kallan Kurrman once again promised to put the nation's interest first and foremost and to push for more economic reforms at home, with the aim of giving back to the people and improving quality of life across the nation. The ripples of the civil war still burn in some parts of Schrschnell and Juno, and Green party protests were prevalent in major cities, which John Kallan Kurrman said he understood and that the nation would have to take time to heal once again before it can be in agreement. Political division is strong in Zokesia but the charisma and reliability of John Kallan Kurrman has continued to reinforce the Royal Party's reputation for this generation of voters, as the implementation of Green policies as well as promotion of the armed forces saps power from the platforms of the Socialist Party and Green party.

In 2146 Zokesian intelligence picked up the faint signals from the old Federal Colony of Rhodes, thought destroyed long ago by the collapse of a terraforming project on Duna. The colony once again re-established contact with the home planet after nearly 6 decades of silence. The explanation given by the colonists was the knowledge of how to repair the dish and align it with Kerbin was lost with the destruction of the main computer database during the crisis, and through sheer trial and error over decades they were able to rebuild and realign it thanks to a brilliant scientist who was born after the colony's founding, Robert Maccanan. Maccanan had quickly established himself as a sharp and resourceful kerbal, and moved up through the colony's ranks untill he became the Director of Colonial Development, where he began work on re-establishing contact with the home country. The colony was at 98,000 kerbals at the time of disappearance, but now has over 1.6 million Zokesians and Aenians living in vast cities just under the Duna surface.

Since its founding, the colony slowly expanded underground, and as the Duna atmosphere moved massive amounts of dust over the old launch site, much of the above ground base became invisible to the sensors and arrays of other local colonies. Some smaller outposts knew of and trade with the colony, but was inexplicably never reported to Zokesia.

It was found out later that the colony purposefully ignored communication for 60 years because quote "We just didn't want to have to pay taxes."

Zokesian Presidency

John Kallan Kurrman was the most esteemed politician in Zokesia in 2149. His knowledge and 30 years of experience in governance were immesurable - his two presidential terms influential and his leadership in times of strife and crisis steady as a lighthouse in a storm. But he was getting old. He felt that now, on the evening of the coronation of the new Arcovii-Zokesian Confederacy, it was time to announce retirement. In his farewell speech, he announced he would put his endorsement behind one of his closest political allies and proteges, Vice President Winslow Harding. The reigns of governance would continue down a bright future, he said, if the nation and the Zokesian Royal Party put their faith in Harding. The 2150 Elections resulted in a resounding victory by Harding, but from day one in office it was clear Harding was no carbon copy of John Kallan Kurrman. He immediately announced his support for all Kerbal Rights in Kafrica, issuing an ultimatum to Suid-Kafrica to solve its rampant race riots or face embargo. The resulting nation of Strelka-Grestinia was held together by duct tape and string, and it wasn't long before Chikusinal broke free as a refuge for Strelkans in Kafrica. Postwar military cutbacks also left much turmoil in the economic sector, and the unexpected pushback from Trans-Vanadian natives resistant to the Confederation put strain on the peace within Arcovii-Zokesia.

The most dramatic event by far the sudden and decisive termination of the entirety of Stahl Sieg operations. Leaving in the middle of the night, the most feared paramilitary force on Kerbin removed its presence in Kafica, sensing the writing on the wall with the new Grestinian-inclusive government, had elected their assets were more useful in other areas of the world. The immediate result was a massive strain on the Kafrican police, as rioting became worse and the economy began stumbling as a result of increased prices from goods shipped from Zokesia.

Winslow Harding's unpopularity began in the minor recession of 2152 when economic sanctions were placed on the Strait of Foresti to protect against terrorists trying to infiltrate Laveska. For Arcovii-Zokesia, this created negative relations with multiple nations as well as economic issues, as the tide of goods from Baskay was cutoff. To make matters worse, the use of the Stahlsieg in Trans-Vanadia angered many in the Confederacy and for a while it looked as if the nation would not hold together, as paramilitary teams swept house to house and village to village to suppress the vanadian tribals. In 2154, the Zokesian Green Party officially disbanded, and a more radical Arcovii-Zokesia-Socialista was immediately created following the combination of the old, liberal Greens and the farther left Sovie Worker's Party. Winslow Harding was urged by his cabinet members to declare this party dangerous and illegal given the history of socialist groups in Zokesia, however he decided to take no action and allow them to run in the 2155 elections, thinking their ideology was baseless.

2155 Crisis

What occured in the 2155 elections was nothing short of chaos. Unexpectedly, the socialists amassed 450% more votes than anticipated and took 40% of the general vote, to the Royal Party's just 26%. The Stahlpakt made a resurgence as well, splitting the conservative vote between the Royal Party and themselves, taking 20% and otherwize ruining a clear majority for the Royal Party. The Farmer's Coalition sided with the Royal Party as usual and only recieved 8% of the votes, roughly the same as the Carsodonian Liberal Party, which had made a niche championing worker's rights and conservative values of free trade and decency in Arcovdonia and Carsodonia with limited success. The Zokesian Royal Party was quick to claim fraud, as the Socialists appeared to win in counties with margins of upwards of 95% votes solely for their party. In Trans-Vanadia, Winslow Harding wasn't even on the ballot in some places and gross negligence of security left some nonpartisan groups claiming the electronic voting machines were old and just asking to be hacked by a foreign power.

Since no party acheived over 50% majority, according to the Zokesian Constitution, a coalition must be formed by the winning parties and a vote will be held for President on February 20th. It is unclear if the Socialists will be able to wrestle enough votes for a majority government or if the Stahlpakt will unite with the Royalists and Farmer's Coalition to usurp the socialists in the election. The results have caused unrest through multiple parts of Arcovii-Zokesia, and has highlighted the issues of the nation's domestic policy when so many demographics live under the same umbrella of democracy.

With the runoff vote deciding the fate of the Zokesian parliament, the current lame duck republicans have compromised with the Socialists to lock Stahlsieg out of power in Zokesia for five more years. Winslow Harding gave up the presidency to Mitchell O'Till, the old leader of the Zokesian Green party, a politican known to reach accross the aisle for dealmaking, and Winslow Harding assumed Chancellorship. The Stahlpakt walked out of parliament following the vote, and as a result lost nearly 50% of their seats to absentee votes.

The first order of buisness from Mitchell O'Till was to issue an ultimatum to Belka, to surrender the island of Soltem or face military consequences, following their repeated inablility to recover from the finantial crisis sweeping the nation. The "Imperialism" Of belka, according to O'Till, was nothing short of a second Orion Empire and must be stopped at all costs.