A Look At Llywydd/Präsident (President) Rhys Cadwgan's First Year in OfficeMay 15th 4343Above: President Cadwgan giving the annual "President's Senedd Address" to both members of the Senedd and onlookers at the Fwrym Alor (Alorian Forum) located on the grounds of the Senedd It was this month a year ago that Alorian President Rhys Cadwgan came into office in a hard-campaigned election, ultimately defeating Heitere Republikaner candidate and Party Leader Blanche Thyes, a Hosian-Democrat and social conservative by a margin close to 63% to 37% in the second rounds of voting, winning a substantial victory. Only a week after the election, Cadwgan, head of the MRDP (Liberals' and Reformers' Party,) gave an inauguration speech on these same grounds in which he emphasized patriotic regionalism, global free trade, a more equitable tax system, entry into the Artanian Union, and respect for people of all backgrounds, and a commitment to foster sustainable and global development centered around liberal internationalist principles. Now that he's been in office for a year, we have seen how many of his campaign promises he has been able to work with Prif Weinidog (Premier) Monika Geiger (ADP), and her majority liberal cabinet to achieve.
Since taking office, President Cadwgan has been able to make good on his most prominent campaign promise, to re-enter into the Artanian Union, with both the government caucus in Senedd and the Dremidydd Social-Democrats of the opposition vocally voting in favor of re-entry. President Cadwgan's strongest supporters are extremely jubilant about this outcome, and more independent voters poll extremely well on the Artanian Union entry as well. Additionally, Mr. Cadwgan has worked closely with Lywellyn Bennet, Gweinidog Tramor (Foreign Minister), and MRDP member, in order to successfully re-enter the Artanian Union. Mr. Bennet, a thirty-eight year old Calliope native with a long and prodigial career in the Foreign Ministry, is seen as a rising star and a likely successor to Mr. Cadwgan as MRDP leader if he steps down from that position to give an appearance of greater bipartisanship.
In spite of disagreements on issues such as AU re-entry, Mr. Cadwgan has been able to maintain a relatively collegial and respectful relationship with Heitere Republikaner Chairwoman Blanche Thyes, who also leads the opposition in the Senedd. Mrs. Thyes, a Dundorfian, has been actively invited to work on an international treaty to promote preservation of Draddwyr minority cultures overseas, and to maintain the traditions of Aloria's predominantly Draddwyr culture, whilst respecting other large ethnic groups. However, the government coalition clashes with a minority that is divided between the very socially progressive DSD and a relatively conservative HR on issues such as a bill that almost completely bans abortion, and on the aforementioned AU re-entry. Regardless, President Cadwgan said today during his speech that he would "like to offer Mrs. Thyes utmost thanks for her party's collaboration on the Agreement for the Preservation of Draddwyr Culture, and her patriotic and principled commitment to civil disagreement and ability to partake in the policy process."
Further, Mr. Cadwgan thanked his Senedd counterpart, Premier Monika Geiger, for her willingness to make the government coalition strong and able to govern quite affectively, as well as hinting at an innocent and trivial inside joke they have together about his trademark bow ties: "Prif Gweinidog Geiger always tells me I wear bow ties because I would spill coffee on a long tie whenever she brings me news. I confess, this is not the whole truth, but perhaps Mrs. Geiger's statements have some merit." This statement was met with a deal of laughter by many in attendance, who were aware of this amusing proclivity of the generally composed and cool-headed President.
Yet, Mr. Cadwgan has not yet been fully successful in all of his agenda. While he has promised to both make the tax system more progressive and "lighter in the middle" his party colleague, Gweinidog Cylld (Finance Minister) Richard Steen, has been unable to as of yet successfully create an income tax plan that will be at least fairly acceptable to many both in the governing coalition and the opposition. While the MRDP bloc in the governing coalition is insistent on corporate tax cuts and income tax increases, their colleagues in the ADP are more skeptical, and without ADP support for the governing coalition's finance plans, there will likely be political turbulence and a breakdown of strong cohesion in the governing coalition.
Concluding his speech, Mr. Cadwgan announced plans for a "Northern Artanian Customs Union" planned to initially include Rutania, Kirlawa, Dundorf, and Dorvik, which border Aloria. This customs union is said by the MRDP to make ease of trade and travel even easier between these countries, creating expedited entry points for members of the Customs Union at land borders, airports, and train stations, and in order to remove any weighing fees levied by any country, which act similarly to tariffs but are excluded currently from the AU's tariff blocks.