Vasyl Yezhov

 

Vasyl Yezhov
Васил Єжов
Yezhov c. 1985-1986
18th President of Khraelyia
In office May 20, 1992 – Mercary 28, 1995
Prime Minister	Oleksij Morozov
Preceded by	Yaroslav Stetsko
Succeeded by	Myroslav Savchenko
Personal details
Born	(1947-08-15) August 15, 1947 Pravykiiv, Rzhyshchiv Province, Khraelyia
Citizenship	Khraelyia
Political party	Khraelyi Justice Party
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s)	Anastasia Blyznyuk (m. 1978)
Children	2, including Bohdan Yezhov and Ruslana Yezhova
Mother	Larissa Borysenka
Father	Ruslan Yezhov
Education	Rzhyshchiv University
Military career
Service/branch	Khraelyi Air Force
Years of service	1966–1975
Rank	Lieutenant

Vasyl Ruslanovych Yezhov (born 15 August 1947) is a former Khraelyi politician who served as the eighteenth president of Khraelyia from 1992 to 1995. Yezhov was impeached by the Congress of Khraelyia in 1995, after inciting the 1995 constitutional crisis, by instituting martial law and attempting to subdue Congress.

Before entering national politics, Yezhov was and still is the current CCO of the Mahnoliya Petrol (MP) oil company, which is the ninth-largest company in Khraelyia.

Yezhov ran for president of Khraelyia in 1992, where he was the outside choice compared to incumbent Yaroslav Stetsko, and Farmer-Labour Party (FLP) politician Volodymyr Biletskyi. Despite the numerous odds, Yezhov beat both Biletskyi and Stetsko in the 1992 Khraelyi presidential election, with 41% of the vote compared to Stetsko's 24%, and Biletskyi's 35%. All three campaigns received accusations of voter fraud, however Yezhov received the most, with his campaign manager being convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud in 1996.

Yezhov argued in favour of anti-corruption, small government, and took a Khraelyia first stance, often disregarding Khraelyia's allies, and questioning Khraelyia's foreign involvement when funds could've been better used for the citizens. He was also very critical of the government of Khraelyia, critiquing their inaction during numerous events, including the 1990 Kirkassag–Goriyar border crisis.

Early life, education, and military career

Vasyl Ruslanovych Yezhov was born in the city of Pravykiiv, Rzhyshchiv Province, the son of Larissa Borysenka and Ruslan Yezhov, an executive officer in the Mahnoliya Petrol oil company. He had an older brother, Danylo Yezhov, who died when he was a toddler.

Yezhov attended a private school, Centre Hill, before graduating from Pravykiiv Central High School in 1965. His first job, at ten years old, was helping distribute the Pravykiiv Weekly newspaper as a paperboy. One of Yezhov's closest friends was Fedor Kyva, whom later became the Speaker of the Assembly of Khraelyia's National Assembly in 1982.

After graduating from Pravykiiv Central Yezhov enlisted in the Khraelyi Air Force in early 1966, serving under the 4. Airlift Squadron "Flush Gang" until his retirement as a lieutenant in 1975. His father died when Yezhov was 32 years old, not before appointing Yezhov as the chief commercial officer of Mahnoliya Petrol. Yezhov began his formal tertiary education at Rzhyshchiv University in 1968, majoring in business, and minoring in leadership. He graduated from Ryhyshchiv University in 1974 with honors.

In 1978, Yezhov married Anastasia Blyznyuk, whom he had met while stationed in Chapatove, Chapatove Province.

Business

After Yezhov left the Air Force in 1975, he resumed the mantle of CCO of Mahnoliya Petrol. He quickly rose the standard of operation used by the company, becoming the most respected officer within MP by 1979. After CEO Artur Bzovsky died in 1980, Yezhov assumed the mantle to critical acclaim. In 1981, he widely reorganised the company under his "anti-corruption plan", where he laid off major proponents of the company, and downsized the "extra blubber of the hog". Despite critique throughout 1981, Mahnoliya Petrol bought out smaller rival Socony Oil in early 1982, where it became one of the most dominant oil companies on the world stage. Communal dubbed Yezhov the "luckiest man in Khraelyia" in a 1983 cover story. In 1985, Yezhov's shares in Mahnoliya Petrol were briefly rated at $1.2 billion.

Yezhov during a speech, c. 1979.

Just after the 1976 Karuni coup d'etat, four employees of Mahnoliya Petrol were imprisoned in a contract dispute. Yezhov personally organised and sponsored their rescue. The rescue was led by retired Khraelyi Marine Corps Lieutenant, Roman "Lionheart" Vershyhora. When the team was unable to find a safe way to extract the prisoners, they waited until a group of anti-coup protestors stormed the facility, freeing all the prisoners in the process. The four prisoners then connected with the rescue team, and the team spirited them out of Karunia via a risky border crossing into Kibet, and then Lingala. The mission was later recorded in the book On Wings of Falcons by Deiric writer Alexander Campbell, before being turned into a three-part TV series by the same name in 2001.

In 1984, Kezlev Motor Group bought a controlling interest in Mahnoliya Petrol for $2.5 billion.

In 1985, Yezhov founded the Yezhov Foundation, a nonprofit organisation set to assist the research of the newly discovered CRISPR, with Yezhov himself donating $35 million. Today, the Yezhov Foundation is one of the largest nonprofit organisations in Khraelyia.

After Hryhorii Abrahamovsky lost the power struggle at Pitayya, Yezhov supported his endeavors in ForWARD as Abrahamovsky's prime investor by investing $25 million. He believed in Abrahamovsky, not wishing to miss a chance like he did with Serhii Evanishyn's newborn Xandrosoft.

Political activities

Early political activities

Yezhov seen standing in his office, c. 1984.

After a visit to Esendrea in 1983 at the request of the White House, in which he met with officials of the [Insert], Yezhov became massively involved with the conflict of [Nation above Esendra's civil war]. He believed that hundreds of Khraelyi servicemen were left behind in western Sule at the end of OFSN intervention in the conflict, and that government officials were covering up POW/MIA investigations to avoid revealing a drug-smuggling operation used to finance a secret war in Esendrea's underground. Yezhov engaged in unauthorized back-channel discussions with [Civil War Nation] officials in the late 1980s, which led to fractured relations between Yezhov and the [President before Stetsko] and Yaroslav Stetsko administrations. In 1989, Yezhov came to an agreement with the [Insertese]] foreign ministry, where Yezhov agreed to become its business agent if diplomatic relations were normalized. Yezhov also launched a private investigation on the Ministry of Defence following a falling out with Minister of Defence Daniil Kvasnytsya.

Yezhov did not support President Yaroslav Stetsko, and vigorously opposed Stetsko's early involvement in the 1989–1995 Second Estrian civil war. He successfully urged Senators to vote against the war resolution, and began to consider a presidential run.

1992 presidential campaign

Main article: Vasyl Yezhov 1992 presidential campaign

On July 18, 1991 Yezhov appeared on KBC, announcing his intention to run as an independent. He declared policies of wanting to end corruption in the Khraelyi government, balancing the federal government, and enacting a form of electronic direct democracy, via "electronic town halls". He became a candidate alongside incumbent Yaroslav Stetsko's reelection campaign, Volodymyr Biletskyi's FLP platform, as well a numerous smaller campaigns from other parties.

Yezhov's candidacy received continued media attention when the competitive phase of the primary season ended for the major parties of Khraelyia, solidifying the insurgent candidacies of Social-Democrat Stetsko, Agrarian Biletskyi, and Centrist Andruntsiva winding down, Yezhov was the natural beneficiary of populist resentment toward establishment politicians.

While Yezhov was pondering whether to run for office, his supporters established a campaign organization United Khraelyia. Yezhov was late in making formal policy proposals, but most of what he did call for was intended to reduce the deficit, such as a fuel tax increase and marginal decreases to the welfare state. In October 1991, Yezhov led polls with 40% of the vote.

In January of 1992, Yezhov again led polls with 35% of the vote, following the presidential debates in December. The debates likely played a significant role in his ultimate receipt of almost 41% of the vote. Although the majority of his answers were general, newspapers concluded that Yezhov "convincingly won the first debate, coming in significantly ahead of contemporary candidates, such as Andruntsiva and incumbent President Stetsko." In the debate, he remarked:

Keep in mind our current constitution predates the modern commodities of life. Our founders did not know of the advances of electricity, modern military power, as well as the lengths the building blocks of Khraelyi society have grown to. There's a lot they didn't know about. It would be interesting to see what kind of document they'd draft today. Just keeping it frozen in time won't hack it.

In the 1992 election, he received 41.2% of the popular vote, or 55,125,616 votes, winning him the election.

Political views

Yezhov did not fit the usual political stereotypes; his views were seen as either pragmatic or populist depending on the observer, and usually focused on his economic policy, such as balancing the budget and downsizing "oversized" parts of Congress. Yezhov supported research into CRISPR, as well as development regarding the combatting of AIDS. Yezhov was initially hesitant regarding the growing gay rights activism in the eighties, however he supported, and signed the Civil Rights Act, 1993, which legalised same-sex marriage.

The populism of Vasyl Yezhov is hard to define and is a contested topic amongst political scientists. Yezhov was often described as a 'third way populist', after numerous anti-establishment statements throughout his career. Numerous views have argued Yezhov to be neither left or right-leaning ideologically, instead being primarily focused on political reform and streamlining of the government; despite this, similarities have been found between Yezhov and early Karvatskyite thought as well as the average Yezhov voter in 1992 having more conservative leanings.

Regarding foreign policy, Yezhov was an outspoken critic of the Kirkassag-Goriyar War, and condemned Stetsko's involvement in the conflict. Instead, Yezhov was a heavy proponent behind the growing isolationist movement in Khraelyia throughout the eighties, arguing that Khraelyia should focus on strengthening the economy against the growing Seojian and Tihama. During his 1992 presidential campaign, he insisted that "Khraelyia needs to focus on getting her deck of cards organised, in order for her to get working again." He attacked Stetsko due to his connections with Estrian president Alain Moreau during the Second Estrian civil war - according to Yezhov, Stetsko's administration hid the attempted intelligence deal between Estry and the Khraelyi government, which would've allowed Estrian government forces to use Khraelyi government satellites against their own citizens.

Yezhov had a particular focus on anti-lobbying efforts as well as political reform, favouring the veto of "big bones spending and waste," the elimination of the impact of corporations on the government, and a replacement of the existing Balanced Budget Act with a different budgeting apparatus meant to "shave the belly of the hog of unnecessary fat." and a ban on exit polling during elections.

Economic policy

Yezhov believed that taxes should be increased on the wealthy, while unnecessary spending should be cut to limit the issue of debt. Yezhov was also a proponent behind a capital gains tax increase, while giving tax breaks to smaller businesses.

"We cut the capital gains tax rate from a maximum rate of 40% to a maximum rate that got as low as 18% during the 1980s. Who benefitted the most from that? The wealthy, of course."

— National Journal, 1989

Alongside tax increases on the wealthy, Yezhov argued for the end to entitlement payments and tax rebates for the affluent, and spoke in favor of eliminating most of the perks legislators and congressmen enjoy. He also argued that the government should intervene in the market to protect the job base. He spoke in favor of the expansion of the minute Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry, which would then increase government control over larger businesses, directing their investment.

See also

• 1995 Khraelyi constitutional crisis