Constantino Sorantanali

Constantino Sorantanali
68th prime minister of Pacitalia
In office 25th January — 8th August, 2006
Political party	Federation of Progressive Democrats
Preceded by	Timothy Ell
Succeeded by	Albinanda Serodini
Born	14th December, 1958 Cantone Aguriamassa-Prano, Liguria, Pacitalia
Spouse	Geria Sorantanali (dec.)
Profession	Politician, historian
Religion	Roman Catholic
Languages	Pacitalian, English

Constantino Giancarlo Ambrosino Sorantanali, M.A.-Hon(Hist.), (born 14th December 1958 in Cantone Aguriamassa-Prano, Liguria, Pacitalia) was the sixty-eighth prime minister of Pacitalia, having won not only the most, but a majority, of seats in the 111th federal general election on Wednesday, 25th January, 2006. He was also the leader of the Federation of Progressive Democrats and the former premerati of Sambuca. The latest election produced the FPD's sixth-straight majority government. The party won 351 of 647 seats in the Constazione Ampoliticato Federali and 150 of the 293 seats in the Senatoro Federali. However, Sorantanali resigned on the evening of 8th August, 2006, upon the shocking murder of his family and increasing pressure to resign, combined with the suicide of his friend and political first mate, Domenico Benficalzo, and his admission to ordering the murder of a political opponent. [1]

Sorantanali, like his two predecessors, is a capitalist conservative, but has noticeably greater libertarian leanings than Mr Ell or Mr Santo Ragazzo. Before his election and subsequent resignation, it was widely expected he would govern under the principles of the Third Way ideology, which combines fiscal conservatism and capitalism with light social democratic principles, like workfare and other light social assistance, instead of Pacitalia's traditional social safety net developed by Mr Santo Ragazzo and Mr Ell, which he did to a respectable extent.

Early life

Sorantanali was born Constantino Giancarlo Ambrosino Sorantanali on 14th December 1958 in the rural canton of Aguriamassa-Prano (north of Lucifora, population: 75,190) to mother Vanesca and father Ambrosino, both pure-blooded Ligurians. By the time Constantino was two he had earned a nickname for causing havoc around the household - on his second birthday, he knocked a wicker fan onto the stove and nearly burned down the house. At the age of four, he ran over his first pet, a cocker spaniel named Boula, with his bicycle accidentally, and the two broken legs meant the dog had to be put down.

Catholic boarding school controversy

His roguish behaviour landed him in Catholic boarding school at the age of five, and by the time he emerged from primary education six years later, he had refined speech, distinctly reformed behaviour and heavy religious leanings. However, in the summer of 1970, Sorantanali claimed he was whipped and beaten repeatedly, and forced to wear a cilice belt on his thigh in his first two years at the Burgumanta School of Male Christian Reformation of the Immaculate Conception. This was reportedly over Sorantanali's accidental breaking of an amber marble vase worth hundreds of doura. The nuns there vehemently denied such claims but were found guilty of child abuse in the first degree and promptly fired by the school before their six-year incarceration and psychiatric rehabilitation. The school paid the Sorantanali family twenty thousand doura in compensation. The Catholic church criticised the Sorantanali family for not acting on the claim earlier (this would have been at least five years later), but it is widely known students at the school -- and others like it -- were cut off from communication with the outside world, even relatives, during the time at the school.

Sorantanali claimed he didn't know the punishment was overdrawn until his fifth year when he witnessed the same treatment being applied to a five-year-old boy. The trial of the nuns was ultimately responsible for Sorantanali's self-imposed excommunication from the Catholic church, despite the Cardinal of Liguria's repeated disavocation of the nuns. Religious conspiracy theorists who claim Sorantanali was falsifying the use of the cilice belt to ensure conviction of the nuns were in 2002 proved wrong when Sorantanali released pictures his parents took in 1971 of the marks on both of his upper thighs. His wife, Geria, says he still has scar tissue from the incidents. A very barely noticeable limp in his right leg seems to be further evidence of cilice use.

Education

After leaving the Burgumanta School of Male Christian Reformation, Sorantanali entered his first year of secondary school in September 1971, at the public school Secundaria Prano-Centrado just blocks from his house, a far cry from the Catholic school nearly an hour's drive west. By the time Sorantanali graduated in June 1976, he had earned nearly 20 academic awards, ending up with first-class honours and an overall academic average of 96,3% (third-highest in the year).

Sorantanali immediately proceeded north to the University of Sambuca on an academic scholarship and earned a Bachelor's of the Arts in History and International Relations. He received the degree in April 1980 but wasn't satisfied with that achievement. So, the following fall semester, he enrolled again, and two years later (April 1982) emerged with an upgrade of his degree to a Masters', with a minor in General Political Theory.

Inceptive political experience

In the summer of 1982, Sorantanali earned an internship as a junior strategist with the federal FPD (then Pacifist Party) MPP for Sambuca-South, Signora Gracia Taranza-Forina. Signora Taranza-Forina clearly admired Sorantanali's problem-solving skills and his definitively analytical mind, and placed him under her employ as a paid junior strategist by October. His rise in the political community continued well into 1983, when after a successful re-election based largely on his advice, she promoted him to Senior Strategist and Assistant Campaign Manager.

However, on her advice and with her support, he decided to enter provincial politics in Sambuca by running for Provincial Legislative Member (PLM) in Sambuca's inner-city Chenaboli-Sorgano constituency. He won in the 1987 election by more than 20% and served his full term of four years out. In 1990, there were rumblings for him to campaign for provincial FPD leadership and when a number of FPD PLMs publicly announced their support for his candidacy (which did not exist yet) he began to consider his options. For advice, he turned back to his former boss, Signora Taranza-Forina, who told him to "follow his heart". That he did, as the next morning he announced his candidacy. The subsequent leadership convention saw him capture an astounding three-quarters of the total delegation's support and thus the position of party leader for the provincial FPD. However, with an FPD government having been in power for nearly 25 years, and rumblings for change despite the overall positive feelings of the government, there seemed to be nothing Sorantanali could do, except watch the socialist PSC steal victory in the 1991 election, by a 50.9-49.1 margin.

Provincial politics and premerato

The PSC was immediately disliked in Sambuca for being way too left-wing. Unfortunately for the public, the province was the only one with fixed election dates, meaning they were stuck with that government under Carmine Dovanesto for four years unless he resigned. Sorantanali heavily campaigned before the 1995 election but he didn't really need to - the PSC was wiped out in that year's vote, losing by a 74.2-25.8 margin. Sorantanali's decisive mandate was more than just dislike of the PSC - it was admiration for him as a person and as a qualified leader. His debating skills had already been honed and encouraged as opposition leader to a strongly hated provincial administration. Dovanesto's ignorance of calls to resign by early 1993 only furthered the hatred.

Sorantanali led a very effective administration in the late 1990s, reforming provincial social insurance and lowering provincial tax rates to encourage business. Sorantanali's Police Act increased the proportion of police officers to citizens, making Sambucan cities some of the safest in the country. Most importantly, during his watch, the Sambucan economy grew from a dependence on agriculture to a dependence on well-developed shipping and transportation systems. Sambuca held the fourth-largest economy in Pacitalia by 2000, surpassing Antigonia.

By late 2004, Sorantanali, fresh off a third election victory the previous year, was becoming a widely mentioned name for a successor to heavily-lauded and hugely respected prime minister Timothy Ell. Ell had not yet announced he would step down, but there were generalised rumours and gossip surrounding Timiocato's government district starting from that point and culminating in Ell's 8th November 2005 resignation. From that date, Constantino Sorantanali was continuously referred to as the "favourite to win", with The Economist calling him the next Timothy Ell.

Leadership of the federal FPD

Sorantanali was one of the last to officially announce his candidacy. With his family at his side, he, at a press conference, threw his hat in the ring and brought a powerful opponent to Potenza mayor Castel Devante and Ciocanto premerati Mariana Cosima Vincenza. Three other candidates entered their names but were discounted from the start for their lack of political experience in comparison with Devante, Vincenza and Sorantanali.

At the 28th December 2005 leadership convention, Sorantanali earned 39% of the votes on the first ballot, with Vincenza close behind at 30%. Devante took 18%. Still, for Sorantanali, it was initial disappointment - that was most definitely not enough to earn the leadership, well short of the 60.0% minimum. On that ballot, the three "nobodies" were all eliminated on the "less than 10% of the votes" rule, which ensures fewer ballots and thus a quicker path to an eventual victor.

On the second ballot, Sorantanali took 56.8% of the vote (after the three eliminated candidates from ballot one threw their support behind him). Vincenza's 25% was less than her first-ballot total - meaning some of her supporters defected in that vote - but was still enough to prevent Sorantanali from taking the leadership in the second ballot. Castel Devante once again took about 18% of the votes and as the last-place finisher, was eliminated.

The third ballot was then a two-way race between Sorantanali and Vincenza, which would ensure a winner unless Devante's supporters backed their fellow northerner, Vincenza (creating a likely 52-48 vote for Sorantanali, still insufficient). Castel Devante's supporters did not publicly say who they were going to support in the third ballot, leaving speculation rampant. In the end, they split slightly in Sorantanali's favour as he defeated Vincenza by a wide margin of 68% to 32% and took the FPD leadership. He was sworn in one week later (4th January, 2006). However, the day after his leadership win he had already started campaigning for the federal election due at the end of January.

Sorantanali's politics

Sorantanali's supporters believe his political beliefs truly represent what the Federation is about, and that such beliefs will draw the party closer together than ever before. Sorantanali is a capitalist conservative with libertarian streaks, believing in the free market capitalism principles of his predecessors. However, he is more supportive of same-sex marriage and euthanasia than Ell and Santo Ragazzo, who did not pick a side or were barely for/against. Sorantanali is slightly to the left of Timothy Ell, but adversely, believes in tougher sentencing for criminals. To compare, the men both believe murderers should receive life in prison, but where Ell believes there should be an opportunity after 30 years for parole, Sorantanali believes paroling opportunities should be revoked for the offender.

Principles of Sorantanalian 'family economics'

Sorantanali is the creator of so-called family economics. Unlike Ell and Santo Ragazzo, Sorantanali believes one of the keys to successful economic growth is to focus on the financial stability and economic contributions of individual households. Therefore, he believes in lowering income tax and creating a government system that enables parents to put their child or children through a full education and provide medical and dental care, food, shelter and clothing for the child or children without the normal heavy strain on their finances. This individualist compassion is what places Sorantanali to the left of Ell.

Sorantanali's personal life

Sorantanali was married to Geria Rosana Almanera (née Cupronta) for 20 years. They had two children, 18-year-old Pieri, and 4-year-old Ursulina. The kidnap and murder of Sorantanali's family was broadcast on international television and treated as "retaliation for Sorantanali's destructive leadership". It led to his resignation as prime minister.

Prime Ministers of Pacitalia

Madusso-Ceranta | Bussotero | Sant'Orsino | Urtibano | Roberto Faustino | Bertadora | Martino Sperga | Tranibanto | Sorprantakis | Nicostrato | Pantafino | Santo Tiziano | Vittore | Anastasio Brauta | Vidinanta | Zerga | Concetto | Assovolti | da Sinota | Brazzitano | Spucurinanto | da Scupeta | Lomas-Peca | Santo Germano | Remigio | da Marino | Severiano | Berlusconi | Lothario Cristano | Deputà | Pacenta | Tammaro | Biagio Serra | d'Ippolito | Gualtiero-Delgado | Porfirio Aiglia | Callisto | Perrotta | Albaceti | Floriano | Casimiro | Cabrali | Bongiantura | Juliani | Vicino | Azrafeco | Santo Megna | Spadazzo | Fibriaudo | Chiefa Serra | Mapradora | Corpusto | Zalmano | Sorprantakis | Sfra | Sant'Allardo | Parderescu | Dragosto | Pietro Grazzo | Damescu | Rodriguez | Castorini | Papistikas | Cassata | Cicerone | Santo Ragazzo | Ell | Sorantanali | Serodini | Chiovitti