Ewald Alphonso

Ewald Alphonso is a statesman, businessman and politician, who served as the third President of Sordland from 1949 to 1953. He was the leader of the United Sordland Party from 1946 to 1953. He is particularly famed for winning against Tarquin Soll in the ‘46 Congress, bringing an end to Soll’s domination of the USP. After studying civil engineering at Kingshill University, he briefly worked in the state department for oil and gas planning in 1924. He later undertook postgraduate studies on energy planning and management in Arcasia between 1927 and 1929. He returned to Sordland after the end of the Sordish Civil War and started working for the Gasom Corporation. He bought a large portion of the shares of the company after Contanan partners pulled out, and was later elected as its CEO. During the construction of the Soll Dam, he worked as a project advisor and in 1935 was appointed Head of the Department of Energy, under the Ministry of Economy. He joined the USP in 1940 and was elected to the executive committee of the USP in 1941. He stepped away from his active role as CEO in 1945 and became the chairman of the board after appointing a new CEO to direct the operations of Gasom. Alphonso gained a huge following in a very short time after his campaigns for free market reforms, and in 1946 ran as a candidate for party leadership against Tarquin Soll. He won the ‘46 congress and became the chairman of the USP. President Soll appointed him as Vice President and he came the de-facto government leader as the President stepped back from politics. He later ran as a presidential candidate in the general elections of 1949 and was elected president. He was supported by influential figures like Kris Schar, Konrath Koronti and Walter Tusk, which are believed to have played a great role in his election as president. His term saw many market reforms that were implemented very quickly in his first year. He privatized several industries, brought tax cuts, relaxed immigration policies and changed several of Tarquin Soll’s authoritarian laws to bring foreign investment to Sordland. However, he was faced with the economic recession of 1951, which quickly proved to be the worst economic crisis in Sordland since the Sordish Civil War. Some claim the ineffectiveness of his economic reforms were the result of a conspiracy by the Old Guard. In 1953, his cabinet resigned after his inability to control the economic crisis. He resigned from politics after losing the party congress against Anton Rayne. Upon his departure from politics, Alphonso channeled his leadership and resources into his role as chairman at Gasom and towards philanthropic efforts, establishing the Alphonso Foundation.