Elariz Saleh

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## Elariz Saleh

Saleh at a debate in November 2020 against Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov

## Personal Details

### Born

April 29, 1962 - Marsalabad, Stranzilovia

### Awards

Political Service Medal

**Elariz Murad Saleh** (*born. April 29, 1962*) is a Salvanian politician, businessman, and senator who ran against incumbent President Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov in 2015 and 2021. He is a member of the Conservative Front, and has been its leader since October of 2014. Saleh has been a powerful force in Salvanian politics since he first became a senator in 2003. In 2011, he was appointed to lead the Salvanian Senate's Justice Council, which he resigned his position from in October of 2018. Since then, he has used his position as a senator to push for more conservative policies on issues such as the criminal justice system and drug policy.

In the 2015 election, he ran against then-candidate Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov, the current president. He promised to reinstate the death penalty in a series of speeches across the eastern half of the nation, which was well received by the majority of Salvanians. However, Saleh failed to secure a majority in the popular vote and failed to win the presidency by 9.6%. Saleh would later run again in 2021, again losing an astounding loss of 20% of the popular vote to his opponent Amirbeyzov.

Despite his repeated losses, he remains a powerful yet controversial force in Salvanian politics. Saleh holds a strong hold in his state of Stranzilovia, one of the most conservative states in Salva; commonly being re-elected to the Senate by a margin of 70 percent or more.

## Personal Life

Saleh was born in late April of 1962 in the town of Marsalabad to his mother, Narmina Saleh, and his father, Hussein Saleh. Saleh attended the Moscow State University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science after 3 years of studying at the university.

Saleh lived in East Berlin in his late 20s, before moving back to Iranian-controlled Salva following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. His parents have lived in Stranzilovia, a small but fiercely conservative landlocked state of Salva, for most of their lives. Saleh has been married to Tarana Saleh since 1995, and the couple have one daughter.

First elected to the Salvanian Senate in 2003 as a Salvanian conservative, he was re-elected in 2009 with an overwhelming majority over his opponent. He currently serves as the leader of the Conservative Front, and has held that position since 2015.

## Political views

Saleh's political views are commonly described as traditionalist, being against drug legalization, however Saleh stated in his 2021 campaign that he supports the legalization of marijuana, as long as it's only being sold in state-run shops.

Saleh is a staunch critic of President Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov's isolationist stance on foreign policy, which he believes will cripple Salvanian defenses against the rising power of the Iranian State. He believes that the military should be strengthened to counter this trend. Saleh is in favor of the privatization of most government-run services and businesses, believing that it will increase efficiency and put more money into the citizens' pockets.

Saleh voted against the Neutrality Act in 2018, encouraging his fellow senators to do the same. He believes that the act was poorly constructed and will be a hindrance to the ability of the military to defend Salva from external threats. Saleh believes that crime and drug-abuse are growing issues in Salva, and supports the construction of more prisons and harsher criminal punishments, including the death penalty if the convicted individual is a threat to national security or has committed heinous crimes.

His policies have been criticized by Amirbeyzov, calling his stances on many issues *"overly authoritarian"*, and that they *"get in the way of progress"*. He nevertheless holds a large following among more traditionalist Salvanians, as well as being extremely popular among the military.

## Presidential Campaigns

### 2015

In mid 2014, Saleh launched his campaign against presumptive Liberal Coalition candidate Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov to succeed Azad Gasimov in the presidency. Saleh called for a return to traditional Salvanian values, and attacked his opponents' economic policies as well as their foreign policy in general, accusing them of weakness before the Iranian State and other enemies and calling for a more aggressive foreign policy.

A major theme of his campaign was the strengthening of the military, for which he has called for a massive increase in spending. He has also called for an increase in harsher criminal punishments, which have traditionally been less common in Salva. Saleh has been criticized by the leaders of the Liberal Coalition and Green parties for being somewhat authoritarian, and for his social and economic policies, though he has been defended by several members of the military and congress.

Saleh secured the Conservative Front's official nomination at their convention on October 9, 2014, along with his opponent Amirbeyzov securing the candidacy for the Liberal Coalition. The two candidates clashed at a series of debates before the election, which took place on December 10, where Saleh emerged as the winner. On January 2, 2015, the voting results announced that Mirzÿ Amirbeyzov would be the next President of Salva. Saleh lost the presidency by 9.6%, despite many endorsements by people such as Mikhail Garakhanov and Azad Gasimov, the former being a surprise endorsement, as well as significant support from the military.

### 2021

Saleh launched another presidential campaign against Amirbeyzov in May of 2020, and tried to tie his opponent to high levels of crime and gang violence. Saleh also criticized Amirbeyzov's recent foreign policy changes, saying the Neutrality Act was "a mistake for Salva". During a December debate, Saleh stated, "If you truly care about Salvanians, then you'll vote for me". The comment caused an outcry from many political pundits, as well as from the GreenParty leader, who claimed such a comment demonstrated authoritarian tendencies. Saleh denied the wrongly nature of the comment, claiming it was taken out of context by the media.

#### Saleh-Russia scandal

*(Main article)*

In mid-2020, the National Security Commission launched an investigation against Saleh and his campaign for the alleged extraction of money from foreign sources to fund his campaign. Saleh and his campaign have denied the allegations, though it is still being investigated by the NSC for corruption and other illegal activities. NSC director Mikhail Garakhanov has confirmed the investigation in nature, but refused to comment any further on the matter despite several questions by the media. Due to this, Mikhail Garakhanov unexpectedly endorsed Amirbeyzov, a move which was seen as surprising and somewhat unusual. Garakhanov later elaborated that Amirbeyzov had "performed better than we had all expected", and that he had decided to support him as he had "offered the best chance of combating the internal threats that we face as a nation". The investigation is expected to finish in October of 2021, after which the NSC will make its decision on what, if any, action will be taken.