João Lourenço

**João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço** (March 5, 1954 -) was a Ducistian politician and statesman who served as the 6th President of Ducist between November 5, 2024 and October 1, 2025, as well as previously serving as Vice President of Ducist on two separate occasions, first during the presidency of Filipe Nyusi between October 1, 2015 and November 5, 2024, and then again during the first term of Cyril Ramaphosa's presidency between October 1, 2025 and September 10, 2030, making him the first Vice President to serve 3 incomplete terms in office, and also served as interim Chairman of the Ascendency party between November 5 and November 10, 2024, and as a Senator within the National Assembly of Ducist between 1990 and 2015, and as a member of the Council of the People as of January 10, 2031.

Entering politics in 1985 having had a successful private sector business career, João Lourenço joined Nelson Mandela's Ascendency party at the local level in Cape Town before winning election to the National Assembly of Ducist in 1990, and would later serve as a senior minister for the economy in the government of Thabo Mbeki between 1999 and 2005, returning to the opposition within the National Assembly in 2005 during the government of Kgalema Motlanthe, before returning again in 2010 following the 2010 Ducist Presidential Election in which President Mbeki gained a second non-consecutive term as president, ousting President Motlanthe. Following the end of this term in 2015, Lourenço made a failed bid for the leadership of Ascendency, facing off against political heavyweights such as Filipe Nyusi and Cyril Ramaphosa, ultimately joining with Nyusi on a joint ticket in the 2015 Ducist Presidential Election.

Having come to office following the 2015 Ducist Presidential Election, newly inaugurated President Filipe Nyusi and Vice President João Lourenço immediately renewed the flagship policy of their predecessor, the Black Economic Empowerment Act, much to the praise of his party and the wider public, opening up large swathes of the population for higher paid, more rewarding jobs, whilst also allowing the economy to grow by an average rate of 6% a year during his first term thanks to libertarian policies on regulation and measurement. With the Federation of Ducist having been backed up by Libirachi loans and funding since the late 1970s, Filipe Nyusi found himself in a difficult position following the death of Libirachi Empress Laura Fox in 2022 and ultimately sided with the Confederacy of Independent Nations after Penny Fox took over the Libirachi government, judging the new regime there to be incompatible with the Ducistian regime. Having angered the regime in Beijing, the Libirachi Imperial Security Bureau spent the remainder of the war attempting to topple the Nyusi regime, leading to his impeachment on November 5, 2024, and allowing Vice President João Lourenço taking over the office of president.

## History

Entering politics in 1985 having had a successful private sector business career, João Lourenço joined Nelson Mandela's Ascendency party at the local level in Cape Town before winning election to the National Assembly of Ducist in 1990, and would later serve as a senior minister for the economy in the government of Thabo Mbeki between 1999 and 2005, returning to the opposition within the National Assembly in 2005 during the government of Kgalema Motlanthe, before returning again in 2010 following the 2010 Ducist Presidential Election in which President Mbeki gained a second non-consecutive term as president, ousting President Motlanthe. Following the end of this term in 2015, Lourenço made a failed bid for the leadership of Ascendency, facing off against political heavyweights such as Filipe Nyusi and Cyril Ramaphosa, ultimately joining with Nyusi on a joint ticket in the 2015 Ducist Presidential Election.

## Vice Presidency

Having come to office following the 2015 Ducist Presidential Election, newly inaugurated President Filipe Nyusi and Vice President João Lourenço immediately renewed the flagship policy of their predecessor, the Black Economic Empowerment Act, much to the praise of his party and the wider public, opening up large swathes of the population for higher paid, more rewarding jobs, whilst also allowing the economy to grow by an average rate of 6% a year during his first term thanks to libertarian policies on regulation and measurement. Along the same lines, President Nyusi re-negotiated trade deals with Dunsteen, the Libirachi Empire and secured a non-intervention pact with Bovido Has in 2018 upon the appointment of Hazael Buller to the titles of Archbishop and Emperor; following the 2019 Libirachi Coup d'état, Filipe Nyusi was a strong proponent of the new regime from a pragmatic standpoint and became the first world leader to visit Beijing following the Coronation of Fox I in 2019, leaving Vice President Lourenço in charge of government until his return. With the Federation of Ducist having been backed up by Libirachi loans and funding since the late 1970s, Filipe Nyusi found himself in a difficult position following the death of Libirachi Empress Laura Fox in 2022 and ultimately sided with the Confederacy of Independent Nations after Penny Fox took over the Libirachi government, judging the new regime there to be incompatible with the Ducistian regime and as such the Nyusi government began funding Almac Docu's regime to try and gain favour in the case of a CIN victory in the civil war, sending both João Lourenço and foreign minister Cyril Ramaphosa to negotiate agreements with the confederacy. Having angered the regime in Beijing, the Libirachi Imperial Security Bureau spent the remainder of the war attempting to topple the Nyusi regime, although due to the taxing demands of the war the Ducist government wasn't toppled until 2024 where members of Ascendency on the payroll of the ISB began to clamour for Nyusi's resignation, before corruption and warmongering charges were launched against Filipe Nyusi leading to his impeachment on November 5, 2024, leading to Vice President João Lourenço taking over the office of president.

## Presidency

 Election

Taking over the reigns of Ducist on November 5, 2024 following the impeachment of Filipe Nyusi, João Lourenço also became interim leader of Ascendency and immediately opened up elections for the leadership of the party, allowing Cyril Ramaphosa to secure election to the head of the party. Largely uninterested in the title of Head of State, Lourenço viewed his leadership as a purely transitional tenure, having negotiated a return to the office of Vice President of Ducist in the instance of Ramaphosa winning the 2025 Ducist Presidential Election, effectively putting Ramaphosa in charge of the Lourenço presidency, which began to move towards expansionist policies in line with the Libirachi Empire's new foreign policy, bringing Ducist into the N20 in late 2024, before continuing to serve as a Libirachi puppet government for the southern half of Africa. Presiding over the trial of former president Filipe Nyusi, João Lourenço found his former political ally guilty of corruption and warmongering charges, using the trial to divert attention away from continued expansion northwards into other African nations on the continent. Remembered for his steady governance, the presidency of João Lourenço acted as a pivotal point between the democratic elections of past and the autocratic regime of Cyril Ramaphosa which would soon follow.

## Post Presidency

Following his stint as President of Ducist, João Lourenço returned to office as Vice President in the government of Cyril Ramaphosa following the 2025 Ducist Presidential Election, although the Ramaphosa-Lourenço ticket failed to win re-election in 2030, leading to the 2030-31 Ducist Constitutional Crisis which followed the assassination of president-elect Alpha Cantorsta, and the installation of General Idi Amin as President and the Transitional Council of Ducist as the new temporary legislature for the junta government. Eventually transitioning power back to Cyril Ramaphosa, who served as interim president until the 2031 Ducist Presidential Election, the new government kept the National Assembly of Ducist closed, instead opening the Council of the People to govern, of which João Lourenço was invited to be a member of in 2031.