Ernst van Darmin

**Ernst Volker Kauder van Darmin** (September 3, 1967 -) was a Morranian politician, businessman, and statesman who served in numerous government positions between 2022 and 2040, including as defence secretary from 2022-23, and again from 2024-30, education secretary from 2030-36, foreign secretary in 2037, and finance secretary from 2039-40. From October 2025 onwards, van Darmin held office as a member of the National Assembly of Morra. Following the arrest of Peter Koonz, Ernst van Darmin became leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in January 2040.

Born in 1967 as the child of local businesspeople in Hoffenheim, Ernst van Darmin became the first in his family to attain higher education by attending the University of Freiburg between 1985 and 1989, graduating with a degree in economics. In 1992, van Darmin became a senior policy researcher for the governing Social Conservative party of Dunsteen, and contributed to the party's local election manifesto in 1995. In 1996, Ernst van Darmin quit the Social Conservative party to become a consultant for the Euro Corporation under CEO Jean Marie-Laborde, and remained as a senior member of the company after its rebrand as EuroCorp in 2000 under CEO Jurgen Otto. Whilst working at EuroCorp, van Darmin became the leader of the company's emerging military technology division and secured several major contracts with the governments of Dunsteen, Spain, Isgardia, and Avalonia for the supply of military equipment. Under the instruction of CEO Ian Quinby, van Darmin began supplying the Loxenian insurgent group Black Eagles and was a major bankroller of the Loxenian Civil War; following Quinby's 2014 takeover of the Black Eagles, EuroCorp began to overtly fund the organisation and van Darmin travelled to Kyiv multiple times to meet with the organisation's leadership. In the late 2010s, van Darmin shifted the military focus of EuroCorp away from Loxenia and towards Dunsteen, where EuroCorp executive Werner Reinheart had established an independence movement in the region of Morra.

After the proclamation of the Transitional State of Dunsteen in the region of Morra on October 13, 2022, Ernst van Darmin was appointed as secretary of state for defence by President Werner Reinheart and became one of the first members of the new cabinet to take office. As defence secretary, van Darmin set about reorganising the militia forces of the Independence Alliance into a standing military under the joint leadership of Generals Simone Alderhard, Jean Maximo, and Emanuele Luanne. On December 14, 2022, Ernst van Darmin published a report titled "*On the Future of Our Military*" in which he argued that introducing contracted private military elements into the nation's armed forces would be the most economical and quick way to establish a large and functional military to protect the regime. After president Werner Reinheart was forced to hold a snap presidential election in January 2023 and was defeated by the liberal National Alliance leader Jean Luc Melenchon, van Darmin was removed from office as secretary of state for defence and replaced with General Jean Maximo. Between 2023 and 2024, Ernst van Darmin returned to work at EuroCorp in the Dunsteenian branch of the company after having his Morranian visa revoked by the Melenchon government - during his time at EuroCorp, van Darmin retained close contacts with military leadership in the transitional state, particularly defence secretary Maximo. Van Darmin was involved in the 2024 coup d'état plot and personally met with Jean Maximo numerous times to coordinate efforts between EuroCorp and the armed forces.

On August 17, 2024, the armed forces led a coup against President Jean Luc Melenchon and established a three member Transitional Junta to oversee the transfer of executive powers back to Werner Reinheart, who took office as president once again on September 4, 2024. Under the new Reinheart government, van Darmin was reappointed as secretary of state for defence and presided over the dissolution of the Independence Alliance's armed forces and their transfer to the new Corporate Republic of Dunsteen. As the head of the armed forces, van Darmin resumed the implementation of "*On the Future of Our Military*" and established a new government led Military Command Office under the joint leadership of the defence secretary, president, and with provision to include the heads of any private military firms contracted by the new state. Following the election of Sunil Bakshi as president in January 2025, van Darmin was retained in office. On March 17, 2025, Ernst van Darmin negotiated a contract with EuroCorp to allow its security forces Bestrafer to act under contract of the Corporate Republic to compliment the existing armed forces, effectively allowing the group near total autonomy within the military. In September 2025, van Darmin joined the newly established ruling People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and was elected as a member of the National Assembly the following month. In January 2026, President Bakshi established the Ministry of Public Services Management to oversee the privatisation of various government departments; between January and March 2026, van Darmin engaged in a power struggle with public services minister Guy Verhofstadt for control over the extent of privatisation within the Ministry of Defence. Ultimately, in March 2026, President Sunil Bakshi and EuroCorp CEO Alisher Usmanov announced a contract for the Bestrafer to take over policing duties in the country in addition to its already existing military responsibilities. In 2028, Ernst van Darmin was a proponent of President Bakshi's democratisation programme and retained his position as defence secretary under the new Republic of Morra.

Following the 2030 National Assembly election and the formation of the Second Illich Ministry on February 17, 2030, Ernst van Darmin was appointed as secretary of state for education and information in the new coalition government. As education secretary, van Darmin introduced a new nationalistic curriculum to schools across the country and renationalised much of the education sector to bring it back under the direct control of the Ministry of Education and Information. In his position as minister for information, van Darmin oversaw the implementation of a sophisticated propaganda campaign to promote the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, whilst also being the public face of numerous government advertising campaigns. Van Darmin was reappointed to the position after the 2035 National Assembly Election and the formation of the Third Illich Ministry. After Speaker Peter Illich was forced from office in September 2036, van Darmin retained his position in the government of newly elected speaker Frank Wassenberg; however, after the snap 2036 election, van Darmin and the VVD were forced from government by a coalition of opposition parties, returning him to the backbenches.

As a backbench member of the National Assembly of Morra, Ernst van Darmin joined Fachnan Opus' economic committee and was a leading critic of both speakersMarianne Thieme and Frank Wassenberg after he returned to office, with van Darmin arguing that Wassenberg had fundamentally undermined the position of power possessed by the VVD. Following the Derigo Disease Debate, van Darmin supported Peter Koonz's bid for the VVD leadership after Wassenberg was forced to resign, and briefly served as secretary of state for foreign affairs between September and November 2037 after the Worker's Political Alliance withdrew from Wassenberg's second administration, before returning to the backbenches of the National Assembly. Amid the 2039-40 political crisis, Ernst van Darmin was appointed as secretary of state for finance after Fachnan Opus resigned in protest against the impeachment of President Kairos Hemlock by Speaker Peter Koonz. Following the 2040 general election, Peter Koonz was removed from his offices and arrested for treason after Hemlock returned to the presidency.

On January 21, 2040, Ernst van Darmin assumed leadership of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy on an acting basis following the arrest of party leaders Peter Koonz and Lammert van Raan the previous day. On March 16, 2040, van Darmin was elected as leader by members of the party, becoming the first leader of the VVD not to serve in government whilst holding the leadership.