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[b]Sankt-Magavets, [i]the Ostrog[/i]
13:20 PM[/b]

The man who walked into the room was of a short, stocky build. His face, with a jutting cheekbone and strong chin, seemed to be a striking work of cubism. His murky gaze seemed to clash with the innumerous laugh-wrinkles, and people often perceived his look to be that of a cat with his whiskers cut short. Such cats are usually clumsy. They have no sense of direction, and they keep close to the walls to help navigate the surroundings. [i]This was not the case with President Kurbatov.
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Genrikh Kurbatov's background as a military pilot made him a popular candidate in his native town of Kyromorsk, and he successfully ran for a seat in the lower chamber of the parliament as a member of the National Alliance for a Sovereign Radena in 1989. 

In time he cultivated relationships with the oil and arms lobbies, and ran for governor of the troubled Kalym-Belgory district. Genrikh managed to effectively handle and clean up the Prozran nuclear plant disaster of 1999, and on his second term (2003-2008) began paving the way for investments to grow the regional GDP, revitalize the industrial output of the district, and rebuild the aging infrastructure links. Many loans were then supplied by the federal government and domestic private companies, and by 2007 most of them were paid off.

After serving in a series of positions as Radena's vice-minister of trade (2009-2011), chairman of the State Arms Export Committee (2011-2013), and director of the Federal Atomic Service (2013-2016), he ran for President on the platform of rolling out ambitious and well-planned infrastructure projects, increasing Radena's presence on the world stage and raising the living standards even in the most remote regions of the country.[/hider]

He was the metaphorical cheshire cat of Radenan politics, and this was often reflected in his management style, one that domestic political commentators sometimes called 'Efficient Confusion', or 'Management by Walking Around'.

In the day-to-day running of the government, he kept roles and responsibilities fuzzy, teams and individuals in a constant competition, often working in parallel on the same task, while at the same time giving his subordinates a lot of leeway in defining their roles and working routines within determined objectives. Tasks were easily switched from people to people. Second-guessing Kurbatov’s intentions was a part of the game, and considered as a factor of creativity and innovation. 

He excelled at using the system’s own modus operandi and hidden inertia, instead of enforcing his own way of doing things. His ability to ride on other people’s motivations and energies allowed him to start his working days late, work just a few hours, and retain full control over his subordinates and project power beyond the wals of the presidential residence. 

And yet he was acutely aware of the criss-crossing ambitions and interests in his inner circle and among his appointees. 

Achamaz Hohty, the Defense Minister, was a native Irgut and often tussled to give secret state contracts to the influential ethnic business clans of Irgustan, which was in turn kept in check by the ever-vigilant Kira Teplova of the Trade & Commerce Ministry. The Foreign Minister and close confidante of Kurbatov, Pavel Essen, was talented at juggling the varying initiatives and conflicting decisions and translating this into a smart and flexible foreign policy course; though even he was worn out at times.

Hasbulat Mamriev, Minister of the Interior, was a security hawk through and through, which ofttimes did not mesh with the textualist, hardline constitutional approach of Victor Laskutin, the Justiciar of the government - a man often denounced or touted in the media as a liberal along the likes of the Prime Minister, Nikolai Bublikov. 

The yellow press, especially those with financial links to the opposition parties, always jumped at the chance to paint the ruling circles as disorganized or indecisive and although most of them were exagerrated beyond proportion, there was a semblance of truth that the government made an effort to keep the officials toeing the party line. 

These things were more pronounced at the start of his presidency, when the cabinet was still brimming with energy and brainstorming programmes. By now each of them had an agenda and the workflow stabilized itself to find a middle ground between the various power orbits.

However, differing visions and ethnic predispositions were things that Kurbatov carefully monitored and discouraged, and getting through legislative hurdles at the parliamentary level was a more pressing issue, especially if he wanted to successfully implement his campaign promises before the next election.