Vahari Manizsya
MP Vahari Manizsya Vahari Kalyan Manizsya | |
![]() | |
Member of Parliament | |
---|---|
In office 1 October, 2011 – present | |
Constituency | Areimsede at-large |
Majority | 403,321 (2017) |
Preceded by Osinyza Kasinet |
Succeeded by none |
Personal details | |
Born | 22 October, 1970 (age 54)
|
Citizenship | Kryfona |
Nationality | Standard Kryfona |
Political party | United Kryfona Party |
Parents | Egyzen Manizsya and Alye Kalyan |
Spouse(s) | Nazsrye Autun |
Residence | 100 Valosz Av. |
Education | University of Galaszyz |
Religion | Irreligious |
Vahari Kalyan Manizsya, GSK (For. Kryf. /ˈvæ(h)ˌriː ˈmæˌniːz.jə/; born 22 October, 1970) is a current MP for the United Kryfona Party representing the Areimsede at large constituency, which covers the entire province of Areimsede. He has represented the constituency since the 2011 elections, when he replaced six-term member of parliament Osinyza Kasinet.
Born to middle-class parents in Vuniek, a riverfront town just south of Galaszyz, Manizsya was raised by relatively liberal parents. Egyzen Manizsya, the father of Vahari, was a businessman in Vuniek, and his mother Alye Kalyan served as a secretary of an MP to the Areimsede House. Although the Manizsya household was not particularly political, Vahari went to primary school with an interest in politics, and later ended up attending the University of Galaszyz with the intent of getting a degree in politics. During this time, he also began to work with Areimsede's provincial chapter of the United Kryfona Party, to which he joined in 1990. He graduated with his degree in 1993 in the upper half of his class, and later that year was inducted into the leadership of the Areimsede chapter of the UKP.
Manizsya stood for election in the 1996 local elections in Areimsede, and campaigned to be elected in his native town's seat, Areimsede District 28. He was approved by the UKP as a candidate in 1994, and won election fairly easily on 1 October, 1996 by a majority of almost 12,000. Manizsya would subsequently be reelected in 2002 by a slightly larger majority of 13,000; he stated one day later on 2 October, 2002 that he intended to go on to represent the province nationally, and would vacate his office at the end of his term in 2008. His time in the Areimsede House was relatively mundane otherwise–Manizsya did not stand out among its members and he represented a fairly insignificant district–and he received fairly little attention outside of his party. This changed, however, when on 17 November, 2007, Manizsya was one of five people who were severely injured in a shooting at the Areimsede House. The incident necessitated extensive hospitalization. Manizsya was shot three times; two bullets struck him in the body causing significant bleeding and one destroyed the tip of his beak, causing it to be amputated. Manizsya was in the hospital for over a month in serious condition, and the part of his beak that was amputated was replaced, giving him his now trademark "yellow beak tip".
Despite the shooting, Manizsya was back to serving his constituency and preparing to make the jump to national politics almost immediately after he was cleared to leave the hospital. He was instrumental in several Areimsede policy changes, most notably to mental health checks in the wake of the shooting, and he gained widespread support as a result of it. Manizsya officially vacated his office on 1 October, 2008, and was replaced by Szaries Vizant, another UKP member. He thereafter started touring the province in anticipation of serving it in place of Osinyza Kazinet. Manizsya won the nod of the UKP sometime in 2009, and was officially announced as the candidate for the Areimsede at-large constituency on the party's 1 July, 2011 candidate list. He was not significantly contested.
Manizsya easily won the constituency with a 236,663 vote majority in the 2011 election, making him the first openly gay Areimsede MP, and the fourth openly gay MP to serve in the history of the Kryfonsparliszaiye. He was reelected with 403,321 vote majority in 2017, the largest such majority in the history of the province of Areimsede.
Manizsya is well known for his liberal politics among the UKP, and his general support for LGBT rights, particularly surrounding the third-gender movements of the Kryfona Kingdom. He is considered one of the most liberal members of the UKP. Outside of politics, Manizsya married his then-boyfriend of four years Nazsrye Autun, an MP in the Rszan Senate, in 2014; the ceremony was attended by several members of the UKP, including party leader Dajeila Zasane.
Personal life
Manizsya is one of four openly gay Kryfonsparliszaiye MPs to have served, and one of two currently serving gay Kryfonsparliszaiye MPs (the other being Vosŭ Aari). Manizsya officially came out in 2001, shortly before his reelection to the Areimsede House. During his time in the Areimsede House, Manizsya met and befriended Nazsrye Autun, then an MP in the Rszan House and today an MP in the Rszan Senate. The two began dating in 2010, and four years later on 18 November, 2014, became married. Despite the attendance of several members of the UKP, most prominently Dajeila Zasane–with whom Manizsya is a close friend–the marriage was not a significant story in the media as was perhaps expected, and Manizsya commended the media in their restraint on treating the marriage as a major story in a public statement on 24 November.
Manizsya was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder in July, 2008 stemming from his experiences during and after the Areimsede House shooting. Manizsya had earlier in the year complained of nightmares, as well as significant bouts of anxiety, and a month before his diagnosis expressed privately that he "[felt] deeply depressed and out of it" to several friends and members of his family. He underwent significant treatment for this throughout most of the rest of 2008 and parts of 2009. Manizsya gradually tapered off treatment in 2009, and considered his treatment "officially complete for the most part" on 10 January, 2010. Nonetheless, recurring and lingering symptoms of PTSD prompted further bouts of treatment in 2013 and 2017 and causing Manizsya to require several weeks off both times. In both instances, he received a standing ovation from the Kryfonsparliszaiye.