El Fiji Grande for WA Delegate

El Fiji Grande

Over 37000 km and counting
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Pronouns
he/him
TNP Nation
El_Fiji_Grande
Discord
El Fiji Grande (#3446)


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My Background in TNP
I arrived in The North Pacific on July 17, 2018 after a long UCR career. I was looking for a fresh start in a new region to call home. I was warmly welcomed, and soon found my place within the Ministry of Communications. Under my leadership, Comms has been transformed by a number of key changes. The Ministry increased its focus on having high standards of quality and reliable productivity. I believe it is now capable of meeting the expectations of a fully functioning, high-performing Ministry.

While I am exceedingly proud of my work in the Ministry of Communications, I am more proud of the region that took me in and allowed me to rise swiftly in the ranks of the Ministry. Such a region was respectful of tradition, yet generous to newcomers. It is my hope to expand on that legacy, and serve as delegate of this fine region.

General Administration
While each Minister should be capable of working independently, I intend to be a Delegate of action, and I like getting things done. I intend to be hands-on with each of the Ministries. This will be especially true in Home Affairs, Communications, and Culture.

Furthermore, I believe in executive accountability, transparency, and ethical responsibility. All Ministers under my delegacy will publish monthly reports. Additionally, RMB AMAs will continue, and NBS interviews of Ministers will be encouraged. Doing so will increase public awareness of Ministry activities and promote ethical responsibility within the ministries.

Vision for the Term
I’ll start with Home Affairs. All successful terms require activity, and from what I can tell, TNP is currently facing staffing shortages across many of our ministries. I can list only a handful of people active in WA Affairs, in HA, and in Comms. I’m not nearly as aware of the staffing situation within the NPA, Culture, and FA, though I’m sure more staff would always be helpful. While these ministries all have bold plans for the future, these plans cannot be achieved without sufficient resources. One of the focuses of my term would be to bring more people into our community. HA can do more to streamline operations and be more targeted in the recruitment they do. HA will conduct weekly manual recruitment lists to boost regional participation and will concentrate initial efforts to update and rewrite recruitment telegrams. Recruitment isn’t the only concern; retention and mentorship of recruited nations is vitally important to a successful future. As such, HA will produce training resources and guides for newcomers looking to get started in each of our ministries and in other facets of our region, such as elected offices and roleplay. This will include producing NBS tutorials to help retain newcomers’ interest, updating and revamping the FAQ’s, and rebooting the in-person mentorship program that, prior to the forum emergency, was so active. These guides, training resources, and tutorials will form the backbone of TNP’s University. The mentorship program should not stop with a cursory overview of the boards and discord, but help train newcomers for success in each ministry. HA should partner with each ministry to make these efforts successful.

Additionally, HA cannot forget the Gameside Advocates, who are really an underutilized resource. GA’s should not only be moderators of the RMB, but stewards of activity. Their role should be redefined to build personal connections with new players, and recommend players to specific ministries or activities within TNP. This can be done by assisting in their nation development, directing them to useful resources in NS and in TNP, conducting RMB games and events, by introducing them to our forum and discord, and by promoting roleplays within our community, both on SR and Eras. The RMB AMA program will continue. GA’s would also be encouraged to host other events, like trivia nights and Cards Against Humanity sessions. While it is my hope that the program brings many more people to the offsite forums, the GA’s will bring at least twenty new players to forumside in the term.

HA will also continue the current NS Card programs. This includes the NS Card Giveaway, our daily Keeper of the North lottery, and our monthly WADP awards. NS Cards may also be featured as awards in contests and other regional events.
With the Ministry of Communications, my first goal will be to see through the transition period to the next Minister. This will include overseeing activities of the new Minister to ensure deadlines are met and that the Ministry is running smoothly.

There are four publications produced by the Ministry of Communications:
The North Star: TNS consists of governmental reports and can be handled easily. It will be published once each month, and more focus will be put into consistently meeting deadlines.

The Northern Lights: TNL features op-eds and serves as a professional journal. It shall maintain this status and be published every other month. It is my hope that TNL retains its high standards and continues to produce quality content. As such, each issue of TNL should have a theme, and we will continue to encourage more allies abroad to contribute. Each issue will aim to have at least one foreign author.

The Roleplay Reel: RPR is a new publication that is jointly produced by the Ministries of Communications and Culture. It is designed to show off the effort and creativity the roleplay community of TNP has put into the creation of characters, nations, and worlds. The first issue will be released in the next few days, and will now become a regular publication, much like The Northern Lights. It will be published every other month.

Northern Broadcast Service: NBS has faced some difficulty picking up speed in the last term, and it is important to note that scheduling and staffing issues have been a major factor here. That said, NBS is full of potential to improve life in The North Pacific. If elected, NBS will expand to feature more frequent, albeit shorter news shows. By becoming a regular production, NBS can help introduce important topics and lead to valuable community discussions and panels. Additionally, third-party hosts will be sought out to introduce additional shows. While this may affect the average quality of shows, it will hopefully increase interest and listeners of the program. NBS will feature weekly shows, for a total of sixteen over the course of the term.

Furthermore, Comms will make more of an effort to focus on newcomers entering the Ministry. Increasingly, it has felt as though it is just my deputies and I completing the work for the Ministry, but this is mainly due to a lack of opportunities for newcomers to the Ministry to get started. Newcomers will be given more opportunities to edit and format articles, and the points system will be expanded to accommodate this need.
There is so much potential for the Ministry of Culture to excel, and to expand.It should work together more closely with other Ministries. For future issues, Culture will actively promote The Roleplay Reel (RPR) within the RP community, and take a more active stance in seeking writers. Producing the publication more jointly can take some of the weight off of the Ministry of Comms, allowing Comms to focus on The Northern Lights and NBS. That said, Culture should also help bring the RP community to NBS by encouraging members of both the gameside and forumside RP worlds to use NBS to discuss and showcase major events, characters, nations, and whole roleplays. NBS should serve in some sense as an extension of RPR. Culture will produce at least four such NBS shows throughout the term. Another way of arousing interest in roleplay is to create roleplay-themed regional poll games - sort of like choose-your-own adventure books. Poll authorship could be on a rotation to give as many authors as possible a chance to participate.

Everyone loves events, and Culture should really make an effort to make more of them happen. First and foremost, if elected, Culture will make a special effort to work with the Ministry of Communications to host a Comms Festival. Essentially, TNP would invite foreign speakers and writers from many of NationStates’ most productive interregional media sources. An issue of TNL and RPR would be produced right before the festival. While the idea needs some expanding, the event would be a ‘Media Frenzy,’ and would host several NBS panels on how to produce interesting content, sharing techniques, and discussing how NS media sources help promote foreign affairs across NS. Additional panels would discuss important topics from across NS. The benefit of such a festival is that it draws particular attention to NS media sources, and would bring us together as one community across many regions. In this way, Culture could help strengthen bonds with our allies abroad, and lead the path to new cross-cultural events. These interregional events wouldn’t have to be as large as a full festival, but could serve to bring us closer to key allies. For example, we could host guests from abroad on NBS, but we could also have influential TNPers speak on other radio programs abroad, such as on EBC Radio or NS Today.

By the end of the term, Culture will host another Lennarts. The Lennarts are basically TNP’s version of the Oscars, and help shine the spotlight on those among us who really stand for what TNP is, both here at home and with our friends abroad. It has become a storied event that comes and goes over the years, and I want to make it happen again. I also intend to incorporate feedback from previous Lennarts to improve the execution of the one planned. The nominations process should be quicker and the award categories should be more representative of our community, and be better defined. However, the Lennarts should continue to be hosted via NS polls rather than on the forums, because these polls will draw more attention to government initiatives from the gameside community, and their participation will boost turn out. While there has been some criticism of vote stacking, in my mind, this is all part of the fun.

Delegate’s Day will be celebrated by Delegate Delirium. For those who don’t know, this is a wonderful program that commends past delegates for their service to the region. Essentially, the event pits delegates against each other in NS polls to determine who among them was the best. It’s a cool event, because it encourages all members of the region to learn more about our regional history.

Culture will also host another Endorsement Frenzy in an effort to regain top position in average regional endorsements. This effort will make the region more secure by increasing the number of endorsements of the delegate and security council, as well as by elevating the average influence of all WA member nations.
WA Affairs is a Ministry that has done pretty well in the past, but can always do more to improve. The Ministry should put a major focus on getting IFVs to come out right at the start of voting, not hours or even days later. The Information for WA Voters program is the single largest aspect of what WA Affairs does, so it should be perfected. This can be done by starting discussions earlier, even if that means covering resolutions that don’t make it to quorum. Additionally, more attention should be given to TNP’s WA Sponsorship program. The WA Affairs Ministry should not just vote on resolutions, but write them, and teach newcomers in the Ministry the process through which resolutions are passed. In an effort to further this cause, the Ministry of WA Affairs will host a WA Resolution Workshop with our WALL allies. This workshop will help strengthen the alliance we share.

I will do my part as Delegate to ensure that our vote in the WA is as strong as possible. Updates occur at 9am/9pm, which are both exceptionally good times for me. I will be online to vote for WA proposals as they reach quorum, maximizing the effect of Vote Early, Vote Often. In addition, I am a strong endotarter, and dedicate some time each day to this task. My aim is to reach at least 80% of the regional endorsement count.
The Ministry of Defense will work on expansion and recruitment in order to boost the number of operations over last term. Defense should continue the precedent of joint operations with our allies abroad. The Ministry should aim for regular operations.

For my part, I support the continued independence of the NPA, and understand the reasoning and importance of our adherence to The Independent Manifesto. Operations should be conducted in our regional interest.

Additionally, I do not support the idea that The North Pacific should conduct tag raiding operations to remove support from WA resolutions before they reach quorum. While doing so would serve our immediate regional interests, I think the long-term consequences do not. We have for some time now been working towards a proactive and engaged foreign policy, and this is best achieved via collaborative efforts of positive diplomacy. Conducting this type of raiding operation would only serve to advance the agendas of our critics. I don’t believe there’s some sacred line over which military gameplay cannot cross; I simply believe that these operations would hinder our long-term regional interests.
The focus of Foreign Affairs will be to increase the strength of current alliances through cross-cultural activities and events. Some of these events have been described extensively above, from the Communications Festival ‘Media Frenzy’ to the WA Resolution Workshop with our WALL allies. FA will work closely with other Ministries to ensure the success of these events. These cultural exchanges will form the core of FA’s work in the term.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already made strides in the last term to improve the Diplomatic Corps, by reducing the amount of time between the release of an update by the Ministry of Comms and its distribution. This standard should continue to rise. The Ministry should also make more of an effort to keep the Civil Defense Service up to date. It’s one of the best tools the NS community has to keep potential recruits away from those toxic regions.

Important Note:
In past years, a huge effort has been made for Democracy Day, and it would be my goal to continue the Pocket Constibillcode program this year. This is a program I have been interested in since the first week I joined TNP, and I proudly use my Constibillocode to this day. It’s a fantastic program, and it really speaks to the enduring nature of our region’s democracy and the strength of our culture. While I will do my utmost to make this happen again, it’s something that I can’t promise.
Summary

MinistryGoal
AdminMinisters will publish monthly reports
HAconduct weekly manual recruitment lists
HAupdate and rewrite recruitment telegrams
HAresources for newcomers: NBS tutorials, updating the FAQ’s, mentorship program
HAThe RMB AMA program will continue
HAGA’s will bring at least twenty new players to forumside
HAcontinue the current NS Card programs
CommsTNS: monthly
CommsTNL: every other month
CommsRPR: every other month
CommsNBS: weekly shows
CommsExpansion of the points system to award staffers for editing/formatting
Culturepromote The Roleplay Reel (RPR) within the RP community
Cultureproduce at least four RP-themed NBS shows
Culturehost a Comms Festival
Culturehost the Lennarts
Culturehost Delegate Delirium
Culturehost an Endorsement Frenzy
WAAIFVs to come out right at the start of voting
WAAWA Resolution Workshop with our WALL allies
Defensejoint operations with our allies
FAcross-cultural activities and events (see Culture/WA)
FAkeep the Civil Defense Service up to date
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them!

 
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Please clarify this:
"The Ministry should aim for regular operations" and "goal to become a member of Libcord"

How would/would not this have a negative impact on TNP's public and private image of independence? Why not?

Thank you and best of luck. O7
 
Please clarify this:
How would/would not this have a negative impact on TNP's public and private image of independence? Why not?
It’s important to recognize that independence does not mean that we must reside in the middle of the R/D spectrum. On the contrary, it is more nuanced, and means that we pursue our dynamic foreign policy interests as we see fit. It is my belief that protecting the sovereignty of allied regions aligns strongly with the positive diplomacy vision I have for the future of TNP. Becoming a member of a defensive organization would not shift our stance as independent - if anything, it would reinforce the values we have as a region, which are clearly stated in The Independent Manifesto.
 
It’s important to recognize that independence does not mean that we must reside in the middle of the R/D spectrum. On the contrary, it is more nuanced, and means that we pursue our dynamic foreign policy interests as we see fit. It is my belief that protecting the sovereignty of allied regions aligns strongly with the positive diplomacy vision I have for the future of TNP. Becoming a member of a defensive organization would not shift our stance as independent - if anything, it would reinforce the values we have as a region, which are clearly stated in The Independent Manifesto.
My concern is that I think direct affiliation with defenders, by becoming a libcord member, may present difficulties with working with raider organizations like the Osiris Sekhmet Legion and The Black Hawks, which we have worked with in the past. Thoughts?
 
HA will conduct weekly manual recruitment lists to boost regional participation and will concentrate initial efforts to update and rewrite recruitment telegrams. Recruitment isn’t the only concern; retention and mentorship of recruited nations is vitally important to a successful future.

Do these lists actually boost regional participation? There has been multiple complaints about the telegrams we send. If we were to discontinue the lists, how else would you boost regional participation?

The Ministry of Defense should make it a goal to become a member of Libcord in order to participate in defensive operations alongside the RRA, TGW, and TITO, especially as doing so would directly benefit our foreign relations with allies - Stargate is one such example.

I do believe we can already participate in defensive operations with aforementioned allies. It's simply a matter of setting up a joint op between the military leaders. However, this would impact our relationship with raider orgs; after all, I don't think Libcord will accept us so easily because we work with raiders and we could potentially leak to them. This would eventually force us to only work with defender orgs. Do you think this is a good thing?
 
What would your perfect Cabinet look like? If you could appoint anyone from TNP or NS in general, who would be a part of your cabinet and in what capacity?
 
My concern is that I think direct affiliation with defenders, by becoming a libcord member, may present difficulties with working with raider organizations like the Osiris Sekhmet Legion and The Black Hawks, which we have worked with in the past. Thoughts?
It is my understanding that we conduct training operations to maintain discipline, practice, and preparation for larger operations. These missions often include tags and detags, and we frequently perform tag ops with Osiris and TBH. I don’t think becoming a member of a defensive organization precludes us from performing larger missions according to regional interests, whether those align with the interests of raiders or defenders.
I do believe we can already participate in defensive operations with aforementioned allies. It's simply a matter of setting up a joint op between the military leaders. However, this would impact our relationship with raider orgs; after all, I don't think Libcord will accept us so easily because we work with raiders and we could potentially leak to them. This would eventually force us to only work with defender orgs. Do you think this is a good thing?
We have in the past performed a few defensive operations, such as the joint detag we conducted with the RRA in December of last year. I’m not sure I agree with your analysis on how it would impact our relationship with raiding organizations, though they are valid concerns. Prior to making any definitive move, a more thorough analysis would be completed within the Ministry of Defense. Moreover, I think it is important we maintain a certain familiarity with these raiding regions, if only to preserve our capabilities as a region. That said, I believe defensive operations like the ones we would conduct with Libcord are more representative of the style of foreign policy I envision for the term.
Do these lists actually boost regional participation? There has been multiple complaints about the telegrams we send. If we were to discontinue the lists, how else would you boost regional participation?
Interestingly, one of my initial ideas for my campaign platform was to eliminate lists entirely. Last term, BMWSurfer asked me for advice on how to improve the Ministry of Home Affairs, and that was the first idea to come to mind. A poll was conducted to determine why nations had joined the region and become so active. Not one nation polled responded with any indication that HA had been involved. However, the questions didn’t really ask that question, and to expect anyone to single out HA would have been unlikely, so these poll results were scrapped. Instead, I then began an effort to map out the number of daily citizenship applications over the last couple of years in an effort to conclusively prove that manual lists have little to no effect. What I found surprised me: instead of showing that these lists are useless, I found convincing evidence to show that many of these telegrams do generate an effect. Indeed, in the days following a telegram about citizenship, application numbers would be significantly above the norm. That changed my mind about manual lists, and forced me to rethink my platform.

Once I established that these lists are in fact productive, the next step was to still see if there’s any way to improve them. Firstly, I think making them more targeted to a specific audience after specific events would increase their effectiveness over the way they were run last term. In addition, rewriting the telegrams for accuracy and making them more personalized will help. And to make them seem less spammy, a greater effort to subtract nations that most certainly are already aware of the contents of these telegrams would be worth the time.

However, the portions of my campaign that addressed what Home Affairs would do to improve recruitment and retainment if manual lists were scrapped entirely, remains. These are the goals I have discussed for HA to harness the abilities of the GAs, to produce guides and other resources for newcomers, updating the FAQs through TNP’s University, and reintroducing a more substantial mentorship program.
 
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Do you have any plans to create a standard of ethics for your government or to some means to ensure that your cabinet adn their staff remain upstanding to the dignity of TNP?
 
What would your perfect Cabinet look like? If you could appoint anyone from TNP or NS in general, who would be a part of your cabinet and in what capacity?
That’s an interesting question. I think I would have to pick:

Culture: Escade
Defense: Zazumo
WA: r3n
HA: Siwale
Comms: Lewis Flood (of NSToday)
FA: McMasterdonia
 
Do you have any plans to create a standard of ethics for your government or to some means to ensure that your cabinet adn their staff remain upstanding to the dignity of TNP?
As I mentioned in my platform, if elected, I will expect each of my Ministers to produce monthly reports in an effort to remain transparent on executive actions to the Regional Assembly. Should any laws be violated by any member of my cabinet, I fully expect the Attorney General’s office to step in. Besides that, I see no reason to create an official standard of ethics, because I believe these principles to be widely understood and regularly performed within each office of our region.
Are there any TNP traditions that you are interested in discontinuing?
If elected, I think I’d be the first delegate TNP has had to have been produced by the Ministry of Communications. I think it’s time we break that tradition.

But in all seriousness, while there are no traditions that I see as a signature piece of my campaign to discontinue, there are a few traditions I have been at odds with since arriving in TNP. Those being: the insistence that the Coat of Arms be restricted to official government purposes, and the second that Flemingovianism remains the official religion of The North Pacific. Both of these traditions are enshrined in the Legal Code, and while I have no current plans to make an effort to change that, it’s not something I’ll rule out. I think both are frivolous and give a negative impression to newcomers.
 
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No, the question asked was if he could pick a cabinet from anyone in NS.

What would your perfect Cabinet look like? If you could appoint anyone from TNP or NS in general, who would be a part of your cabinet and in what capacity?
 
I'll have more comments in the morning but I find it very disappointing that you chose to include your opposition the idea of WA blocking raids in your platform, as the only serious discussions of such have occurred in the cabinet channel on the government discord. I find it concerning that you've used information from a private channel to inform that part of your platform.
 
Such discussions have taken place in plenty of other areas, including an entire panel in the WA Symposium, the citizens channel in TNP Gen, and the NS forums.
 
And very, very recently in cabinet, one of the first - and by my reckoning only - times Fiji has spoken on the subject.

I don't think it's a coincidence that it came up in cabinet and is now part of Fiji's platform.
 
So an issue commonly brought up with regards to our Ministry of Defense happened to be on Fiji's mind when he wrote his platform.

In other news, the sky is blue.
 
Culture will actively promote The Roleplay Reel (RPR) within the RP community, and take a more active stance in seeking writers.

Seeking writers in what way? Do you mean by having RPers write articles about their own RPs, or having communications compile what RPers have done? Do you feel that anything posted in RP should be open to being published to other regions through your publication with or without permission, or do you recognize a writer's right to limit the places in which their works and ideas can be posted?
 
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I was going to post a general support message here, but now that Madjack has posted, how do you respond to these allegations, @El Fiji Grande?
I wasn’t going to respond to MJ’s concerns because I thought that Darcania’s and Siwale’s posts about the matter adequately covered it. My stance on the matter is that this is an issue that is very important to the future of TNP, and is a position that was extensively debated in the WA Symposium just the other day. This is an opinion I have had for some time, and, for what it’s worth, was part of my platform since before the Symposium. It’s also an opinion I have discussed at some length privately with others, and would be comfortable discussing in citizen’s chat. All this before having posted it in the Executive Council chat to debate a point. In essence, I think MJ’s concerns are ridiculous.
Seeking writers in what way? Do you mean by having RPers write articles about their own RPs, or having communications compile what RPers have done? Do you feel that anything posted in RP should be open to being published to other regions through your publication with or without permission, or do you recognize a writer's right to limit the places in which their works and ideas can be posted?
I meant that the Ministry of Culture should do more to advertise for the publication. Once it gets published, they will have something to show off, and it is my hope that more RPers find value in the magazine. In explaining how they would seek out articles, it would help if I had a copy of RPR next to me to show you. Unfortunately, due to delays, it might only be by this weekend when it is ready. The magazine hosts interested RPers writing articles about their own nations, characters, or RPs. I recognize a writer’s right to limit the places in which their ideas are posted, though I admit I do not understand this sentiment. That said, RPR does not intend to violate that trust, and the magazine will only function as a concept if there are active, willing contributors from the RP community.
 
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There are some who say that running for delegate while your Security Council application is still under vote indicates a lack of commitment to TNP security. How would you respond, and within how many days can we expect El Coupo Grande?
 
There are some who say that running for delegate while your Security Council application is still under vote indicates a lack of commitment to TNP security. How would you respond, and within how many days can we expect El Coupo Grande?
I think it’s important that Security Council members are nations at the core of our community who strive for the success of the region. I personally view my application to the SC as a separate process - one that recognizes my commitment to the future of The North Pacific long after any potential delegacy. I think the SC and the delegate should work together, and had I not applied prior to announcing this campaign, I would likely have applied during my term.

I have no intention of couping The North Pacific, even if it would mean El Coupo Grande would go down in history.
 
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WA Affairs is a Ministry that has done pretty well in the past, but can always do more to improve. The Ministry should put a major focus on getting IFVs to come out right at the start of voting, not hours or even days later. Furthermore, voting should cut off when the resolution goes out - we shouldn’t change our vote half way through. The Information for WA Voters program is the single largest aspect of what WA Affairs does, so it should be perfected. This can be done by starting discussions earlier, even if that means covering resolutions that don’t make it to quorum. Additionally, more attention should be given to TNP’s WA Sponsorship program. The WA Affairs Ministry should not just vote on resolutions, but write them, and teach newcomers in the Ministry the process through which resolutions are passed. In an effort to further this cause, the Ministry of WA Affairs will host a WA Resolution Workshopwith our WALL allies. This workshop will help strengthen the alliance we share.

I will do my part as Delegate to ensure that our vote in the WA is as strong as possible. Updates occur at 9am/9pm, which are both exceptionally good times for me. I will be online to vote for WA proposals as they reach quorum, maximizing the effect of Vote Early, Vote Often. In addition, I am a strong endotarter, and dedicate some time each day to this task. My aim is to reach at least 80% of the regional endorsement count.
On mobile so formatting will be subpar... Anyways, let's begin.

To start, I have some concern as to cutting off voting once the proposal hits the floor. That would be a very large change to our WA voting policy and would not allow us to correct our vote in the case of a legality challenge or split opinion within the ministry. I don't exactly see the upside either as TNP rarely if ever vote flips, and only when the vote is torn evenly or there are outside factors.

As for IFVs, the issue with starting the conversation doesn't lie in us missing them. But an increasing trend of resolutions hitting the floor within a single update, which allows for very little time to react. Luckily votes are able to get in with 24 hours of forum post, however that could be put in jeopardy by your previous policy on closing the vote.

As for our WA sponsorship program, I have rewritten and expanded it for rerelease, however it must be understood that drafting is a long, arduous process in which 90% of proposals never make it through. While I won't speak on WALL too much, they haven't exactly expressed interest a combined sponsorship program from my experience. Luckily, this ministry was able to support two homegrown resolutions this last term (Mine and Cosmos).

Finally, I am glad to see you update times and happy to see another prospective candidate who understands the importance of stacks and stomps.
 
GA’s will bring at least twenty new players to forumside in the term.

HA will also continue the current NS Card programs. This includes the NS Card Giveaway, our daily Keeper of the North lottery, and our monthly WADP awards. NS Cards may also be featured as awards in contests and other regional events.

Congrats you already lost me here because you are making claims that you can in no way make. You can't promise "Twenty new players" from the RMB will join forum side. You are just pandering and grandstanding, and pandering gets you nowhere with me. In the last 6 days we have had 12 people join the forum. Saying you will get 20 to join the forum in the span of ~120 days is saying you will strive to get 1 person to join the forum every 6 days when we already have a rough average of 1-2 every day.


There is so much potential for the Ministry of Culture to excel, and to expand.It should work together more closely with other Ministries. For future issues, Culture will actively promote The Roleplay Reel (RPR) within the RP community, and take a more active stance in seeking writers.

Lets be honest here. As a solid member of the RP community when I was a Minister that was heavily involved in helping reorganize the RP community as a MiniCul, RP Moderator, and Cartographer. I feel confident saying. NO ONE REALLY WANTS THE ROLEPLAY REEL. Its something that has largely been imposed on us instead of something that was crafted with us. And if there is one thing I can handily tell you. The RP community does not like it when the government imposes these types of things on them. Yes you can keep it going but it will die on the RP side of the equation.


WA Affairs is a Ministry that has done pretty well in the past, but can always do more to improve. The Ministry should put a major focus on getting IFVs to come out right at the start of voting, not hours or even days later.

Absolutely not. That is an attempt to guide the populous instead of allowing the community to actually put forward their thoughts. A lot of times people dont even vote until voting starts and having IFVs already produced before people really start voting and entering the discussion. You want to push discussion to start earlier? sure. But you want to structure IFVs as a way to guide how people feel about a vote is a hard no from me.

And stopping the vote while the thing is still going on? That is bananas. This is as anti-citizen as you can possibly get.


For my part, I support the continued independence of the NPA, and understand the reasoning and importance of our adherence to The Independent Manifesto. Operations should be conducted in our regional interest. I believe that includes collaborating with defenders in the defense of our allies. The Ministry of Defense should make it a goal to become a member of Libcord in order to participate in defensive operations alongside the RRA, TGW, and TITO, especially as doing so would directly benefit our foreign relations with allies - Stargate is one such example.

The only way you get support from me on this harebrained scheme is that if you bring TNP equally into an organization of raiders of equal caliber to "Libcord" and an emplacement of strict restrictions on any information sharing and furthermore explicitly anti-spying guarantees from all sides. Anything else would be a wholesale abandonment of independence.
 
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What would you say your biggest weakness is and how do you address that weakness?
 
On mobile so formatting will be subpar... Anyways, let's begin.

To start, I have some concern as to cutting off voting once the proposal hits the floor. That would be a very large change to our WA voting policy and would not allow us to correct our vote in the case of a legality challenge or split opinion within the ministry. I don't exactly see the upside either as TNP rarely if ever vote flips, and only when the vote is torn evenly or there are outside factors.

As for IFVs, the issue with starting the conversation doesn't lie in us missing them. But an increasing trend of resolutions hitting the floor within a single update, which allows for very little time to react. Luckily votes are able to get in with 24 hours of forum post, however that could be put in jeopardy by your previous policy on closing the vote.

As for our WA sponsorship program, I have rewritten and expanded it for rerelease, however it must be understood that drafting is a long, arduous process in which 90% of proposals never make it through. While I won't speak on WALL too much, they haven't exactly expressed interest a combined sponsorship program from my experience. Luckily, this ministry was able to support two homegrown resolutions this last term (Mine and Cosmos).

Finally, I am glad to see you update times and happy to see another prospective candidate who understands the importance of stacks and stomps.
I consider it very important that we get IFVs out by the time a resolution reaches voting. That way, we can inform the greatest number of our WA residents when they go to vote on resolutions.
My point with the WA sponsorship program is that for it to be more successful, I think more people should hear about it. I was not trying to criticize your work to rewrite and expand it.
Absolutely not. That is an attempt to guide the populous instead of allowing the community to actually put forward their thoughts. A lot of times people dont even vote until voting starts and having IFVs already produced before people really start voting and entering the discussion. You want to push discussion to start earlier? sure. But you want to structure IFVs as a way to guide how people feel about a vote is a hard no from me.

And stopping the vote while the thing is still going on? That is bananas. This is as anti-citizen as you can possibly get.
We want our voters to be informed - that’s why we have IFV’s in the first place. Simply because the government publishes a voter guide does not mean that our WA residents must agree. This isn’t a new concept - I’m only suggesting that we should make it a focus of the Ministry of WA Affairs to get these voting guides out as each vote begins.

Speaking more to the point of stopping voting, I wanted to emphasize a possible way of ensuring that IFVs and voting gets pushed forward. By putting a hard cutoff on when voters can get involved, I would expect more people to show up earlier in a vote. However, I agree with Tlomz’ points about vote halting, and agree that this policy may be too harsh.
Congrats you already lost me here because you are making claims that you can in no way make. You can't promise "Twenty new players" from the RMB will join forum side. You are just pandering and grandstanding, and pandering gets you nowhere with me. In the last 6 days we have had 12 people join the forum. Saying you will get 20 to join the forum in the span of ~120 days is saying you will strive to get 1 person to join the forum every 6 days when we already have a rough average of 1-2 every day.
I know what the citizenship application numbers look like, having compiled a spreadsheet that tracks the daily counts over the last two years. The average number of citizenship applications per day in that time frame is 2.14. So naturally, to say I’ll have the GAs bring just twenty people to forums sounds ridiculous, so it’s apparent to me that I should have been more clear.

The idea is to more involve the Gameside Advocates into the recruitment process. Not everyone will get caught in the dragnet that is the manual recruitment telegrams that HA sends. GA’s provide a way to very selectively invite to the forum particular people who have shown strong activity on the RMB or who have done particularly well in one of our monthly awards dispatches. This is one way in which recruitment efforts can be personalized. I specifically cited 20 in the campaign, because I wanted to have a verifiable goal for success to be met. Finding strong players is not something that happens every day, so I think this number is reasonable.
Lets be honest here. As a solid member of the RP community when I was a Minister that was heavily involved in helping reorganize the RP community as a MiniCul, RP Moderator, and Cartographer. I feel confident saying. NO ONE REALLY WANTS THE ROLEPLAY REEL. Its something that has largely been imposed on us instead of something that was crafted with us. And if there is one thing I can handily tell you. The RP community does not like it when the government imposes these types of things on them. Yes you can keep it going but it will die on the RP side of the equation.
The Roleplay Reel is a continuation of an idea that was created last term. It has not yet seen its first Issue, though that should be remedied by this weekend. For the record, as I mentioned above, I respect the right of each nation to decide how they want their RPs shared, and this magazine is not something I’m trying to force on anyone. If there is legitimately no interest in this magazine, then authors should not share pieces to be published. If an insufficient number of people submit articles, the magazine will simply cease to exist, as it relies on article submissions from the community. If I’ve counted correctly, there are six articles to be published in this Issue, which, for what it’s worth, is more than the typical issue of TNL. While there was less interest in the magazine than I had expected, there was also not an insignificant amount of interest. Once this Issue is released, I’ll be more than happy to take criticism from the community, and we can reevaluate its role.
 
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Campaign Statement
After more careful contemplation, I have decided to retract my case that joining Libcord would be beneficial to the region, particularly for the reasons that BluieGamer described yesterday.
What would you say your biggest weakness is and how do you address that weakness?
I think my biggest weakness is my lack of experience in relation to Foreign Affairs. Despite being a nation founded in 2013, I have spent much of time on NS in UCRs that weren't significant on the world stage. As such, much of my understanding of the most significant events over the last few years is purely academic in nature. Part of how I address that weakness is to constantly ask questions and to surround myself with people who can answer them. I love research, and often find myself reading threads to get a better conception of NS history in order to gain an understanding of why people act they way they do today.

I think this is partly evidenced by my original campaign idea to have the NPA join Libcord. After having both BluieGamer and Lord Lore question me on the policy here, and having then had further conversations with members of the region experienced in FA, I was able to listen to advice and change my policy on that matter. Having a permanent presence in a defender venue could alienate other militaries, and potentially harm our relationship and ability to partner with them. We can continue to participate in liberations without being members of Libcord, and more convincingly maintain our position as Independent.

I appreciate the questions I’ve received, as it has forced me to deeply reconsider my viewpoint on this issue.

Thanks for your time,
~El Fiji Grande
 
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I did not have a chance to post a comment on your thread before you made this statement, so now I will just opt to say that I am glad that you have the ability to adapt to new ideas while on the "campaign trail." It shows some poise. You've made the right decision. Membership in libcord is not necessary for the NPA to carry out operations.
 
Really happy to see you've removed Libcord from your platform. I was super happy when NPA got the ability to tag raid properly and it looked like a step back in a way :P

edit cuz question: Are you interested in keeping NPA in NationStates Antifa?
 
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Are you interested in keeping NPA in NationStates Antifa?
It is my understanding that the NPA is not currently in NationStates Antifa. We’ve performed operations with them in the past though, and I’m sure we will in the future.
 
Campaign Statement
After more careful contemplation, I have decided to retract my case that joining Libcord would be beneficial to the region, particularly for the reasons that BluieGamer described yesterday.

I think my biggest weakness is my lack of experience in relation to Foreign Affairs. Despite being a nation founded in 2013, I have spent much of time on NS in UCRs that weren't significant on the world stage. As such, much of my understanding of the most significant events over the last few years is purely academic in nature. Part of how I address that weakness is to constantly ask questions and to surround myself with people who can answer them. I love research, and often find myself reading threads to get a better conception of NS history in order to gain an understanding of why people act they way they do today.

I think this is partly evidenced by my original campaign idea to have the NPA join Libcord. After having both BluieGamer and Lord Lore question me on the policy here, and having then had further conversations with members of the region experienced in FA, I was able to listen to advice and change my policy on that matter. Having a permanent presence in a defender venue could alienate other militaries, and potentially harm our relationship and ability to partner with them. We can continue to participate in liberations without being members of Libcord, and more convincingly maintain our position as Independent.

I appreciate the questions I’ve received, as it has forced me to deeply reconsider my viewpoint on this issue.

Thanks for your time,
~El Fiji Grande


I'm pleased to see you've reconsidered this issue, it was certainly the part of your campaign I found most problematic and I think you've made the correct decision here. Moreover, it is good to see a willingness to learn, open-mindedness and the honesty to recognise a mistake, even whilst on the campaign trail. Recognising when to stand your ground and when not to is vital. These are important qualities in the Delegate, or any leader.

It does, however, leave your campaign something of a blank slate on foreign affairs now. What will your foreign policy look like now? What is your view on the current state of our relationships with the other feeders and what changes would you like to see to those relationships?
 
I was going to post a detailed explanation of why i think joining Libcord is a bad idea but i'm glad that you removed that part from your defense platform.

Best of luck in the elections.
 
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I'm pleased to see you've reconsidered this issue, it was certainly the part of your campaign I found most problematic and I think you've made the correct decision here. Moreover, it is good to see a willingness to learn, open-mindedness and the honesty to recognise a mistake, even whilst on the campaign trail. Recognising when to stand your ground and when not to is vital. These are important qualities in the Delegate, or any leader.

It does, however, leave your campaign something of a blank slate on foreign affairs now. What will your foreign policy look like now? What is your view on the current state of our relationships with the other feeders and what changes would you like to see to those relationships?
My overall foreign policy stance remains largely the same. I view the best path forward for TNP to be to strengthen our current alliances through cross-cultural exchanges and to defend our allies in times of need. To that end, my foreign policy and strategy for the Ministry of Defense are more defensive in nature. These policy goals can be achieved without entrance to Libcord, and not doing so will mean our relationships with raiding partners will remain strong.

Regarding the feeders: We already have well-established treaties with The South Pacific in the Aurora Alliance and The East Pacific in The North-East Pacific Security Treaty. My administration would continue to honor our treaty commitments and seek collaboration when possible. The West Pacific has improved with Saint Mark (Halo) in office as delegate, so my goal would be to keep things friendly. And as things stand, I believe that TNP should remain Anti-Francoist in nature, so I believe our relationship with the NPO should remain as it currently stands.

More importantly, I believe we should value our UCR allies as equal partners, and make special effort to strengthen our bond with Europeia.
 
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It is my understanding that the NPA is not currently in NationStates Antifa. We’ve performed operations with them in the past though, and I’m sure we will in the future.
Would you seek to actively control or constrain what operations the NPA could perform with Antifa, beyond the current distance that the NPA maintains from Antifa?
 
Would you seek to actively control or constrain what operations the NPA could perform with Antifa, beyond the current distance that the NPA maintains from Antifa?
I have no intention of constraining the operations of the NPA in this regard.
 
@El Fiji Grande What do you think of Madjack's proposal for a new ministry regarding TNPRP? Do you think you'd be interested in doing something similar should you win the Delegacy?
Relevant quote:
I think that perhaps the Ministry of Culture has become responsible for too many things. We’ve been great in the previous terms with events - and Asta and her team should be given a huge amount of applause for that - and a Culture ministry that actually does events was so happy a thing to see, but because of this, and due to RPers' natural dislike for the kind of top-down imposition that TNP government tends to do, RP focussed cultural activity hasn’t been as successful. I think that as a region we should perhaps look at creating a Ministry of Roleplay, solely responsible for advancing our RP and the cultural facets of that, and leave the Ministry of Culture for events, things like the Lennarts, which if they are being brought back will need serious revamping, spam weeks and also game nights, which is a long term project that is currently in the works.
 
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