Ladies and gentleman, esteemed representatives, and foreign emissaries, thank you for attending my first Consular address tonight.
I want to first discuss the election itself, as that has been the hot spot in the last few weeks for debate, activity, and controversy. I cannot express my deep admiration for the Senator from Big D Baby who pushed my campaign to the breaking point with his wonderful ideas and colorful slogans that I hope we will continue to see throughout the term. I also want to thank all of my supporters of whom every one of them mattered.
This last election was a tight one due to the platform similarities and the many qualities of the candidates. It was a tough election and one that often brought out aggressive behavior on all sides in the scramble to snatch those last few key votes. I was of course not immune to this frenzy and in retrospect wish I had been more polite to some of the people I asked to vote for me.
As I said in my campaign, I believe we are entering a new dawn in the game itself as well as in the Meritocracy. We have seen a glorious influx of new Senators, both new and old, which has been great for our activity. We remain one of the most active regions in NationStates despite claims by some that the game is slowing down.
I would now like to unveil my ‘Trident Plan’ which will remain at the forefront of my efforts as Consul throughout the term. This three-pronged approach to our prominence focuses on our foreign influence, our internal activity, and our auxiliary services (i.e. the Legions and the BBC).
The Foreign Prong
Both my opponent and I spent a good amount of time stressing the importance of the Meritocracy’s foreign relations. The issue matters now more than ever, as we have become an interregional force with our involvement in ACCEL and our circulation of InterMet.
In my mind this is a fantastic change from our previous neutrality with regards to foreign events. It is my goal, and one I have already started working on, to inventory our current embassies and restock them as needed. We currently have embassies with no one to man them, and we have some major regions that have never even heard of us. I have and will be working with our Quaestor Afslav and his Deputy Big D to fill all our embassies and through them bring InterMet to every region we are in contact with.
On the subject of InterMet, I view that as our primary source of contact with other regions. Posul has done an excellent job in working to spread InterMet as far as possible. So far we have syndication deals (as of today) with every feeder region. By the end of my term I seek to have InterMet broadcasting in any region that has its own active newspaper. It is important for other regions to get to know us, as well as for us to get to know them. Through this process we will then become known to more and more regions as the international reporting of InterMet and the british-accented podcasts reach more and more audiences.
The Internal Prong
The central prong of my Trident involves our dealing right here in the Senate, as that has always been and will always be what is most important. It is our internal strength that has kept the Meritocracy around for so long, and it will continue to do so in the future.
To that end I plan to reinvigorate RP in the Met as well as promote the continued influx of new legislation. My Vice-Consul Halmont has crafted a brilliant idea for an RP convention to take place in the Met. (I can’t release the details yet of what the event will entail, as that would ruin everything, but I can say it is a pretty neat idea and should make for some fun RP). He has kindly offered to take point on that and will be working with RPers from various regions to create a spectacular event attended by RPers from around the NS globe.
Our Curia have also been quite active lately and I anticipate its continued activity. The recent repeal of the Loyalty Oath was a big victory in my eyes and I think we are on the right track with the many amendments and ideas being proposed, because even if not all of them pass or even get through the planning stage, they are all intended to craft the Met into the best it can be.
The Power Prong
The last prong is probably my favorite if only because it involves the areas I have spent the most time in during my NS career. During the last term the Meritocratic Legions Act was passed creating the first military force under the Accords. As its first Lictor I had the honor and pleasure of organizing it into a viable military force. I am glad that the Legions are now under the experienced guidance of Moo-cows who will be working with me in the continued training of the Legions. We have several joint excursions planned with various ACCEL regions and we will be working closely with the Secretary of War in ACCEL to further unite ACCEL’s defense forces.
The BBC of course has been our most problematic area of late with several Directors and little activity. However, the BBC’s revival can already be seen internally as agents are once again being activated and sent out into the field. We cannot assume that our allies will be able to provide us with all the Intel we need, and so we must strive to find such information out for ourselves as well. It is because of this that I encourage every Senator to join the BBC so that we may increase our knowledge of what goes on in the NS world.
Thus my goals are simple and attainable. I intend to promote activity on every level, by drawing more nations and regions to the Meritocracy through our embassies and InterMet, by stimulating our internal workings through an aggressive RP campaign, and by revitalizing our Legions and the BBC to ensure that we have active Senators able to defend us, and our goals, as necessary.
