dont pick it up
TNPer
This is an interview with Grosseschnauzer, our newly elected Prime Minister. Thank you for joining us and congratulations on being elected to you first term as PM.
Dont Pick It Up- To commence the interview, why did you choose to run for Prime Minister?
Grosseschnauzer- Truthfully it was a "gut" feeling that this was the right time to run. I was aware that Flem had decided not to run for PM this time. At the time I made my final decision to run for PM, the recent unpleasantness with the Lexicon had just happened, and it wasn't clear what TNP was dealing with. I felt that I could best serve the region as Prime Minister rather than as Attorney General or as Speaker.
DPIU- How long have you been a member of The North Pacific, and what other positions have you held here?
G- I arrived in the region and the game on December 23, 2004, just in time to see what was going on at the time, and feel that it wasn't right. I served as Minister of Justice during the NPC era until the elections that followed the constitutional convention, and then served a full 6-month term as Chief Justice. And I have been elected to the Security Council at every election since it was created, so I'm beginning my sixth consecutive term there.
DPIU- What is the one major change that you would like to see in each Ministry?
G- There are concerns that I want the elected Ministers to address, but it doesn't necessarily mean major change. For example, I would like to resolve the concerns that have been expressed over the speed of juror selection, and the speed of criminal trials, which is directly tied to two of the Ministries as well as the Court.
There have been concerns about whether some ministries are needed, or whether all of their functions belong within the government. So I think that also crosses Ministerial responsibilities.
There's been an ongoing problem in assuring the continued eligibility of RA members, which has been mostly the job of the MIIA. I'm leaning towards finding a way to have that responsbility shared with the RA and the Court, both of which have fenctions that are dependent on hacing that information uptodate.
I want to make sure that the NPA continues its recent growth in a sustainable manner, and if the NPIA director advises me that they need something, I'm going to address their needs. I also intend to ask the RA to adopt some rules to clarify participation of the Delegate, the Voce Delegate, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of External Affairs in Security Council discussions. If nothing else, the recent matter involving the Lexicon has made clear that the Security Council has a role in such issues.
I want to sit down with Flemingovia and discuss where to take our efforts in interregional diplomacy in this term. After the flawed product that came out of the recent summit, I think there's a responsibility to address our relations with all of the other feeders. And I am prepared to exchange visits with the regional leaders of the other feeder regions if that would help maintain communications.
Finally, the time has come to get a university going in The North Pacific. I plan to appoint a commission to work out the details of a development plan, and then have that plan adopted in the RA. A TNPU will enhance what we can offer to players in Nationstates, whether newbies or oldtimers, and I think its creation is long overdue.
DPIU- Do you think the new cabinet is built of members who can meet your goals as PM this term?
G- I have not worked with all of the newly elected Ministers, but I respect the judgment of the voters and as I said in the campaogn I am an advocate of collaborative leadership.
DPIU- You are a global mod, and now Prime Minister do you think these two positions can mix without conflict?
G-It wasn't a problem for my two precedessors as Prime Minister, as both Flemingovia and Hersfold are admins of the official forum, and my authority as a global mod is less than a admin. I don't think there will be a problem. As a global mod, if I saw something that I felt might be seen as something other than fair moderation I have always asked the admin and other mods for their imput before action, so I expect to continue to try to be as fair as possible in any moderation activity.
DPIU- What do you think was the greatest success of the last term?
G-As it turned out, addressing the Lexicon matter. I think it brought home the importance of keeping our defenses and intelligence services at readiness, and points to addressing some of the issues among the different Ministries I discussed earlier.
DPIU- What are your opinions on the merging ministries legislation currently being discussed in the RA?
G-As I have already stated in the RA, we need to carefully look at the tasks that certain of the Ministries have and decide which of them are in fact governmental functions and which are not. I also want to see what sort of plan the commission on the TNPU will offer, and how that may involve the Ministry of Culture and Education. I'm open to a tweak, but I want to wait and see what the best solution may be.
DPIU- Do you have a closing statement you would like to say?
G - I am humbled and honored that the voters of TNP have placed the responsibility of bring Prime Minister in my hands. There is much that this Cabinet and the RA will need to address during this term, and even before the election was certified, we were already at work with the RA to address many of the outstanding issues we face. I look forward to the term ahead, and I welcome any ideas or feedback from the citizens of TNP during this term.
Dont Pick It Up- To commence the interview, why did you choose to run for Prime Minister?
Grosseschnauzer- Truthfully it was a "gut" feeling that this was the right time to run. I was aware that Flem had decided not to run for PM this time. At the time I made my final decision to run for PM, the recent unpleasantness with the Lexicon had just happened, and it wasn't clear what TNP was dealing with. I felt that I could best serve the region as Prime Minister rather than as Attorney General or as Speaker.
DPIU- How long have you been a member of The North Pacific, and what other positions have you held here?
G- I arrived in the region and the game on December 23, 2004, just in time to see what was going on at the time, and feel that it wasn't right. I served as Minister of Justice during the NPC era until the elections that followed the constitutional convention, and then served a full 6-month term as Chief Justice. And I have been elected to the Security Council at every election since it was created, so I'm beginning my sixth consecutive term there.
DPIU- What is the one major change that you would like to see in each Ministry?
G- There are concerns that I want the elected Ministers to address, but it doesn't necessarily mean major change. For example, I would like to resolve the concerns that have been expressed over the speed of juror selection, and the speed of criminal trials, which is directly tied to two of the Ministries as well as the Court.
There have been concerns about whether some ministries are needed, or whether all of their functions belong within the government. So I think that also crosses Ministerial responsibilities.
There's been an ongoing problem in assuring the continued eligibility of RA members, which has been mostly the job of the MIIA. I'm leaning towards finding a way to have that responsbility shared with the RA and the Court, both of which have fenctions that are dependent on hacing that information uptodate.
I want to make sure that the NPA continues its recent growth in a sustainable manner, and if the NPIA director advises me that they need something, I'm going to address their needs. I also intend to ask the RA to adopt some rules to clarify participation of the Delegate, the Voce Delegate, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of External Affairs in Security Council discussions. If nothing else, the recent matter involving the Lexicon has made clear that the Security Council has a role in such issues.
I want to sit down with Flemingovia and discuss where to take our efforts in interregional diplomacy in this term. After the flawed product that came out of the recent summit, I think there's a responsibility to address our relations with all of the other feeders. And I am prepared to exchange visits with the regional leaders of the other feeder regions if that would help maintain communications.
Finally, the time has come to get a university going in The North Pacific. I plan to appoint a commission to work out the details of a development plan, and then have that plan adopted in the RA. A TNPU will enhance what we can offer to players in Nationstates, whether newbies or oldtimers, and I think its creation is long overdue.
DPIU- Do you think the new cabinet is built of members who can meet your goals as PM this term?
G- I have not worked with all of the newly elected Ministers, but I respect the judgment of the voters and as I said in the campaogn I am an advocate of collaborative leadership.
DPIU- You are a global mod, and now Prime Minister do you think these two positions can mix without conflict?
G-It wasn't a problem for my two precedessors as Prime Minister, as both Flemingovia and Hersfold are admins of the official forum, and my authority as a global mod is less than a admin. I don't think there will be a problem. As a global mod, if I saw something that I felt might be seen as something other than fair moderation I have always asked the admin and other mods for their imput before action, so I expect to continue to try to be as fair as possible in any moderation activity.
DPIU- What do you think was the greatest success of the last term?
G-As it turned out, addressing the Lexicon matter. I think it brought home the importance of keeping our defenses and intelligence services at readiness, and points to addressing some of the issues among the different Ministries I discussed earlier.
DPIU- What are your opinions on the merging ministries legislation currently being discussed in the RA?
G-As I have already stated in the RA, we need to carefully look at the tasks that certain of the Ministries have and decide which of them are in fact governmental functions and which are not. I also want to see what sort of plan the commission on the TNPU will offer, and how that may involve the Ministry of Culture and Education. I'm open to a tweak, but I want to wait and see what the best solution may be.
DPIU- Do you have a closing statement you would like to say?
G - I am humbled and honored that the voters of TNP have placed the responsibility of bring Prime Minister in my hands. There is much that this Cabinet and the RA will need to address during this term, and even before the election was certified, we were already at work with the RA to address many of the outstanding issues we face. I look forward to the term ahead, and I welcome any ideas or feedback from the citizens of TNP during this term.