Re-Elect Grosseschnauzer

As I've mentioned earlier this week, I am a candidate for re-election as Prime Minister, and for re-election to the Security Council.

This term has provided an opportunity to debate and discuss the implications of what it means for members to be a part of The North Pacific, the inability to reach a wide-enough consensus still does not change the fact that the issue was raised and thoroughly discussed. I'm not planning to re-open the issue for now as long as those who have sought to interfere in TNP's internal affairs refrain from doing so in the future. The fact remains that with the Constitutional amendment to the oath of application to the Regional Assembly, there is at least some legal means available to address such problems. It is my hope that those who have left the Lexicon to form their own region will recognize that the path that the Lexicon has followed since its formation has not been mutually beneficial, and I sincerely hope that they will pursue a relationship that is as respectful of our institutions and processes as I am sure they will want from us with respect tp their new region and its institutions.

We have made many strides to streamline the processes of our government. The regional assembly approved legislation that streamlined the registration process for regional assembly membership, as well as the means by which government officials can verify that Regional Assembly members remain eligible to serve in government. Under these new procedures, it should be easier for the NPA to verify that its ranks have current RA members. This will also make it easier for the Court to call jurors to jury service who are currently in the RA, and not lose weeks of time trying to summon those who are no longer eligible for jury service. And it will make it easier for votes in the RA and elections of officials to procede, using current information about who is eligible to vote. (I will note that at the beginning of this term, there were well over 100 names that had a RA eligible mask, and after all the records were checked and verified, the numbers I saw showed that over half of that number were found to be ineligible for the RA.)

We have addressed problem that slowed down government activity by revising our law that govern Cabinet ministers, and adopted legislation dealing with inactive ministers and providing a method to remove inactive ministers from office and replace them. We have implemented oversight, as called for in the Constitution, over the NPA and the NPIA, and I expect that this oversight will continue in the future. If re-elected, I plan to address the problem of NPA deployments in response to requests from other regions, where there are no existing treaties or diplomatic agreements, since such deployments should be subject to Security Council reviewedited to add: This procedure is required under the military agreements legislation.

At this time, the issue of changes in the composition of the Cabinet Ministries remains before the Regional Assembly. I felt it was important to try to find a proposal that was based on the facts, and hopefully reflect a consensus on the issue. The second vote on this issue will begin soon, and I will accept whatever the final vote presents on the Constitutional amendment that came out of the Ministry Study Commission. If the part of that proposal concerning the Ministry of Arts and Entertainment is not accepted, I will take that as a final statement by the Regional Assembly that the consensus is that any changes in the composition of the Cabinet Ministries are not wanted, and I will not support any further proposals to change the composition of the Cabinet.

The vote of the Regional Assembly to formally create a university in The North Pacific is an historic event in The North Pacific. The vote to elect the first Board of Regents is underway,and soon thereafter, that Board will select a Chancellor, and begin the work to prepare for the opening of the University. By assuring a framework for the governance of the University, we have set the course of the University for the long term. I hope that the various parts of the government will take advantage of the educational opportunities the University presents to attract and retain players in The North Pacific, and to improve the knowledge and unerstanding of new and experienced players alike in the many different aspects of Nationstates. If re-elected as Prime Minister, I will acticely support the work of the University and will do everything i can to help the University fulfill its mission.

In this upcoming terms, I plan to turn my attention to resolving some of the more difficult issues.
  • Assuring better oversight of NPA deployments to reduce the risk of conflict within TNP between those who may choose to be involved with invaders through other puppets as those who participate in the NPA due to its historic role as a defender force.
  • Refining parts of TNP Law 4 on criminal procedure, and Article V of the Constitution, to speed up trials in general, and juror selection procedures in particular. This may involve the pre-selection of grand juror and trial juror pools at the beginnng of each court term, rather than the current practice of creating such juror pools only when needed. This may also involve creating an alternative impeachment procedure involving the use of a "recall election" as an alternative to a trial-type proceeding. Finally, this may be the time to discuss whether jury service should be made an obligation of Regional Assembly membeship.
  • Discussion of whether additional resouces and manpower should be provided to various government functions such as recruitment, diplomacy, RA member verification, and investigations of RA applicants, and whether training programs for these resources should be placed within the University.
  • Working with the next Minister of External Affairs to secure stronger diplomatic relationships with our friends and allies, and to create appropriate mutual defense relationships with other regions consistent with the democratic philosophy and outlook of TNP.
  • Updating the legal code to reflect changes that have occurred within TNP, such as outdated references to "registered voters." As the process of substantive changes in the Constitution is completed, then I hope that Unter will be able to resume his project to "edit" the Constitution in a way that does not involve substantive change.
This has been a term that overlapped a traditionally slow period of the year both within TNP, and Nationstates as a whole. This limited what I had hope could be done within a single term, and more or less dictated that I should stand for re-election as Prime Minister. I believe that with a second term, I can address my other goals for the benefit of TNP.

I am also a candidate for re-election to the Security Council. During this term, I led the effort to adopt specific rules to allow the Security Council to work at its more efficient, including rules that make clear which government officials would be able to participate in the private discussions, makes clear who can chair Council deliberatons in the absence of the Speaker, and provide a procedure to fill future vacancies on the Security Council. We still need to address the problem f NPA deployments in response to requests for assistance, where such deployments have not been authorized by a treaty or diplomatic agreement. This should not be a major problem, but it is clear that current law expects such review in the Security Council, and that this review has not been taking place. Out of fairness to certain members of the Region who may seek to avoid entanglements with the NPA in their own activities, we need to assure proper legal authorization for future NPA deployments. It is my hope that we can address this concern during this next Security Council term.

That is why I am a candidate for re-election as Prime Minister, and for re-election to the Security Council, and I would appreciate your support and your vote in the election.

Thank you for your attention. Questions, anyone?
 
Grosseschnauzer:
As I've mentioned earlier this week, I am a candidate for re-election as Prime Minister, and for re-election to the Security Council.

This term has provided an opportunity to debate and discuss the implications of what it means for members to be a part of The North Pacific, the inability to reach a wide-enough consensus still does not change the fact that the issue was raised and thoroughly discussed. I'm not planning to re-open the issue for now as long as those who have sought to interfere in TNP's internal affairs refrain from doing so in the future, the fact remains that with the Constitutional amendment to the oath of application to the Regional Assembly, there is at least some legal means available to address such problems. It is my hope that those who have lft the Lexicon to form their own region will recognize that the path that the Lexicon has followed since its formation has not been mutually beneficial, and I sincerely hope that they will pursue a relationship that is as respectful of out institutions and processes as I am sure they will want from us with respect tp their new region and its institutions.
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Yay!

We have made many strides to streamline the processes of our government. Th regional assembly approved legislation that streamlined the registration process for regional assembly membership, as well as the means by which government officials can verify that Regional Assembly members remain eligible to serve in government. Under these new procedures, it should be easier for the NPA to verify that its ranks have current RA members. This will also make it  easier for the Court to call jurors to jury service who are currently in the RA, and not lose weeks of time trying to summon those who are no longer eligible for jury service. And it will make it easier for votes in the RA and elections of officials to procede  using current information about who is eligible to vote. (I will note that at th beginning of this term, there were well over 100 names that had a RA eligible mask, and after all the records were checked and verified, the numbers I saw showed that over half of that number were found to be ineligible for the RA.
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Um, I'll just run along and thank Former English Colony. :lol:

We have addressed problem tha slowed down government activity by revising our law that govern Cabinet ministers, and adopted legislation dealing with inactive ministers and providing a method to remove inactive ministers from office and replace them. We have implemented oversight, as called for in the Constitution, over the NPA and the NPIA, and I expect that this oversight will continue in the future. If re-elected, I plan to address the problem of NPA deployments in response to requests from other regions, where there are no existing treaties or diplomatic agreemets, since such deployments should be subject to Security Council review.
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So you are saying you would want the Security Council to vote on each North Pacific Army deployment to a region we haven't had contact with before?

At this time, the issue of changes in the composition of the Cabinet Ministries remains before the Regional Assembly. I felt it was important to try to find a proposal that was based on the facts, and hopefully reflect a consensus on the issue. The second vote on this issue will begin soon, and I will accept whatever the final vote presents on the Constitutional amendment that came out of the Ministry Study Commission. If the part of that proposal concerning the Ministry of Arts and Entertainment is not accepted, I will take that as a final statement by the Regional Assembly that the consensus is that any changes in the composition of the Cabinet Ministries are not wanted, and I will not support any further proposals to change the composition of the Cabinet.
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Do you believe that an alternative proposal could have passed?

The vote of the Regional Assembly to formally create a university in The North  Pacific is an historic event in The North Pacific. The vote to elect the first Board of Regents is underway,and soon thereafter, that Board will select a Chancellor, and begin the work to prepare for the opening of the University. By assuring a framework for the governance of the University, we have set the course of the University for the long term. I hope that the various parts of the government will take advantage of the educational opportunities the University presents to attract and retain players in The North Pacific, and to improve the knowledge and unerstanding of new and experienced players alike in the many different aspects of Nationstates. If re-elected as Prime Minister, I will acticely support the work of the University and will do everything i can to help the University fulfill its mission.
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What do you believe the one most important thing for the University to achieve would be?

In this upcoming terms, I plan to turn my attention to resolving some of the more difficult issues.
  • Assuring better oversight of NPA deployments to reduce the risk of conflict within TNP between those who may choose to be involved with invaiders through other puppets as those who participate in the NPA due to its historic role as a defender force.
  • Refining parts of TNP Law 4 on criminal procedure, and Article V of the Constitution, to speed up trials in general, and juror selection procedures in particular. This may involve the pre-selection of grand juror and trial juror pools at the beginnng of each court term, rather than the current practice of creating such juror pools only when needed. This may also involve creating an alternative impeachment procedure involving the use of a "recall election" as an alternative to a trial-type proceeding. Finally, this may be the time to discuss whether jury service should be made an obligation of Regional Assembly membeship.
  • Discussion of whether additional resouces and manpower should be provided to various government functions such as recruitment, diplomacy, RA member verification, and investigations of RA applicants, and whether training programs for these resources should be placed within the University.
  • Working with the next Minister of External Affairs to secure stronger diplomatic relationships with our friends and allies, and to create appropriate mutual defense relationships with other regions consistent with the democratic philosophy and outlook of TNP.
  • Updating the legal code to reflect changes that have occurred within TNP, such as outdated references to "registered voters." As the process of substantive changes in the Constitution is completed, then I hope that Unter will be able to resume his project to "edit" the Constitution in a way that does not involve substantive change.
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How would you think trials could be speeded up?

How would you possibly organize jury duty as obligatory? After all, things do happen in Real Life at unexpected times.

Who are our friends and allies who you would seek better relations with?

This has been a term that overlapped a traditionally slow period of the year both within TNP, and Nationstates as a whole. This limited what I had hope could be done within a single term, and more or less dictated that I should stand for re-election as Prime Minister. I believe that with a second term, I can address my other goals for the benefit of TNP.

I am also a candidate for re-election to the Security Council. During this term, I led the effort to adopt specific rules to allow the Security Council to work at its more efficient, including rules that make clear which government officials would be able to participate in the private discussions, makes clear who can chair Council deliberatons in the absence of the Speaker, and provide a procedure to fill future vacancies on the Security Council. We still need to address the problem f NPA deployments in response to requests for assistance, where such deployments have not been authorized by a treaty or diplomatic agreement. This should not be a major problem, but it is clear that current law expects such review in the Security Council, and that this review has not been taking place. Out of fairness to certain members of the Region who may seek to avoid entanglements with the NPA in their own activities, we need to assure proper legal authorization for future NPA deployments. It is my hope that we can address this concern during this next Security Council term.

That is why I am a candidate for re-election as Prime Minister, and for re-election to the Security Council, and I would appreciate your support and your vote in the election.

Thank you for your attention. Questions, anyone?
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:w00t:
 
Zemnaya Svoboda:
Um, I'll just run along and thank Former English Colony. laughing.gif
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ZS, just keep in mind that we had to deal with a freeze on RA application adopted by the previous Cabinet, the lack of a periodic check of the RA roster for at least six months, the adoption of a policy to address certain applications from known Lexiconians identified by the prior Cabinet, and the implementation of the oath amendment. And the constitution places equal responsibility for the RA application process on the Prime Minister with the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, and with the one of the amendments adopted this term, that authority also includes the Speaker and the Court.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
So you are saying you would want the Security Council to vote on each North Pacific Army deployment to a region we haven't had contact with before?
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I'm saying that the law already directs that the SC approve such deployments; I've asked the MoD to observe this requirement in the future. Roman was made aware of this concerned early in this term. It should not present a major problem since the SC is often able to have a quorum participating in a matter of hours to vote an authorization. But it takes some effort to get folks to follow something that they had not been doing as they should have. It's similar to the oversight authority I have with the NPIA, and they've has to adjust as well.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
Do you believe that an alternative proposal could have passed?
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With a two-thirds majority? Quite unlikely. It's pretty clear that the MoC has a lot on its plate; and with the University, the MoCE now becomes a much mire significant postion than it was. I hope we find a strong candidate to be MoCE, since they will have a lot of responsibility as the chair of the board of regents for TNPU.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
What do you believe the one most important thing for the University to achieve would be?
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I think TNPU will result in increased participation in the region, and attract more and new players into TNP. Because TNPU will have several missions, I believe all of those missions are important, and that they all will be achieveable.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
How would you think trials could be speeded up?
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By addressing those factors that have slowed down past trials. We can pre-organize juries in each court term prior to any trials; we can ask the court to follow the draft court rules tht require the parties in a trial to have their evidence and testimony ready for posting prior to the beginning of evidence, including making a record of testimony in advance of trial, we can impose clear time limits in the process.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
How would you possibly organize jury duty as obligatory? After all, things do happen in Real Life at unexpected times.
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I think er need to disciss the idea in the regional assembly and see what develops. Clearly speeding up the pace at which evidence and testimony is posted for trial is a pre-requisite to this topic. If the time commitment is short enough, then such a requirement would pose far less of a issue. As it is, I don't even know if there is a jury left in the current trial.

Zemnaya Svoboda:
Who are our friends and allies who you would seek better relations with?
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Clearly, we're in the midst of a more formal treaty relationship with The West Pacific once again in the proposed treaty that would revive the United Democratic Pacifics relationship.
When the current constitution revision was approved following the constitutional convention, there was agreement to nullify all prior treaties so TNP could be sure its diplomatic relationship were documented by treaty or other diplomatic treaty. We really haven't done a very good job as a region to address that matter. We've had a procedure so there are written agreements covering Embassies and Consulates, but we should be able to advance betond that point to re-establish closer relationship with those who share the vision and values of The North Pacific.
 
We still need to address the problem f NPA deployments in response to requests for assistance, where such deployments have not been authorized by a treaty or diplomatic agreement. This should not be a major problem, but it is clear that current law expects such review in the Security Council, and that this review has not been taking place. Out of fairness to certain members of the Region who may seek to avoid entanglements with the NPA in their own activities, we need to assure proper legal authorization for future NPA deployments. It is my hope that we can address this concern during this next Security Council term.
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Could you point me to the proper documentation that says we have to do this? I believe you :) but I had never seen that before, and I probably should have since I authorize missions myself.
 
Constitution Article II Section 4:
D - Provisions for military alliances, military co-operation, and joint military operations by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions may provide for approval of deployments by the Security Council in appropriate circumstances as provided by law.
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This provision is implemented in Section 3 of TNP Law 9, as amended by TNP Law 12:
F - Approval of Specific Deployments. Whenever a military relationship document does not authorize specific military deployments by its terms, the Security Council may approve military deployments in appropriate circumstances.
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Bottom line, unless a specific deployment is authorized under a particular treaty or diplomatic agreement, approval of the deployment is required from the Security Council.
 
Grosseschnauzer:
When the current constitution revision was approved following the constitutional convention, there was agreement to nullify all prior treaties so TNP could be sure its diplomatic relationship were documented by treaty or other diplomatic treaty. We really haven't done a very good job as a region to address that matter. We've had a procedure so there are written agreements covering Embassies and Consulates, but we should be able to advance betond that point to re-establish closer relationship with those who share the vision and values of The North Pacific.
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Thats interesting, and good to hear. However, what regions do you think that TNP should have closer relations with?


Secondly, whilst sadly elections are frequently uncontested, this time we (with two days left) have a large number of positions without even a single candidate. Why do you think we appear to have such a 'slump' and how do you think we can try to solve it?
 
Haor Chall:
Thats interesting, and good to hear. However, what regions do you think that TNP should have closer relations with?
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He did mention the West Pacific... But that's just 1 region.

Secondly, whilst sadly elections are frequently uncontested, this time we (with two days left) have a large number of positions without even a single candidate. Why do you think we appear to have such a 'slump' and how do you think we can try to solve it?
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Uh oh. Perhaps some people from contested positions have to go for them? :ermm:
 
Thats interesting, and good to hear. However, what regions do you think that TNP should have closer relations with?
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I had hoped to have the insight and thoughts of our Minister of External Affairs on these issues during this term, and the only treaty proposal that was floated that I know of what the initiative for the United Democratic Pacifics. Becuas of term limits, we will have a new Minister of External Affair in this next term. I would much prefer to consult with that person to agree about a common strategy in out diplomatic efforts. But I would think that identifying which regions support the same values as TNP's should not be an impossibility. (For the record, I did ask Flem for such views, but that request went unanswered.

Secondly, whilst sadly elections are frequently uncontested, this time we (with two days left) have a large number of positions without even a single candidate. Why do you think we appear to have such a 'slump' and how do you think we can try to solve it?
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That appears to be going on all over Natiostates. I've heard the same complaint in other regions with which I am familiar. Things slowed down in mid-December, and still hasn't returned to more normal levels. It is my understanding that several of the Ministers did plan to seek re-election, and a couple of ministers have been inative asfar as their responsibilities have been concerned.
Maybe we'll have to look at 4-month rather than three-month terms; I thought about that before. The other factor appears to be better communication. PMs to the RA membership, especially for those who also get e-mail notification about PMs, appear to provoke a response when folks gget into an RL cycle.
 
What do you believe is your greatest accomplishment during your previous term?

What would you try to improve on first if re-elected?
 
What do you believe is your greatest accomplishment during your previous term?
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The University.

What would you try to improve on first if re-elected?
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The most immediate concern would be to come up with a way to connect the things TNP is doing well and use those to promote the region better than we have been in the past. (It's a significant reason why I wanted to get the University established.)

During this next term, I would also seek approval for a set of changes so future trials in the Court will not take five, six, seven months. I held off pushing those during this term because I was hoping the Fulhead Land trial could be completed. The fact that the prosecution is still presenting its case clearly demonstrates the fact that the jury system itself is not the problem with the time it takes to complete a trial, but other thngs. A quick fix, such as a panel of jusges, is not the solution, and creates all sorts of issues. (And I would note that the region voted down that proposal as a Constitutional amendment shortly before my first campaign for Prime Minister.)
 
A few questions for now Mr Prime Minister,

You open your campaign tp run for what is essentialy the most important job in the region not by talking about TNP but by talking about other regions. Do you not think this shows a lack of concentration on governing this region and a preoccupation with the outside world and one certain region in particular? Should your position on this region be more important and have taken pride of place in your opening gambit?

Other the course of this term you attempted to have several bills and ammendments passed via the Regional Assemby as you said you would in your previous campaign statements. However a great number of those were defeated and widely criticised. Does this not show a lack of support from the region for your views and policies? Having faced such wide disapproval do you still find yourself fit to lead this region and represent the views of its people?

Lets talk about "Defining Treason". This, one of the defeated bills, was widely criticised and was said to have shown a disregard for personal freedoms in the region and the game as a whole. If re-elected, will you try and force through more bills such as this? Do you still stand by that bill in particular? Would you agree that this particular bill shows nothing more than you pushing through a personal agenda rather than concentrating on the real issues of the region, such as justice which you have, casually it seems, decided to ignor up until now?
 
So far as I know the only legislation I sponsored directly that did not get the required super-majority was the proposal to adopt a definition for treason. And even in that instance, the bill received support from over one-half of the RA members that voted. And that issue has been perculating ever since the statute of limitations was first proposed. So it is not a new issue.
The only other bill not yet enacted completely are the recommendations of the Ministry Study Commission,, part of which was approved in the first vote, and the balance of which will be at vote in a day or so.
All of the other proposals that I have been associated with this term were adopted, and addressed a number of concerns. These include:
  • adoption of rules spelling out how treaties and agreements with provisions affecting our military forces will be approved and ratified in TNP; those procedures involve the Minister of Defense, the Security Council, the Cabinet, and/or the Regional Assembly, depending on the particular treaty.
  • giving the NPA additional time to make their endorsements for the MoD;
  • creating a procedure for removing a Minister who becomes inactive;
  • rules for the Security Council, including a method to fill vacancies on the Council;
  • streamling the application process for the regional assembly, and the process to continously verify continued eligibility for RA membership;
  • extending responsibility for the application and verification process to the Court and the Speaker;
  • clarifying the language that permits removal from the RA for circumstances such as when a member no longer has a nation in TNP or had CTE'd;
  • creation of a TNP University.
  • the amendment of the RA application oath.
  • three nominations were approved by the Regional Assembly with little opposition.
The only legislation that was not adopted was the bill to define treason, which was not part of my platform in the last election, but even there, i would point out that over 50% of the RA membership voted for the legislation twice.
So I do not agree with your characterization of my record with legislation in the Regional Assembly.
Some proposals related to the trial system, I delayed because of the calendar (the RL holiday period is a next-to-impossible time to address new proposals) and because I was hoping that the current trial would have been concluded by now.
Whether the bill that sought to define treason passed or not, it was a important issue to debate. I won't make any commitment to not bring forward any particular proposals if circumstances warrant that the matter ought to be considered.
As to your claim that the proposal would somehow disregard civil liberties, I would only point out that one, no changes were proposed to the Declaration of Rights as a part of thar proposal, and second, the proposal if enacted would have been subject to the Declaration of Rights in its implementation had it passed. Finslly, I will also point out that the final version of the legislation clearly tied the meaning and application of the legislation to TNP Law 14, and the oath amendment, both of which dealt with aspects of the same issue.
 
Sounded like rhetorcal questions to me. There are so many false assumptions in your so-called "questions" that it would take an entire term to set you straight. Besides which, I've covered the subject matter you seem to be raising as clearly as I can in my original candidacy statement. Trying reading it!
 
Actually sir, I asked
You open your campaign tp run for what is essentialy the most important job in the region not by talking about TNP but by talking about other regions. Do you not think this shows a lack of concentration on governing this region and a preoccupation with the outside world and one certain region in particular? Should your position on this region be more important and have taken pride of place in your opening gambit?
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and that was ignored. answered my questions on your lack of support, not that. Was casually ignored!
 
I campaign statement opened by addressing the situation the current Cabinet inherented from our predecessors, and required immediate action. That situation happens to involve the Lexicon, a region to which you have shown far more loyalty than TNP.

You totally mischaracterized the situation that has existed to suit your own misdirected purposes, and my view is that I am not going to feed your trolling by trying to correct all of the numerous misconception that passage represents. I think a sufficient response is that I do not agree with your characterixation, and anything else I would add would be repetitious.
 
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