Update No. 7, May 2011
Statement on events within The South Pacific
The Rejected Realms decided not to intervene during Devonitian's recent coup in The South Pacific, believing that the people of The South Pacific should have the right to choose their own delegate. We were deeply disturbed to find that the ousted government of The South Pacific did not share our conviction. Instead of relying upon the endorsements of TSP natives, Southern Bellz and other members of TSP's forums called on their personal friends from outside regions such as Qwendra and on the assistance of the FRA in their attempt to regain power.
While we do not approve of Devonitian's use of post suppression and banjection to silence opposition, neither can we excuse the sense of entitlement to power demonstrated by Southern Bellz and her government. Tradition alone does not give any group of nations the right to control the delegacy of a feeder. That right - that privilege - belong only to those communities who actively work to foster growth in NationStates.
The government of TSP cannot claim to be such a community. On Oct. 29, 2010, The Rejected Realms
requested an embassy with The South Pacific. Our request was approved on Feb. 7, 2011 after numerous inquiries from our officials; but in the months since we have heard nothing from The South Pacific either in our embassy or theirs - no acknowledgment of our updates, and not even a request for aid during Devonitian's coup.
This silence is only one example of basic dysfunction within the putative government of TSP. Southern Bellz's loss of the delegacy was not the failure of an individual, but of a government system fatally disconnected from the region it was meant to serve. Instead of directing their energies towards caring for and connecting with the nations of their region or even with other regions in NationStates, members of The South Pacific's forum turned inward, enjoying the prestige and publicity of controlling a feeder without exerting any effort to nurture community in that feeder in return. Instead of reaching out to nations in The South Pacific, forum members expected activity to come to them; it should not have come as a shock that Devonitians was happy to oblige.
When Kandarin handed over his nation to Naivetry in October 2010, TSP's delegate Southern Bellz
refused to exchange embassies with The Rejected Realms (in contradiction of
standing TSP policy) on the following grounds:
I feel uncomfortable opening an embassy with The Rejected Realms at this due to the fact that I think the nation handing that went on is a underhanded technique that underminds game play. Considering my platform as delegate is a very pro-game play stance, I feel by accepting the embassy, I acknowledge this type of delegate transfer as legitimate.
In relying on outside forces to prop up a delegacy lost to a native-endorsed challenger, Southern Bellz and the government she represents used an underhanded technique to ensure their continued hegemony over ordinary nations in The South Pacific, undermining gameplay and its requirements of continued activity from the delegate. By maintaining the embassy, we would be acknowledging this type of delegacy monopoly - one predicated on a refusal to engage with the natives of the region - as legitimate.
In light of recent events, therefore, The Rejected Realms has no choice but to suspend diplomatic relations with The South Pacific. Additionally, we do not at this time recognize Southern Bellz as the legitimate delegate of The South Pacific.
If the forum-based community of The South Pacific wishes to be recognized as the legitimate government of TSP, they must legitimize themselves not only to each other or to outside kingmakers such as the FRA, but to the people they claim to represent: the nations of The South Pacific. Until we are satisfied that the regional forum is no longer held aloof and isolated from the region itself, The Rejected Realms cannot recognize the forum government of TSP as the legitimate voice of the region.
We will continue to monitor the situation, and when we are satisfied that the sitting delegate, whoever that may be, has been legitimized by the community within the region itself, we will reconsider this decision. Until then, our thoughts and best wishes are with all the nations of The South Pacific.
Assembly Assembles
The Assembly of the Rejected Realms has been incredibly busy over the last month. First off, the alliance with Lazarus was modified to reflect changes within the region and NationStates over the last few years. It has now been passed by both sides, and we hope to maintain our friendship with our sister Sinker region for many more years. Following the conclusion of that debate, membership of the FRA was debated (more below), and the Assembly is currently considering such issues as votes of no confidence, introducing a Speaker to the Assembly, and allowing citizenship applications to be approved, minus voting powers, whilst elections/key legislative debates are ongoing. We will let you know the result of these discussions in our next update.
FRA membership debated
As part of the review of TRR's Foreign Affairs commitments, we held a noisy debate on retaining membership of the Founderless Regions Alliance. The Rejected Realms has been a member of the FRA since August 2007, but due to the change in membership and government, it was felt appropriate for the region to vote again on whether it wanted to retain membership. After two weeks of argument, the vote eventually finished in favour of retaining membership.
However, following this debate, the controversial actions of the FRA in The South Pacific, as well as the undiplomatic behaviour of FRA Arch Chancellor, Unibot, have led to TRR pushing for Unibot's impeachment in the FRA Regional Assembly.
Anur-Sanur revelations
The following announcement was made earlier today:
Anur-Sanur's citizenship has been removed for working to unseat the legitimately elected delegate of the region, and for leaking the contents of the citizens' restricted access forum. His nation is Realmmatorr II - please do not endorse him.
Evidence for this was provided by former TSP delegate, Devonitians, who was contacted by Anur-Sanur about unseating Kandarin (Naivetry) from the delegate position. The full statement with copies of the telegrams can be found
here.
Unibot resigns, Earth challenges
Following several weeks of inactivity as Officer of Mobilisation, Unibot was challenged by new citizen (and former Europeia President) Earth22. Unibot swiftly resigned from the seat, acknowledging that he did not have time for the position. Earth22 is currently running unopposed, and has put forward several exciting plans to further increase activity within the region. It is particularly hoped that these will help to engage newer members of NationStates within the region.
Tags tags tags
Following the introduction of tags to NationStates, the Rejected Realms has been tagging itself. As well as holding the exclusive 'Sinker' tag, and the not-so-exclusive 'Founderless' and "Gargantuan" ones, we have declared ourselves as Democratic, Offsite Forums, Neutral, Game Player, Regional Government, and World Assembly. Debate is currently taking place on adding more (such as Security Council), although regional despot Naivetry is refusing to tag the region as 'Totalitarian', claiming it would reflect badly on her benevolent rule.
Media and Information department gets busy
Officer Dalimbar has appointed Oliver Dion-Grey as Moderator of NS:Crossfire and Deputy Officer of Media and Information. He will be working with Dali on planning all media releases, as well as helping to get the NS:Crossfire debates going again. Following a test run, the first proper debate was held on the events in The South Pacific, and can be read
here. Ollie has already demonstrated his talent for the job by threatening to set a hamster on anyone who doesn't help out. In the meantime, the team have written well-received articles on the happenings in TSP, and the current crisis in Europeia.
TRR Roleplay commences
Biyah has been getting TRR's "1984" roleplay going, with several people having posted their nation's RP information and joining in the roleplay. Earth22 was announced as Deputy RP Mod, and is expected to get to work shortly.
Monthly IRC Highlights
<@Felasia> Damn, I missed the most exciting thing that happen on NS in months...
<@Biyah> don't worry, it'll blow up in another month
<@Biyah> when TSP notices
Other news
- TRR now has 40 citizens, a record level, with activity at an all-time high.
- Sedge is looking for a Deputy Foreign Affairs Officer. I'm not actually advertising this to people in other regions who read this update - I'm just hoping that one of my ambassadors reads this and thinks "ooh, I could do that!"
