Karp
TNPer
Greetings from the FRA and from everyone here I wanted to wish you a (very) belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. As you might be able to tell from the lack of update the FRA has been very busy of late. Despite the likes of exams and other such annoyances we were able to complete elections, finalise the details surrounding the upcoming Defender awards and we even found the time to defend.
Going into the January elections I am sure nobody expected what was to be an election season of surprises. The biggest surprise to be had was in the Chief of Defence election where a joint ticket of Tim/Kogvuron was beaten by abstain - triggering a snap election. Despite being the only ticket the concerns raised over their commitment and involvement with the Alliance were enough to put voters off. In the following period of nominations Frattastan and Guy offered to stand as joint ticket and were approved without incident by the Regional Assembly. In the race for Minister of Intelligence we saw Milograd (yes, Milograd) join Wabbitslayah on a joint ticket. Despite most Assembly members fainting or otherwise fleeing upon Milograd's acceptance we managed to get them to vote and the ticket was approved easily.
With two joint tickets already you would assume that would be the end of joint tickets - and you would be right. In the elections for Regional Liaison Officer we saw incumbent The Saturnian Republic reconfirmed in an unopposed election, while the Speaker election proved to be the most hotly contested with Seneca beating the incumbent Iro and Christian Democrats. Last but by no means least I was elected as Arch Chancellor and was the only candidate for the position.
I am extremely happy with the Cabinet I will be working with this term and would like to congratulate them again and offer commiserations to those that missed out. With the addition of several Deputies and the return of Dyr Nasad as Vice Chancellor, I am sure this will be a good term for the Alliance.
As many of you are well aware December through January is a sleepy period for Nationstates and gradually work within the FRA is beginning to get into gear. The Regional Liaison Office is kick-starting the Regional Development Project of terms past in the Global Right Alliance - one of our founding members and a region rich with history and infamous in its own right. Additionally, we will be actively looking for new regions interested in joining the Alliance. If you are interested in aid or joining the Alliance be sure to contact myself or our Regional Liaison Officer - The Saturnian Republic.
The Rangers remain an active and organised force and were a core component of recent large missions including Asia, Makhnovia and Coalition of Leftist Comrades. The first of those missions was triggered by myself and it was great to see so many Defender groups putting aside past differences and coming together to end what would have been a substantial grief if left unchecked. Despite many players predicting the death of Defenderdom we were able to bring the year to a close with a resounding show of strength, determination and cooperation. I think it is fair to say the FRA was a big part of this and going into 2014 I am confident we have a strong base from which to build upon.
Of course, with the close of another year that means the Defender Awards are soon to be upon us. I imagine some of you had thought we had forgotten about them but we have been hard at work ironing out the last few details and now that exams, the Holidays and everything else is out of the way we will commence the awards on February 1st. I want to keep the changes a surprise for now, but I can reveal that we will introducing two new awards and slightly altering some older ones. If that's not enough and you are particularly impatient then you can find the discussions and its final conclusions on our forums.
There only remains one thing to be said and that is good bye, but before I do so I would just like to thank the Rangers, Cabinet ministers both present and past, our Regional Assembly representatives, our Allies and everyone who has been a part of the FRA in 2013. You made it a thoroughly enjoyable year and despite many predicting our demise before last year even began, we have persevered through your hard work and determination.
Thanks for reading.
Karputsk
Arch Chancellor