Sasten for Delegate

[Sasten]

I suppose I'm a little late to the campaign thread business, but here is mine.

I'm still writing out my whole platform, but for the time being allow me to share my experience working in TNP so far.

I've had the pleasure of residing in TNP since 2011, nearly six years now, and while I could only truly have been called "active" for the past year and a half, I've been around and observing NationStates for nearly seven years now. I've been a member of the NPA for a little over a year now, and am currently a lieutenant officer there, although I had served in the now-defunct Regional Guard from 2013 up until its dissolution. I'm also one of the founding members of the RMB Guardian program set up under McM in late 2015. In government, I'm currently Deputy Minister of Gameside affairs, and am involved in the Culture Ministry as well. In the judiciary, I'm currently serving my second term as Deputy Attorney General.

My resume perhaps isn't as impressive as many other candidates, but I have been around for quite some time and have picked up some experience in many different aspects of this region.

Anyways, feel free to ask questions (if you have any) and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

 

[Flemingovia]

1. What is your analysis of the situation in TNP this past week which led to the resignation and departure from the region of the Attorney General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the apparent decision to dismiss Syrixia from the cabinet should Plemboria be elected for a second term?
2. What is your opinion of the use of the Delgate's veto to overturn a 41-10 majority vote from the Regional Assembly (please note, this is not a question about the legality of the veto, it is a question about the ethics of it.)
3. If you had been delegate over the past week, what would you have done differently?

 

[Darcania]

1) What would your ideal Cabinet be?
2) Would you enforce cabinet solidarity, whereby if you, in your capacity as Delegate, take an official stance on a piece of legislation (whether because the legislation is one that you proposed, like CAIN or treaties, or one that you plan to veto), you would have your Cabinet follow that official stance when voting?
3) There have been recent discussions between citizens of merging Home Affairs and Gameside Affairs. Would you merge these two Ministries or keep them separate?

 

[Sasten]

1. What is your analysis of the situation in TNP this past week which led to the resignation and departure from the region of the Attorney General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the apparent decision to dismiss Syrixia from the cabinet should Plemboria be elected for a second term?
2. What is your opinion of the use of the Delgate's veto to overturn a 41-10 majority vote from the Regional Assembly (please note, this is not a question about the legality of the veto, it is a question about the ethics of it.)
3. If you had been delegate over the past week, what would you have done differently?

1) Honestly, it's a mess. I don't know every aspect of it so I'll mostly refrain from making too many judgements on it, but this whole situation is not a good light to shine on TNP, especially during the general elections. Ash certainly shouldn't have done what he did, but I do understand the frustrations leading to his and Praetor's sudden departures, especially having been one of the people working on the case until I left due to the COI arising from my delegacy bid. Syrixia's pending dismissal in particular does not strike me as being of sound ethics. Under the Constibillocode, Syrixia is entitled to his opinions and his own vote, as well as being allowed to take any grievances to the court to be heard. Removing him in light of this, especially after supposedly having smoothed things over between him and Plembobria...it's a very low blow, honestly (never mind the question of legality, which I leave to the courts should any such complaint be filed). I expected better of our government than this.

2) It's...legal, but that's not the question here. A 41-10 margin is a very commanding result, and vetoing it over questionable objections is a bit odd to say the least. It doesn't 'smell' as bad to me as the Syrixia affair, so I would call it very poor form rather than outright malicious without any extra evidence. With such support, the most ethical thing to do would have been to sign it into law, but it is within Plembobria's right to veto it. If the RA didn't have the right to override the delegate's veto, it would be a different matter, but it does, so the veto mostly just wastes the RA's time while not looking particularly good.

3) Well...a lot. Firstly, I'd have signed the redaction bill into law. Perhaps Plemby has some evidence and information that I don't currently have that suggests that setting it into law would be a a very bad thing for TNP, but without providing more concrete reasoning, a vote with those margins is a very clear 'yes' from the Regional Assembly that shouldn't be easily dismissed. Now for the tougher bit... Syrixia should have been allowed to vote and express himself as he wished without undue interference from the Delegate in the first place. Cabinet responsibility and keeping up appearances may hold some virtue, but it does not trump BOR provisions or even common ethics and decency. Threatening dismissal for not towing the Delegate's line was egregious enough. Actually following through on it after talking it over and working out their issues is disgusting. TNP is a region built on the free discussion of ideas, and the cabinet volunteers their time to help make sure all the various ministries run smoothly. Forcing them to do whatever the delegate says even if they disagree with it is, in no uncertain terms, a road this region should not be going down.

 

[Flemingovia]

Sasten, thank you for answering so promptly, so honestly and so openly.

 

[Sasten]

Promptness may not always be my strong suit (as anyone in the Discord could tell you), but I always make a point of being as honest and open as possible. I'm not going to hide what I think about this situation, and I would be doing a tremendous disservice to the region if I did.

Now, on to Darcania's questions:

1) What would your ideal Cabinet be?
2) Would you enforce cabinet solidarity, whereby if you, in your capacity as Delegate, take an official stance on a piece of legislation (whether because the legislation is one that you proposed, like CAIN or treaties, or one that you plan to veto), you would have your Cabinet follow that official stance when voting?
3) There have been recent discussions between citizens of merging Home Affairs and Gameside Affairs. Would you merge these two Ministries or keep them separate?

1) I'm...not entirely sure actually. I'm not familiar with the capabilities and nuances of many people outside of TNP. There are a few easy choices from people I know: Lord Ravenclaw for Foreign Affairs, Gladio for Defence, Mousebumples for WA Affairs and Syrixia for Culture (he's far and away been one of the best culture ministers in recent times, and while he's not perfect, especially in regards to RP affairs, he's still very good and I hope he isn't too put off by recent events). The other ministries, I'm not as sure of. r3n seems like a decent pick for Communications and Kasch or McM for Gameside, but I'm honestly not sure who I'd put in MoHA. Someone very good at recruiting and actively engaging new members of TNP to get them involved, to be sure. Maybe McM again, but I'm drawing a blank here as it's not something I have much knowledge on (and trying to bluff my way through that is not something I'll do).

2) In a word: no. If I take an official stance on something, cabinet solidarity might be a nice-to-have, but it's not necessary. I will never remove someone for speaking out against me in accordance to their BOR protections. I want people who will help me, but also tell me when I'm wrong and who aren't afraid to do so. If they go out of their way to be an ass about it, then maybe, maybe I'll look at some actions to take, but at the end of the day they are entitled to their own opinions and their own vote. Putting a fake veneer over the cabinet, or outright turning it into an echo chamber, are not what I want TNP's government to become.

3) I'll have to see, but it's something I'm considering; GA's role and future is something I'll be talking to current minister Kasch and others about should I be elected. I say this as Deputy Minister of Gameside affairs, and someone who's been in that ministry from the start. Honestly, it feels like a Ministry Without A Purpose. The reason it exists in the first place comes from the breakup of the old Ministry of Education and the RMB Guardians program, which was put under MoE because it was one of McM's projects while he was Minister of Education. I honestly don't think Gameside would have existed without said program. To this day, Gameside doesn't do much that I can see; we have a basic mentoring program that could probably be absorbed into MoHA, a bunch of people to upvote MoC dispatches, and the big centrepiece RMB Guardians program which operates semi-independently (and mostly just reports spam and makes polls anyways). It's an intriguing concept that I do like to an extent, and I could see it working with a big reorganization of MoHA and MoC whereby Gameside would take over all aspects on NS proper, HA would focus solely on forumside affairs, and Communications would work to support both ministries and communicate with the region. Without that though, it just feels a bit superfluous, and the simplest thing to do would be to roll the RMB Guardians and whatever mentoring programs we have into HA.