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The East Pacific News Service
February 29, 2020
Marrabuk Elected to Second Term as Delegate
By Tretrid
On February 15, Viceroy Zukchiva officially declared that Marrabuk had been elected to a second term as Delegate.
Marrabuk’s first term started off with the turbulent end of the elections on October of 2019, when the Conclave was forced to postpone declaring the election results due to complaints made by Davelands concerning the election. However, in the last round of the instant-runoff vote, Marrabuk defeated Davelands by 8 votes. Marrabuk’s tenure got even more interesting after the outgoing Delegate, Fedele, attempted to coup the East Pacific. Marrabuk immediately got to work, writing a statement telling the nations of TEP to unendorse Fedele. The day after Fedele commenced the coup, he had been removed and replaced by Vizier Aelitia.
Things started to go back to some semblance of normalcy after that. The Delegate-elect finally became Delegate after the Delegacy spent some time flipping between the Viziers Bachtendekuppen and Aelitia. Marrabuk had put together a cabinet almost as soon as he was elected, even as the coup was commencing, to fulfill his plan to revitalize the Executive.
However, those events had passed. Four months later, Delegate elections were once again on the horizon. The Conclave ran the Nomination period from February 7 to February 13.
| Nominee | Response |
| Todd McCloud | Nominated, Accepted |
| East Malaysia | Nominated, Declined |
| Algerstonian Leader | Nominated, Declined |
| Pakitsk | Nominated, Declined |
| Marrabuk | Nominated, Accepted |
| McStooley | Nominated, Accepted |
| A mean old man | Nominated, Accepted |
| Ramaeus | Nominated, Accepted |
| Zukchiva | Nominated, Declined |
| Tretrid | Nominated, Declined |
| VW53a | Nominated, Declined |
| Atlae | Nominated, Declined |
| Bachtendekuppen | Nominated, Declined |
| Libertanny | Nominated, Accepted |
| Angel of Charity | Nominated, Declined |
| Rage Mage | Nominated, Accepted |
| Sakana | Nominated, Declined |
| Wallenburg | Nominated, Declined |
| Polandball7878 | Self-Nominated, Seconded |
| Asendavia | Nominated, Declined |
Of the 21 to be nominated, 7 of them went onto the ballot. They were A mean old man, Libertanny, Marrabuk, McStooley, Polandball7878, Rage Mage, and Ramaeus.
One of the pressing issues of this election cycle was the matter of unity. Over the past 2 years, the RMB grew into a large community of roleplayers. They grew independently of the forums, and so were something entirely different from the already well-established forums. There was an animosity between the two communities under the administrations of Yuno and Fedele, but the efforts of Marrabuk, an RMB personality even before being elected Delegate, helped mend relations.
Several of the candidates addressed the issue of reconciling the RMB and forums. The incumbent, Marrabuk, doubled down on the slogan of “Our region, our home, our family.” He stated that relations between the forums and RMBers were better than they were under Fedele, and touted the idea that “at the end of the day we all belong to TEP and we should always have each other’s back.”
Other candidates had other ideas on how to best deal with the RMB. Rage Mage suggested prioritizing the RMB and using the forums mainly for government work, like “office buildings that are in another part of town.”
Four former delegates, A mean old man, Todd McCloud, McStooley, and Ramaeus were in the election. Although Ramaeus ran a joke campaign centered on becoming an AI overlord, A mean old man and Todd McCloud ran on ambitious platforms. However, after A Slanted Black Stripe (best known for saving TEP from the Empire back in 2008) asked the candidates why replacing Marrabuk was the best route going forwards, Todd McCloud suspended his campaign, essentially dropping out of the race.
The voting period lasted from February 13 to February 15. After 34 votes and only 1 round of voting, Marrabuk won with a 20-vote margin.
Marrabuk has since reorganized the Cabinet, merged the Ministry of Manpower with the Ministry of Immigration, joined the Ministry of RMB Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, and expanded the scope of the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Slatos Angers TEP and TNP, Gets Region Raided
By Atlae
The saga all began with a nation named Slatos. After numerous complaints of flamebaiting, OOC drama, ban evasion, and harassment, it was banned and ejected from The East Pacific. The End.
Of course, this is not where the story concludes. It soon came to light that although Slatos was banned from the region, it had successfully infiltrated the region under the alias “Meddacah.” It had gained citizenship and joined the regional legislature, the Magisterium. A group of dedicated RMB RPers collected detailed evidence about the link between Meddacah and Slatos, eventually confirmed by a matching IP address on the TNP forums, where Slatos had placed the main nation.
Because Meddacah was a citizen of the East Pacific, a Public Conciliation Panel was held on February 4th to question the status of its citizenship. However, the nation Meddacah then left The East Pacific, automatically forfeiting its citizenship. The Viceroy Zukchiva recommended that any citizen who is found to be Slatos should have their citizenship renounced immediately.
By this time, Slatos’ namesake puppet storage region became a relatively large UCR, with a somewhat organized government. Its discord server reportedly featured a rant channel shouting “Death to TEP.” Its founder, Bear Territory (a Slatos puppet), had been DEATed by the moderators on January 23rd. The natives of the region endorsed its monarch, Arkoudan.
On February 9, Slatos (the nation) managed to anger its North Pacifican hosts when the Slatish (the region) military attempted to invade Stargate, a TNP ally. From then on, former EPSA Overseeing Officer Feu de Glace (aka Sakana) and The North Pacific helped organize an interregional coalition that included The Black Hawks, Karma, Lone Wolves United, Balder, and the Joint Task Force.
The operation began on the major of February 15/16. Sakana had a force of 38 nations whereas Arkoudan had 31 on its side. Thankfully, one of the Regional Officers, Phost Cel, was a TEP plant that had successfully infiltrated Slatos, a bit of ironic payback. Before the region updated, Phost Cel ejected 5 nations, significantly widening the margin. Shortly after the seizure of the Delegacy, the leaders, Slatos (under Arkoudan) and Opstan, conceded and moved to the region Opstan.
On February 22nd, the region was password-protected. Following the operation, Slatos has since been puppetswept and Opstan’s main nation was DEATed for OOC behavior. The region Opstan, left founderless, was raided by the North Pacific Army on the February 28/29 major. Slatos and Opstan have stated that they would “leave NS forever,” but have made a few appearances since.
Magisterium Stays Busy, Reforms Many Laws
By Gorundu
(Editor’s note: Links to each of the laws referenced have been added for ease of use.)
The Magisterium has continued bustling with activity, with a variety of legislative changes being discussed and enacted in hopes of further securing the region and its democracy for future generations.
Firstly, a flurry of new Magisters was welcomed, including Rage Mage and Aivinitis, both personalities on the RMB, McStooley and AMOM, both former Delegates, and several other citizens new to TEP. The admission process has been made easier by the newly passed Standing Orders, which allow citizens with WA nations in TEP to be admitted by the Provost, without the need for a vote by Magisters. The new Standing Orders also allowed non-WA citizens to join the Magisterium, further boosting the numbers. Overall, the Standing Orders have been much more simplified, removing redundant clauses and eliminating overly complex procedures, to make the Magisterium a much more friendly and efficient institution.
The introduction of important new laws began with the passing of The Regional Officers Act, proposed by Todd McCloud, which required the Magisterium to approve all in-game Regional Officer appointments except for Viziers. Originally written during Fedele’s administration, this was given renewed attention because of Fedele’s coup, during which he repeatedly dismissed important regional officers and appointed fellow coupers to regional officer positions with Border Control authority. Todd McCloud further authored an amendment to the Endorsement Caps Act, which gave Viziers the authority to set and enforce the endorsement caps instead of the Delegate, to prevent endorsement caps from being used by the Delegate maliciously, as well as granting Viziers four permanent Regional Officer spots. To finish, a third bill – an amendment to the Curia Act, which sets out the structure of the regional government – is also authored and passed by Todd McCloud, placing the Eastern Pacific Police Service (EPPS) under the jurisdiction of the Viziers instead of the Delegate, and leaving intelligence operations solely to the Viziers as they are Magisterium-confirmed security officers. (Editor’s note: At this time of writing, the thread for the Curia Act has not been updated with the most recent amendment. The version from September 2018 is shown instead.)
This is, of course, all prelude to the most monumental piece of legislation of all: a brand-new Concordat. Originally authored by Aelitia shortly after the defeat of Fedele’s coup, it was taken over by Provost Bachtendekuppen after Aelitia’s retirement. The most significant changes include a requirement for the Delegate to enforce any Conclave (court) orders, empowerment of the Magisterium to suspend Delegates, Viziers and Arbiters for suspicion of crimes committed, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for all citizens, creation of the role of Grand Vizier, who represents the body of Viziers, and transfer of the citizenship process to Viziers from the Viceroy. It was passed by a unanimous vote of both the Magisterium and citizens in a referendum.
Lastly, the Magisterium has continued the work of processing Vizier and Regional Officer nominations, largely by near-unanimous votes. However, the nomination of one Vizier, Wiranath, generated some controversy, as they were not well-known with many Magisters, not particularly active on the forum or Discord, where government members congregate, and did not show up to reply to any questions posed by Magisters. This was the only nomination to fail, and in response, Delegate Marrabuk nominated ArenaC (a relatively new player) and Meddacah (who was suspected, and later proved, to be a puppet of a banned player) as Viziers, citing the Magisterium’s apparent desire to appoint citizens who are active on forum and Discord as Viziers. However, it came under heavy criticism from Magisters and Marrabuk withdrew it shortly after, stating he was “trying to make a point”.
Looking forward, the Magisterium is debating a bill to regulate Delegate elections proposed by Viceroy Zukchiva, an idea that has long been raised and made possible by the new Concordat, as responsibility for regulating elections was previously placed solely with the Viceroy. Another discussion on term limits for Delegates has been initiated, as during the last discussion on the same topic, many opponents of term limits were coupers who may have skewed the discussion.
The growing Magisterium will continue to be busy into the future, undoubtedly with robust discussions on new bills made possible by the new Concordat.
The Square and the Compasses - Where lies TEPs true East?
By Bachtendekuppen
A second term for Marrabuk was to be expected.
Delegate elections proved utterly uneventful in our Eastern Pacific this February, with Delegate Marrabuk being elected to a second term with a very wide margin of 20 votes over the next contender, A Mean Old Man. Although 7 candidates contended the race, only 5 really campaigned and only three candidates got any votes at all.
A second term for Marrabuk was to be expected as he won the Delegacy in October 2019 during the 2019 TEP coup, and wrestled Delegacy from the coupers with the aid of the Viziers and numerous allies of TEP.
A wave of reforms.
During Marrabuks first term as Delegate, TEP set out on a huge wave of reforms and an uptick in activity The Executive and Cabinet were restructured, new Arbiters were nominated to the Conclave and the Magisterium voted on an array of nominations for executive positions
and legislative changes, including a host of new Viziers, a re-write of the Concordat, the Magisteriums Standing Orders, treaties various changes to security related laws such as The
Regional Officers Act and the Endorsement Cap Law. The Viziers are set to be restructured
as a new branch of government following the Concordat re-write, with extensive security-related powers.
Exactly what you would expect post-Coup
TEP has been continuously adrift since the end of 2016. A rift in its cohesion and community caused weakness of vision, culture, structure and security. We stumbled on, from one crisis in the next. In October 2019, we survived yet another crisis. In their campaigns, candidates promised more of the same, focusing around further reforming TEP, unifying the region, and the security of the region. Exactly what you would expect post-coup in a GCR. As yours truly pointed out during the campaigns, none of the candidates formulated a vision as to what TEP
should be and aim for in the future, other than patching up the government and chasing unity.
A vision for TEP?
We now try to arm ourselves better for the next one. But to what end? Other than trying to preserve what we think we know as the TEP of old, what is our vision for a future TEP?
Our lack of vision reveals itself on numerous occasions. How the government struggles to handle the RMB and the exclusively in-game community, as well as recruitment. How FA lacks clear direction. In legal bureaucracy. In responding to the sensitivies of allies. In dealing with the various new and not-so-new personas wanting to be part of a new TEP post-coup.
I do not place this at the feet of our current Delegate. His work was cut out for him in trying to rebuild the basics of the region and its government post-coup.
Yet without vision, our reforms will only go so far.
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