Gorundu For Vice Delegate
Yeah, it’s me, I’m back. Some of you might still have some memories of the close call I had with this position exactly a year ago. Anyway, most of you should have at least some idea of who I am, but for those who have joined this region more recently, here’s a brief introduction. I’ve been in The North Pacific for a while now, and in that time I’ve served as Speaker, my first Government Official position in TNP, then Minister of World Assembly Affairs under McMasterdonia, and Minister of Communications under Prydania, though all of that was in 2019 and 2020. So as you can see, I’ve been out of any high level government position for a while now, but I have been active in TNP, including the Executive Staff and the Regional Assembly, and serving as Chief Election Commissioner.
Since my last run for this position a year ago, I continue to believe that I can present a proper vision for the Vice Delegate’s office and steer it forward. The office of Vice Delegate, due to its nature of being responsible for the security and stability of the region, is not a role that experiences radical changes through time. For that reason, you’ll find that much of what I discuss and propose in this platform is very similar to, or even the same as what was in my platform a year ago. Like last time, I think it's wise to first give a refresher on what my thoughts on the role of the Vice Delegate.
The Vice Delegate’s Role
Over the last few terms, we have seen shifts in how different officeholders approached the Vice Delegate’s role, with new initiatives introduced by Cretox State and Kastonvia that potentially overlapped with the duties of the Delegate signalling expansions in the role, followed by a somewhat more traditional and focused-on-basics approach taken by Hulldom. So I am dedicating this section to explain my view on this change and my philosophy on the Vice Delegate’s role in general.
By law, the Vice Delegate is in charge of the region’s security. There are several aspects to this. Firstly, there is identifying potential threats from within and outside the region, but this is an area with very little room for innovation - you just need to have the right person as VD and right people in the Security Council with the experience to identify and neutralise the threats. And real threats to the region have been few and far between them in recent years.
The second aspect is to be able to maintain order in times of instability in the region. Having this ability requires the public to place their trust in the Vice Delegate and the Security Council, and this trust has to be earned. The third and perhaps most important aspect is to preempt any possible coup by setting them up for failure Collectively, TNP has decided years ago that the best way to defend ourselves against potential coups is by allowing our residents to maintain high levels of endorsements and accumulate influence, so that any potential coups will hit an insurmountable roadblock. As such, the role of the Vice Delegate has been largely to ensure we maintain a large number of endorsements as a region. As methods of encouraging endorsements have been made easier with the help of scripts, it is natural for a dedicated Vice Delegate to start looking at other ways to increase our endorsements.
These two aspects create the basis for Vice Delegates to improve upon, and I believe that’s what people like Cretox and Kasto have done. In general, their new initiatives seem to be focused on building trust between the nations of The North Pacific and the Security Council so that people will trust the Security Councillors and more readily endorse them - the mentoring, the RMB posting, all seem to be done with this in mind. Other objectives include making the Security Council more transparent and accessible, which are also reflected in the initiatives I mentioned just then, as well as in projects like the SC Handbook and the Advanced Endotarting Guide.
To me, then, this seems like the right path, and perhaps the only path, to take. However, while doing so, we must remember that the Security Council isn’t the only factor in the region’s security. Indeed, maintaining high regional endorsements is a group effort that includes every nation in the region, and so this must also be at the front of the Vice Delegate’s mind. As such, you will see in this platform that emphasis is placed both on the Security Council and increasing endorsements collectively as a region.
With my philosophy explained, here's a closer look at what my plans will be as Vice Delegate.
The Basics
As far as the office’s basic duties go, there isn’t too much to say about them, so let’s look at them briefly before moving on to more interesting topics.
Endorsements - I don’t believe anyone will doubt my ability to endotart, and with (at least) daily endotarting and the utilisation of telegrams and dispatches I am confident I can get to second place in number of endorsements.
Vice Delegate checks - I have experience performing citizenship checks as Speaker and have also processed ministry applications as Minister and Deputy Minister of several ministries, so this should not be much of a challenge. I am in full agreement with the government’s current goals on countering malicious actors which may seek to harm our region, such as the Brotherhood of Malice, and will perform checks on individuals associated with these actors with appropriate scrutiny and discussion with the Security Council.
World Assembly Development Program - I will continue to maintain the WADP as past Vice Delegates have done, and publish its monthly awards.
Updates and Reporting
Last time I ran, I complained a little bit about the clutter of recordkeeping threads in the Security Council subforum being unnecessary, and the irregularity in publishing what is supposed to be weekly updates. Fortunately, these issues have both been rectified, and it is my intention to continue delivering regular and timely weekly updates that are neatly divided into sections on statistics, endorsement alert actions, declassification, Security Council proceedings, and any other section that might be necessary.
Community Engagement
Much has been made about this issue over the past few terms, and for good reason. Kastonvia had made this the focal issue of his tenure, and he has certainly been successful in raising Security Councillors’ RMB post counts. I would certainly like to continue this initiative, and lead by example in maintaining an active presence on the RMB and welcoming new nations. I believe the best way to go about this is to just put yourself out there and have a casual chat like you would on Discord. After all, for those of us in the region who primarily use Discord, it’s the best way to get to know each other, so we should try to extend that same opportunity to those on the RMB for those who want to see more of their government officials.
Furthermore, I believe there are more we can do to increase the visibility of Security Councillors. These could potentially include holding Ask Me Anything’s (AMAs) or giving Security Councillors weekly questions to answer on the Regional Message Board, taking part in radio shows, whether it’s to discuss the Security Council or something else, and perhaps even writing articles on subjects such as endotarting and assessing security. They could be done by individual Security Councillors taking the initiative, or could be a collaborative project within the Council, such as perhaps collaborating on an article. They can be fun and done for laughs, like perhaps a collection of funny responses to endorsement telegrams received by Security Councillors. I will do my best to encourage Security Councillors to take part in these activities and will try to do something myself in this realm.
Declassification
WIth declassification of forum records now mostly up to date, the focus should move to Discord records, of which there is still a substantial backlog. Former Vice Delegate Kastonvia started on this effort and got as far as 2018 from what I can see, but it appears to have been unfortunately neglected over the last term. Getting them fully up to date is probably too much to ask for, but I will make an effort to put out at least one year of records.
I have also been made aware that many previously declassified threads were moved back to private areas for changes to comply with FOIA laws that were updated around a year ago, but has since remained there and unable to be accessed by the public. I will aim to re-release these threads by the end of the term.
Other Projects?
Those of you who have been here long enough to remember the tenure of former Vice Delegate Cretox State and their first of several abrupt disappearances might know that some of his campaign promises/ideas went unfulfilled or only partially fulfilled and were never really picked up on. I intend to revisit some of these to bring them to completion. The ones I am most interested in looking at are the SC Handbook and the Advanced Endotarting Guide.
The SC Handbook is mostly completed and published with only the Members section still needing work, so I believe it can be finished relatively easily. After completion, I intend to promote it widely, as it was initially launched without much promotion, so many in the region might not be aware of this useful document’s existence and the opportunity it offers for them to learn more about the Security Council.
The Advanced Endotarting Guide, I believe, is at a lesser stage of completion. While I don’t expect it would make a drastic difference, it will probably be useful in boosting endorsements in our region as a whole. I will review what is currently available to me and consult with the Security Council on what it should look like as a finished product before trying to undertake some work on it. However, I will make no promises as to whether it could be completed by the end of the term.
Any questions?
And so I present to you my philosophy for the office of the Vice Delegate and the ideas I wish to enact if elected. I hope this convinces you, dear voter, that I should be the next Vice Delegate of The North Pacific. As always, I welcome any sensible questions.
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