Southern Journal - Issue XXVII: PM Powers, Missing Cabinet

[Southern Journal]

TOP STORY: TSP GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE
Ministry of Regional Affairs organises Back to the Future Festival

Marty McFly and Doc Brown when they arrived at the South Pacific

South Pacificans donned their lampshades this week for the arrival of Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown on October 21, the day they were supposed to arrive at the future. Celebrations have been ongoing as part of a Back to the Future Festival organised by the Ministry of Regional Affairs, simultaneously with the Spirit of Adventure Festival jointly hosted with Albion.

A special subforum was created and placed at the top of the index page, containing several forum games and activities related to the classic trilogy. These activities have include the sharing of links and videos related to the trilogy, including a trailer of Jaws 19 by Universal Pictures, and alternate history scenarios based on the regional roleplay.

In addition to these, a nation was created by the Ministry and will serve as a time capsule. Residents have been encouraged to send telegrams to it before it ceases to exist, after the usual 28 days of inactivity. It is set to be revived on 21 October 2017, when all telegrams it received will be released to the public.

While no official announcement has been made, sources close to the Ministry of Regional Affairs say that another festival will be held for Halloween. It is unclear what activities that festival will include or whether it will be held individually or with an ally.

---

Great Council extended by Chair Farengeto
Farengeto has motioned to extend the duration of the Council

Farengeto sitting on his Chair

Chair of the Assembly Farengeto motioned earlier today for an extension to the submissions period of the Great Council, citing a general lack of activity within it. In compliance with the Great Council Organising Act, the submissions period was set to finish tomorrow, after which nobody would have been allowed to submit further proposals for consideration.

Currently debate has centered on proposals to reform the structure of the High Court and enhancing the powers of the Local Council, though discussion in both and other subjects has been much less active in comparison to the previous Great Council. Other minor discussions involve two proposals by Hileville to remove the Chair of the Assembly from the Cabinet and to allow the Delegate to appoint his Cabinet, and a proposal by Sandaoguo to legislate the powers of the Delegate to appoint Regional Officers.

Originally the Great Council was set to begin voting on proposals on October 29. With the extension requested by Farengeto, voting will now begin on November 5, with most votes expected to finish five days later, which is the required time for Charter amendments.

What is the Great Council?

Great Councils are constitutional conventions where citizens can discuss wide-ranging changes to the Charter and the Code of Laws, the two basic legal documents in the South Pacific. Legally they can be convened by any citizen at any time of their choosing, provided that at least six months have passed since the previous one. Traditionally, Great Councils have only been convened with consensus from the community or at least from the more active citizens.

It was first convened in 2003 by Slackervania, following negotiations with longtime government opponent Casalanario, though at the time there was no legal provision on the matter. A Great Council was most recently convened in February 2015 by then-Delegate Tsunamy to discuss the implementation of mechanisms for greater gameside integration.

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Hammerstar promoted to Depite
Minister of the Army proposed Hammerstar to Deputy Minister

Logo of the South Pacific Special Forces

On October 12 Minister of the Army Siberian announced the promotions of Alisa and Hammerstar within the internal rank structure of the Special Forces. In promoting Alisa to Solda Met or Master Soldier, Siberian praised her willingness to quickly respond to missions and her abilities as timekeeper and updater.

However, the highest promotion went to Hammerstar, who was promoted to Depite or Deputy Minister, making him the second highest ranking soldier after Siberian himself. In his congratulatory message, the Minister praised Hammerstar for his attitude towards military gameplay, saying he was the first to respond in any mission and had even organised a few of them himself.

In accordance with the Charter, the promotion gave Hammerstar the right to sit on Cabinet meetings, though voting remains a right exclusive to its elected members.

---

Were we Tsu-Pen-dous?
Analysing the Tsunamy Administration based on the results of the Government Approval Surveys.

Sandaoguo is the second longest serving Minister of Foreign Affairs in the South Pacific

Tsunamy was originally elected Delegate of the South Pacific on the promise of making the region tsu-pen-dous, a bold claim that placed a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders and implied he would have a personal hand in the improvement of South Pacifican culture and society. Throughout his two terms, the Southern Journal conducted several surveys that measured public perception on his administration and the performance of other government officials.

While two months have already passed since Tsunamy left the delegacy, the results from all these surveys are useful as a way of seeing how the public perceived his tenure and whether he succeeded in his primary aim of making the region tsu-pen-dous. We are now releasing the results of these surveys as a six-part series, with each part containing analysis on one Cabinet member during Tsunamy's second term. We hope this will shed some light and encourage debate about an important period in our recent history.

PART 4: SANDAOGUO

Sandaoguo returned to the Cabinet after a very heated election that made its way to the High Court. He ran on a platform to focus foreign policy on the cultural development of the South Pacific and seek out alliancces on the basis of cultural compatibility, rather than military alignment. Wolf opposed his candidacy under a promise to take the South Pacific back to an independent alignment and to seek out both defender and raider allies. Initially the election resulted in a tie, but a runoff election benefited Sandaoguo.

He was included in all three monthly surveys, consistently receiving the lowest approval ratings from all members of the Cabinet. He did not receive any Excellent ratings, the tendency throughout the term being towards a decrease in his Regular ratings, from 34% to 12%, while his Terrible and Lacks Visibility rising from 0% to 24% and from 34% to 41%, respectively.

Sandaoguo already had a preceding reputation, which had additionally been at least partially tarnished by the extremely politicised outcome of the election. It is because of this that his very first survey result left him the lowest ranked Minister even when there had not been much time for him to perform his job. Comments from participants help us understand why that negative perception became more pronounced in the following months:

"Lots of things going on outside TSP and TSP has no presence in any of it"

"Sandaoguo is an idealist, which is a good thing, but, he does not know when to compromise. He needs to understand that compromising with the Army and Foreign Regions are the same thing, and he needs to be more open to ideas, instead of sticking to his guns."

"He's doing something right if he keeps being re-elected."

"Little on the outside has been shown. He hasn't even been following through with his campaign promises."

"has he done anything other than fight with Wolf in virtually every thread? no info at all from MoFA and hasn't proceeded with any of campaign platforms"

"I struggle to identify much in terms of activity from the MoFA."

"Realizing the MoFA position isn't supposed to be the most visual, updates would be nice to see."

Some comments criticise his attitude during the election and his broader attitude towards politics in government, particularly his principled stances in debates like the appointment of Generals with whom he did not agree. However, we have to acknowledge that most comments aim at a lack of apparent activity and his failure to follow through with campaign promises, rather than his personal politics.

A recurrent theme within his late ministership and the subsequent July election were external communication, with several citizens and fellow candidate Hileville stressing the need to keep the citizenry updated on what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing. In that sense, the worsening ratings might well express frustration with the lack of updates and external communication from Sandaoguo, especially in comparison with the visible activities of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and the roleplayed reports of the Special Forces.

It has to be clarified that this analysis is merely of the public perception on Sandaoguo, not on his actual job performance. In his condition as longest serving Minister of Foreign Affairs in South Pacifican history, he certainly dealt with several situations and had a lasting influence in foreign policy. However, his latest term was coldly received by citizens, who had a less than favourable view of how he was handling his ministry.

PART 5: PROFESSORHENN will be published in the next issue!

Technical Data: Data was taken from four surveys conducted on February, April, May and June 2015. Residents of the South Pacific were the sample. Raw data may be provided upon request.

[Southern Journal]

BREAKING: FEIRMONT MAY ACTUALLY BE AN ODDISH
by Scylla

Artist's impression: The true form of Feirmont climbs out of the pancake disguise

THE SOUTH PACIFIC - In light of recent allegations of being a vampire, new evidence suggests that Feirmont may in fact be an 'oddish' in disguise of a pancake. Claims vary wildly, with some citizens and independent sources suggesting that Feirmont skinned a homeless pancake and wears it's skin everywhere. Others suggest that pancakes are an elaborate ruse created by the Oddish-kin d to hide their true identity.

[12:45] <@Feirmont> I know that sounds odd-ish

Some recent conversations within the Ministry of Regional Affairs conference room, recorded above, show Feirmont's recognition of his hidden identity. Other claims from prominent members of society such as Minister of Regional Affairs Kris Kringle also put Feirmont's true identity in question. This claim shakes the very foundation of TSP's government, harkening back to times of anarchy and despair.

Feirmont is still assumed to be the perpetrator of the crimes against pancake-kind.

[this article was written under threat and without pay]

[Xoriet]

Yesssss. Do you know how long I have waited for the Oddish revolution? And the pancakes did a noble thing by helping Feir.

[Shadoke]

I really enjoyed this article .

[Pierconium]

Very enjoyable read.

[Southern Journal]

TOP STORY: GREAT COUNCIL HEATS UP
by Punchwood

Citizens listening to debate at the Great Council

Debate at the ongoing Great Council has ignited since its previous extension. Initially the Council had been extended for one week due to a suggestion by Chair Farengeto. Shortly after, Sandaoguo proposed an indefinite extension of the submissions period due to the growing discussions taken place around the proposals to codify the responsibilities of Regional Officers and the creation of a separate head of government named the Prime Minister, as these had not yet been turned into actual bills.

While the indefinite extension was initially approved, Farengeto later secured a change in the submissions period that ensured it would soon close and voting would end just in time for the opening of the general election on November 15. Sandaoguo and Farengeto engaged in a back and forth debate regarding the merits of the indefinite extension, with supporters saying that proposals need to be carefully thought out and accommodate real life schedules, while opponents argue that the Council has been ongoing for over a month and should end at some point.

Currently there are bills on High Court reform, the codification of the duties of Regional Officers and the reintroduction of a Prime Minister. Most controversial has been the third proposal, which would make the Delegate serve indefinite terms open to challenging by any citizen, similar to the Brave Little Toaster system used before 2012. In addition, there would be an elected Prime Minister responsible for most of the offsite responsibilities currently discharged by the Delegate.

Many citizens have expressed support for the proposal, citing the potential empowerment of the gameside community with the election of the Delegate, though others have expressed concern over the security ramifications of a gameside delegacy election and have argued that this would only further divide the gameside and offsite communities. It is unclear whether the proposal will achieve the requisite 75% once it is taken to a vote.

Voting is expected to begin within the next 24 hours and will end at most on November 14, one day before nominations for the general election open.

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Regional Games Kick Off
by Scylla

Logo of the III South Pacific Regional Games

Today the III South Pacific Regional Games kicked off, drawing 19 contestants from over four regions, currently divided into three teams known as Husky, Beagle and Pug. Teams have already been sent the information regarding the first of three challenges, which is a flagmaking contest and will have to be completed in under three days in order to receive the most points and attain the first place at the end of the Games.

Hosted jointly by Minister of Regional Affairs Kringalia and former Vice Delegate Sam11, the Regional Games are hosted by the South Pacific Ministry of Regional Affairs and have already been highly successful in their previous editions. Previously the II Regional Games involved four challenges: a high-score competition, a songwriting competition, a picture identification challenge and a scavenger hunt, with Team Eagle eventually prevailing over Team Mockingbird.

Kringalia and ProfessorHenn, hosts of that event, noted the collaboration within each team and commended them for their effort and resolve, as well as the closer relationships they formed within their groups. Minister Kringalia has said he hopes the current Games will have the same positive outcome.

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Hileville reforms the Foreign Service
by Kringalia

Members of the Foreign Service

Foreign Minister Hileville announced on November 6 several reforms to the fledging Foreign Service, most prominently the discharge of all ambassadors and certain changes to the drafting and distribution of Foreign Services.

In his statement, the Minister cited the evolving nature of the Foreign Service and the need to ensure it could be sustained long after his own tenure. He further noted in a conversation with the Southern Journal that he was inspired by the performance of Arbiter08 as Envoy to Spiritus, deciding that it was more important to "focus on meeting people in the regions and learning about their culture and regional happenings" rather than merely distributing Foreign Updates.

As a consequence, Minister Hileville has honourably discharged all ambassadors and announced that he will personally distribute Foreign Updates. In addition, he has said Updates will produce original content and cite from regional media, in contrast to the previous system where officials were encouraged to indicate what news they would like to see included.

The Minister has expressed his confidence that these changes and the prospective appointment of Envoys to allied and certain friendly regions will prove more sustainable than the previous ambassadorial system, their role being to engage with citizens of their assigned regions through casual conversations and Q&A threads on their embassies, as a way to foster good bilateral relations.

---

Were we Tsu-Pen-dous?
Analysing the Tsunamy Administration based on the results of the Government Approval Surveys.

ProfessorHenn was first elected to the Cabinet within two months of becoming a citizen

Tsunamy was originally elected Delegate of the South Pacific on the promise of making the region tsu-pen-dous, a bold claim that placed a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders and implied he would have a personal hand in the improvement of South Pacifican culture and society. Throughout his two terms, the Southern Journal conducted several surveys that measured public perception on his administration and the performance of other government officials.

While three months have already passed since Tsunamy left the delegacy, the results from all these surveys are useful as a way of seeing how the public perceived his tenure and whether he succeeded in his primary aim of making the region tsu-pen-dous. We are now releasing the results of these surveys as a six-part series, with each part containing analysis on one Cabinet member during Tsunamy's second term. We hope this will shed some light and encourage debate about an important period in our recent history.

PART 5: PROFESSORHENN

ProfessorHenn had a conflicting reputation during and after his election. He was a newcomer and had been first elected to the Cabinet within his first two months as a citizen, a feat not many could equal. He also had a reputation for being a reformer, having promised during the preceding Great Council that he would get the Special Forces on its feet, following repeated calls for its dissolution. However, he was implicated with the heavily politicised Minister of Foreign Affairs campaign once logs emerged of him aiding Wolf in attempting to convince citizens not to vote for Sandaoguo, some even allegating that there had been intimidation in certain cases.

It is thus not difficult to imagine why his first months in office suffered from lower approval ratings and higher negative ratings. We can see an Excellent of 6% contrasted by a Bad of 6% and a Terrible of 3% in April, followed by a rising Excellent of 29% with a 0% Bad and an also rising 7% of Terrible in May. What stands out is the sudden rise in approval in May that also suddenly drops in June. It could be argued that the rise is due to the performance review conducted by the Assembly on that month, which brought more visibility to achievements by the Special Forces that would not have been otherwise noticed.

Comments from respondents also help understand the perceptions from residents, as can be seen in the following:

"While certainly taking an active interest in recruiting, he lacks the true momentum that is needed in order to do true recruitment."

"He only works towards his own benefit and refrains from doing things that would negatively affect his standing with certain players. He should also start working for the Special Forces and training recruits all the time, as opposed to only when he needs to show he does something."

"He's done a good job announcing his successes, but the region still needs to hear about it more."

"ProfessorHenn has been good with activity, but a bit of dick otherwise."

"Needs to be more vocal about what is going on. I think they have given some life to a dead arm of the South Pacific."

One can notice that comments question his attitude and methods, but not necessarily his drive and determination. ProfessorHenn arguably did succeed in revitalising the Special Forces, though whether that success was self-sustainable can be a matter of debate, in particular because both the above comments and the Assembly review concided that recruitment and mission reports were vital to the continued success of the military.

ProfessorHenn eventually lost a bid to the delegacy on the July 2015 election after logs surfaced of him offering a position to current Vice Delegate Arbiter08 in exchange for him not running with Feirmont. He remained an active contributor at the Ministry of Regional Affairs before resigning his citizenship a few days ago.

PART 6: FEIRMONT will be published in the next issue!

Technical Data: Data was taken from four surveys conducted on February, April, May and June 2015. Residents of the South Pacific were the sample. Raw data may be provided upon request.

[Cormac Stark]

Currently there are bills on High Court reform, the codification of the duties of Regional Officers and the reintroduction of a Prime Minister. Most controversial has been the third proposal, which would make the Delegate serve indefinite terms open to challenging by any citizen, similar to the Brave Little Toaster system used before 2012. In addition, there would be an elected Prime Minister responsible for most of the offsite responsibilities currently discharged by the Delegate.

This is a really terrible idea. These ideas of "electing" -- and I use that term super loosely, because it's a complete fraud -- the Delegate by on-site endorsements, or having a Delegate who serves as Head of State with minimal power, or some combination of the two, have worked exactly three ways whenever tried:

1. Both the Delegate and the off-site community fall asleep at the wheel. This happened in The South Pacific while Southern Bellz was serving as Delegate in 2011, which enabled Devonitians (Sedge) to literally tart his way to the TSP Delegacy without anyone noticing.

2. Neither fall asleep at the wheel and the Delegate becomes frustrated by a lack of power. This happened in The North Pacific while Chodean Kal (Dalimbar) was serving as Delegate in 2007(?), leading him to briefly overthrow the constitutional government.

3. The off-site community falls asleep at the wheel but the Delegate (and/or in-game guardian council, in this case the CSS) doesn't. This happened in the West Pacific and has resulted in an increasingly powerful Delegate, who is in all likelihood about to become autocrat over both on-site and off-site.

Any of these results are possible depending on how various players react to the change. If the on-site Delegate becomes bored with a lack of off-site power and the off-site community becomes bored with a lack of on-site power, you get option 1. If off-site players see benefits in wielding power over a Feeder without any WA commitment, but the Delegate lacks any real power, you get option 2. If the Delegate plugs along voting in the WA and keeping the on-site community engaged, but the off-site gets bored with a lack of on-site power and relevance, you get option 3.

None of these options are good, but these have been the results every time this system has been tried in the Feeders and Sinkers. Everything old is not new and promising again. It's been tried and failed. You know what isn't failing? TNP's system, in its entirety. Why TSP would want to move back, toward failure, instead of forward, toward success, I have no idea. If anything is ailing TSP right now, it's your Assembly having too much power and your elected Cabinet. Further stripping the Delegate of power and further divorcing the on-site and off-site communities are not going to bring you the stability and activity you're hoping for. At best, you'll revert to your pre-Devonitians condition. At worst, you'll become TWP or the NPO. Hopefully you'll opt not to do that.

[Punk Daddy]

3. The off-site community falls asleep at the wheel but the Delegate (and/or in-game guardian council, in this case the CSS) doesn't. This happened in the West Pacific and has resulted in an increasingly powerful Delegate, who is in all likelihood about to become autocrat over both on-site and off-site.

Not related to the quote above, I hated the challenge system in TSP back in the day. TSP was very clique-ish and you had to have some serious stones to "challenge" the system. The culture appears to be very different now which is a good thing.

Related to the quote above TWP has regularly changed delegates over the past several years without any of those delegates becoming autocrats. The reason is simple, missed in Cormac's analysis is the Guardian system which does not place all power in the delegate's hands but places power in the hands of several. Those several have generally maintained that a year is pretty good term lengths for delegates.

So Cormac's 3rd conclusion is not necessarily what will happen. it is what could but it is not what IS happening in TWP. Feeders have always struggled with the question of how much power a delegate should be given. The answer does not need to be the same in all feeders. What works for TWP doesn't have to work for TEP or work for TSP.

Instead, what works in a region must meet the needs of the community or it will fail. I have always contended that there the delegate need be more than a figurehead in a feeder, but that was always because of a concern about rogue delegates who can assert real power in regions more than an altruistic notion.

I am glad to see TSP considering its options here, but I would hope that TSP finds her own way and not be overly concerned with the paranoia of some who have motives over how the world should be.

[Kringalia]

I agree with those concerns about the Prime Minister proposal. I have not participated in the Great Council, but I am pretty sure that dividing the duties of the delegacy will not lead to greater integration, as some believe, but rather will lead to the Delegate not engaging the offsite community as much and the Prime Minister not engaging the gameside community at all. Having the most powerful position act as a mostly powerless placeholder is a flawed solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

[Glen-Rhodes]

Voting on the Prime Minister proposal won't occur at all, because the rush to end the Great Council for no acceptable reason means there isn't any time to (a) actually finish writing the proposal and (b) hash out all the changes in other laws the proposal would require.

@Cormac: I think Regional Officers require a change in your analysis. Also, Dali being Dali isn't really a reason to not experiment.

[Kringalia]

With all due respect, Glen, we already have an indefinite Great Council. It's called the Assembly. If the Council has already been going on for a month and only now are bills being drafted, then that says something about our legislative process priorities. I am not blaming you for not drafting something earlier. I am merely saying that if prolonged discussion was needed, the Assembly was a more adequate venue.

[Glen-Rhodes]

With all due respect, Glen, we already have an indefinite Great Council. It's called the Assembly. If the Council has already been going on for a month and only now are bills being drafted, then that says something about our legislative process priorities. I am not blaming you for not drafting something earlier. I am merely saying that if prolonged discussion was needed, the Assembly was a more adequate venue.

Then, as I told you before, do away with Great Councils altogether if you feel all of this should be done in the normal Assembly.

Frankly, Farengeto's behavior has been unacceptable. He demanded he chair the Great Council, but was hostile to holding one from the start. He's been all over IRC saying he hates it, that he never wanted it to happen in the first place, and now that he's happy he gets to "celebrate tonight amidst of the fires" of it. Had he done the job he demanded he get, then perhaps the Great Council wouldn't have relied on me and Hileville to get the ideas flowing and the proposals written.

I'm sure NS Gameplay doesn't care much about this, though. So I'm just going to take this to our own forums.

[Kringalia]

Then, as I told you before, do away with Great Councils altogether if you feel all of this should be done in the normal Assembly.

Great Councils are already the same as the Assembly. They have the same membership and are subject to the same legislative passage requirements. As a matter of practice they are one and the same, with the difference that in the Assembly there are no submission limits.

and now that he's happy he gets to "celebrate tonight amidst of the fires" of it.

I know where you got that quote from. Please don't share logs from that channel ever again.

[Cormac Stark]

Great Councils are already the same as the Assembly. They have the same membership and are subject to the same legislative passage requirements. As a matter of practice they are one and the same, with the difference that in the Assembly there are no submission limits.

I thought there was a lower threshold for passing Charter amendments in a Great Council than in the Assembly?

[Farengeto]

now that he's happy he gets to "celebrate tonight amidst of the fires" of it.

I had said that as a joke.

[Farengeto]

Great Councils are already the same as the Assembly. They have the same membership and are subject to the same legislative passage requirements. As a matter of practice they are one and the same, with the difference that in the Assembly there are no submission limits.

I thought there was a lower threshold for passing Charter amendments in a Great Council than in the Assembly?

If there was, the recent Great Council Act stated only to the contrary.

[Cormac Stark]

If there was, the recent Great Council Act stated only to the contrary.

In that case, I would have to agree that there isn't much point in a Great Council. If it's identical in its voting process and threshold, any proposal made in a Great Council could just be made through the Assembly.

[Kringalia]

During the previous Council, we passed a Charter amendment that applied normal passage requirements to Great Council proposals.

[Cormac Stark]

During the previous Council, we passed a Charter amendment that applied normal passage requirements to Great Council proposals.

I see. Doesn't that basically make Great Councils pointless though? Or am I missing something?

[Glen-Rhodes]

now that he's happy he gets to "celebrate tonight amidst of the fires" of it.

I had said that as a joke.

You have not been joking about not wanting the GC, wanting it to end, being annoyed with it, showing disdain for it, etc. the whole time it's been going. Our region has a serious issue with its political officers not actually liking their jobs lately, but refusing to step down from them. I was reluctant to name you as chair because I knew you were already hostile to it, but you demanded the position and I didn't feel like nominating myself (the one who actually had been pushing for one for a long time) would be a politically feasible idea.

Whether you're "joking" or not, you clearly were over the whole thing, and decided it's better to end it because you no longer had any interest. I asked you to resign if you were no longer interested in participating and running the GC. Instead, you rushed its closure for no reason other than your personal disinterest, despite the requests of those players actually participating for more time, and ignoring the potential chaos it would be bring to change our governing system a mere week before the next scheduled election.

@Cormac: You are right. They are pointless. They weren't until Tsunamy pushed through the amendment making them identical to normal legislative business. I have argued to make them mean something, but TSP is a highly conservative region right now, and pretty much the whole political establishment don't want a whole lot of change to happen. It's strange, considering I was the one fighting against change last time around

[Todd McCloud]

Those who want to go back to the days of "delegate challenges", prime ministers, and the whole process of going through electing them and wiping out any challengers probably were not around TSP when these policies were in full swing. Bellz and I worked ourselves into that system, but it was extremely tough for a newbie to take hold in it.

If need be, I can address this to folks in TSP and speak a lil on it.

[Kringalia]

@Glen:
I'm not entirely sure how Farengeto forced the Council to end. He used the exact same tools that you used to push for an indefinite extension. The only difference is his motion succeeded, while yours failed to get the necessary second and third.

I do agree with Todd. Having someone successfully challenge the delegacy within the frame of one week is nearly impossible unless the delegate consents to it and the challenges has broad base support. We want to encourage participation, not make it more difficult.

[Punk Daddy]

Those who want to go back to the days of "delegate challenges", prime ministers, and the whole process of going through electing them and wiping out any challengers probably were not around TSP when these policies were in full swing. Bellz and I worked ourselves into that system, but it was extremely tough for a newbie to take hold in it.

If need be, I can address this to folks in TSP and speak a lil on it.

I would recommend that. "Extremely tough" may even be an understatement.

[Southern Journal]

Issue #21

TSP Weekly is a weekly newsletter published by the Ministry of Regional Affairs, associated with the Southern Journal, that summarises events in the South Pacific during the past week. It is aimed at those who have an interest in South Pacific events but cannot keep up with them on a regular basis.

• TSP re-establishes diplomatic relations with Osiris
  Foreign Minister Hileville announced on November 6 that the South Pacific was re-establishing diplomatic diplomatic with Osiris and accepted a request for gameside embassies. He mentioned past strains in the relationship but expressed a hope for future cooperation.
• Assembly debates Great Council reform
  Former Chair of the Assembly Sandaoguo has suggested that the figure of the Great Council be removed from the Charter, due to his belief that they are indistinguishable from normal Assembly business.
• Sandaoguo withdraws Prime Minister bill
  In protest for what he calls the premature closing of the submissions period at the Great Council, Sandaoguo has withdrawn his bill to transfer most government duties from the delegacy to a new position called the Prime Minister.
• Regional Games underway
  The third edition of the South Pacific Regional Games is underway, with three teams composed of participants from four different regions competing in three challenges that will test their skills at teamwork and creativity.
  
  ROLEPLAY
  
  
• CSPQ keeps the Battle of Sydney ongoing
  Fighting is still ongoing between law enforcement and the terrorist Constitutional Socialist Party in the Qvaitican city of Sydney. Presidential candidates have criticised Intelligence and Security Secretary Victor Cutter for not preventing the crisis.
• Walsh delivers defiant speech before the Tolsian Legislature
  Kringalian President Connor Walsh delivered a defiant speech before the Tolsian Legislature, days after a string of attacks by the terrorist group Orgoglio Belzano. He committed to dealing with the growing threat and ensuring that Tolsen had a peaceful development.

Written by the Ministry of Regional Affairs

[Southern Journal]

Incumbents lead preferences days before the election
Results from the November 2015 Election Survey

Recently the Southern Journal conducted two surveys. One was meant to give us an idea of who was in the mind of citizens as a potential candidate for the upcoming election. A second survey provided respondents with a list of potential candidates, based on the names obtained from the first survey, and asked them to rate their favourability or unfavourability towards each.

What follows are the graphs that show the results from the second survey and a brief analysis and explanation of the results for each position. Please be warned that these results are not to be viewed as an accurate predition of how the election will go and only reflect preferences before nominations and campaigning. It is entirely possible that some will nto actually run for office or will not do as predicted by this survey.

Delegate

Former Delegate Kringalia has the lead in this race, though he is closely followed by incumbent Delegate Feirmont. Both have high favourability and would lead a close race if they ran against each other, while other candidates have a tendency towards unfavourability, perhaps with the exception of Rebeltopia, who has mixed results in his favourability rating.

Feirmont benefits from his incumbent advantage and his experience in regional affairs, though some have expressed concern at a perceived lack of activity in recent weeks. Kringalia does have the advantage of being seen as very active in his current role as Minister of Regional Affairs, though he has not been as engaged in other government activities and has shown increasing distate for involvement in gameplay, something that might surface in any hypothetical campaign.

Vice Delegate

Whoever is chosen as a running mate would have relatively good favourability, though incumbent and former Vice Delegates Arbiter08 and Sam111 have more mixed results, with some unfavourable ratings as high as their favourable ratings. Both Imkihca and Farengeto have a distinct lean towards favourability, though Feirmont has a clear advantage over all, with very low unfavourability.

Feirmont benefits from his already considerable experience as Delegate, which makes him prepared to serve as Vice Delegate and take care of any problems that might arise during a hypothetical term. It is not entirely surprising to see Arbiter08 and Sam111 have lower ratings, since they have been slightly inactive in their previous roles. Farengeto and Imkihca on the other hand are unproven and potentially refreshening figures, which works to their advantage.

Chair of the Assembly

Farengeto has a clear incumbent advantage should he wish to keep his job as Chair of the Assembly. However, current Deputy Chair Awe has an equal advantage and would be a serious challenger, should he choose to run for the position. Former Chair Sandaoguo would have a slim chance, though he is said to be comfortable in his current position as Court Justice. Ryccia was mentioned in the first survey as a possible challenger, but it seems he would not fare well in an election.

If Farengeto does choose to run for reelection, it is possible that some will question his rule during the recent Great Council and his ability to compromise and pass the large reforms that were originally promised by Aramanchovia earlier this year. While Awe does not have that under his belt, he does show certain inactivity as of late, which would reduce his chances of enacting meaningful reform.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Incumbent Minister Hileville has a clear advantage in this election. Both Sandaoguo and Scylla could be serious challengers, but they would not necessarily have as much of a chance as getting elected. Scylla in particular might have been a serious contender, but not in a race involving a popular incumbent. With Sandaoguo comfortable in his position as Court Justice, Hileville will surely win reelection, assuming he does choose to run.

Hileville benefits from his more frequent communications with the region and his enactment of policies that are favourably seen by the citizenry. He resumed the practice of publishing Foreign Updates and restarted the Foreign Service, two things that set him apart from his less communicative predecessor. His recent deactivation of the ambassador corps might be a negative point in his campaign, given previous comments by Sandaoguo that an ambassador corps was unsustainable.

Minister of the Army

Siberian has a clear incumbent advantage, though General Resentine has similar favourability ratings and would have a serious chance at unseating him, were he to show interest in the position. Hammerstar and Alisa ran in the previous election and might garner some votes, though not enough to be serious challengers. Were Distortilla to run for a third time, he would still rank lowest, since his unfavourability is higher than the favourability of both Siberian and Resentine.

Though Siberian has benefited from the acitivity generated by his predecessor ProfessorHenn, he has not been as successful at making that activity known. Reports on previous missions are scarce and a full account of missions was not given until Chair Farengeto started discussions on the scheduled Special Forces review, currently held in the Private Halls of the Assembly. If Siberian does run for reelection, he will have to answer for a lack of communication and assure the region that progress with the military is being made.

Minister of Regional Affairs

Kringalia is sure to win reelection in a landslide if he chooses to go for a third term. Though other candidates would be competitive amongst themselves, they are far behind the incumbent in terms of favourability. Imkihca probably has the better chance at election if Kringalia does not run, followed by Feirmont and Bonaugure. Awe and Scylla might be competitive, though that would depend on the other candidates and how each runs their campaign.

Minister Kringalia benefits from high recognition due to the regularity of media issues and the frequent organisation of regional festivals, as well as his focus on roleplaying and gameside posting. One point of criticism against him would be his inability to follow through with certain projects, namely the regional radio and the historical project. Imkihca benefits from a clean slate and her record as a graphics expert, while Scylla would benefit in the same way that Feirmont benefited when he first ran for this position. Other contenders like Awe and Bonaugure are currently too inactive to make a serious run, though they do have the experience and credibility. Punchwood is placed last in preferences, though he has the experience and enthusiasm to mount a serious campaign.