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***Roavin*** · 09-02-2017, 09:06 PM

Hello South Pacificans,

nearly two weeks ago, the Southern Journal released Issue XXIV. One of the articles was a mid-term regional poll including analysis, and quoted several comments by members taking the poll. Today, I want to take time to address some of the recurring comments concerning the cabinet. I won't quote and respond to each individual comment, but rather I'll summarize the various comments into topics and address those.

"What does the Prime Minister actually do? What even is the point of that job?"
My job is multi-faceted; what I'm doing at any one time depends less on what the job description says (which is quite vague), and more on what is needed at any given moment. That includes helping with advice and deeds the individual ministries, talking to foreign dignitaries, coordinating with the Council on Regional Security, addressing individual members of the region, and much more. In many ways, I can be considered the glue between many parts of the region's infrastructure.

To give a specific example of something I've done this term was the process that led to what has now been passed as the Border Control Act. Prompted by foreign nations in our region trying to keep Drugged Monkeys away from the Delegacy, I coordinated with the Council on Regional Security to evaluate the legal options for preventing that from happening. I then drafted an emergency Executive Order, discussed it with the Cabinet and we reached unanimous consent to pass it if necessary (basically, the idea was that it could be posted by any Minister, even if I was asleep, the moment it became necessary to actually do something). With that in place, I drafted the first version of what you now know as the Border Control Act. After a few iterations of discussions with the other cabinet ministers and the members of the Council on Regional Security, I once again ensured that the Cabinet gave unanimous preemptive sign-off (for the same reasons as above), and then posted that Act in the assembly for discussion.

Of course, anybody else could have drafted the executive order and the initial draft of the bill as well, but the point that hopefully shows is that I'm the organizer to ensure that things that need to happen, happen. Given interregional happenings this term, much of my attention has been focused outward so far, though I hope to spend some more time inward now for the rest of this term.

"Why do we have a Prime Minister? Why doesn't the Delegate do that?"
This was a deliberate change last year as part of the Great Council. Before, the WA Delegate position was also the head of the government. Now, the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, dealing with the political day-to-day, while the WA Delegate is a non-political office given to a person we trust to keep the region safe.

"Is the Foreign Affairs department actually doing anything? I just see stuff from the South Pacific Special Forces..."
Yes, it is! The current Game of Thrones festival with the Pacific is one of Escade's brainchildren. Meanwhile, the MoFA team is actively talking to several regions to bolster our foreign affairs profile, and obviously, the entire Lazarus situation required a lot of Foreign Affairs work in various directions. We could be better at communicating this to the region - constructive criticism on how to do that is always appreciated and encouraged!

"Ugh, I get too many telegrams..."
Sorry! Our Regional Communications Act sets limits on the number and kinds of Telegrams that can be sent to the region, and I think across the Delegate, the Local Council, and the Cabinet Ministers, we've used this feature quite sparingly. Still, if you feel annoyed, please tell either us or Drugged Monkeys, who as Delegate is the arbiter of what gets sent to the region and what doesn't get sent.

"It's not dead, but we could use more from the Ministry of Regional Affairs."
I agree - and you may just be the person to help make that happen! As always, the Ministry is looking for people to get involved. No matter what your skillset or interests are, the Ministry has ways you can contribute. Take a look here if interested. If you don't want to or can't get involved, but have ideas for things that the Ministry can do, please do reach out to Spenty, Punchwood, or myself with your ideas.

Thank you, and as always, I check this thread daily longing with great desire for your questions so that I can answer them and feel fulfilled! Tounge

-- Roavin

***Roavin*** · 10-15-2017, 08:53 AM

Hello South Pacificans,

elections are now over! I was reelected as Prime Minister. Seraph/Erinor has come back into the Cabinet and will take the Regional Affairs position again. Escade will move from Foreign Affairs to Military Affairs. One new face is Tim Stark, who will now be our new Foreign Affairs minister. I'm excited, and confident that this will be a very productive term.

For the next week, we will be transitioning from the old to the new cabinet. Since I'm incumbent, I will mostly be working with the new ministers to help them get their departments set up for the coming term.

And, as always, your questions (about anything) make me happy, so ask me all the things!

-- Roavin

Omega · 12-12-2017, 04:15 PM

The Sunshine Act stipulates:

Quote:(1) The discussions of the Cabinet shall be released every 8 months for public archival accessible to all members of The South Pacific.

and:

Quote:(2) In the event that Cabinet discussions older than 8 months have failed to be published, the current Cabinet must publish those discussions in a speedy manner.

As such I am formally petitioning the Cabinet to release all threads that are older than April 12, 2017. Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Above all else, I hope to be a decent person.
Has Been
What's Next?

CoA: August 2016-January 2017
Minister of Foreign Affairs: October 2019-June 2020, October 2020- February 2021

***Roavin*** · 12-12-2017, 04:29 PM

Absolutely - we'll get to work on it very soon.

***Roavin*** · 01-02-2018, 08:38 PM

Hello South Pacificans,

one of my campaign promises was to regularly post these updates to keep you informed and us accountable — ...well, that hasn't worked out as planned, though not for nefarious reasons but rather because of timing and whatnot. I'll shift and move to do one roughly every week from now on, no matter what I actually have to update you on, because then that won't be forgotten.

Now, a quick update on how the ministries are going: Foreign Affairs has been calm in a good way. Tim and the rest of the MoFA Team have kept a tight ship, keeping in touch with allies and generally calming the storm from the previous term's madness caused by the Lazarus coup. The only actual interregional incident was Osiris' decision to proscribe our region, though this was out of the control of the FA team as it was caused by reactionary partisanship than actual substance.

In Military Affairs, the South Pacific Special Forces have been very active as usual. If you haven't seen it, this incredible report by General USoVietnam outlines what SPSF has been doing (and it's been alot). What we are still working on is getting into compliance with the new military code — specifically, we still need to finish the rank requirements. Expect this to be done within the month, however.

And in Regional Affairs ... well, do I even need to say something? The RA has been stupefyingly active; so much so that there was even the thought at one point if such a thing as "festival fatigue" exists. Erinor/Seraph and the rest of the team have been doing incredible work.

By the way, there are always things to do! You don't need to be a legislator or even active forum-side at all to be able to help out, gain experience, and have fun working in the various departments. The FA team currently needs more ambassadors so that we can spread to all the intended regions. The regional affairs department can absolutely use a few more journalists, asking the hard questions and writing the breaking news. And finally, the military is always happy to have a new soldier or two. Try it, you may like it!

Now, of course the Cabinet as a unit has been busy too, and at least the legislators know exactly with what. The assembly recently passed the Legislator Committee Act which reforms the way the South Pacific handles legislator applications. Once fully implemented, it will be a great step toward a faster and more secure process. At the moment, I'm the sole member on the Committee temporarily, handling applications and setting up a framework for the full committee to work with. For the past month, the Cabinet has conducted interviews and had many discussions to find the perfect three people to run the committee and make it the best it can be, and I'm proud of our three choices — The Assembly will soon vote to confirm Feirmont, USoVietnam, and Farengeto to the committee, at which point I will resign from it again.

With that done, we will turn our attention to another Sunshine Act release. This means that we will be declassifying most Cabinet conversations older than 8 months, a further measure toward transparency. We will get on that as soon as my brief stint on the Committee ends (presumably by next week), and that should be done relatively quickly.

Well .. that's all for now. I'll get back to you next week, and as always, I absolutely love answering your questions and could do it all day!

-- Roavin

southern bellz · 01-04-2018, 09:00 PM

"The only actual interregional incident was Osiris' decision to proscribe our region, though this was out of the control of the FA team as it was caused by reactionary partisanship than actual substance."

What does this mean?

The 16th Delegate of The South Pacific

***Roavin*** · 01-05-2018, 03:22 AM

(01-04-2018, 09:00 PM)southern bellz Wrote: "The only actual interregional incident was Osiris' decision to proscribe our region, though this was out of the control of the FA team as it was caused by reactionary partisanship than actual substance."

What does this mean?

Oops, I forgot a word! It's supposed to be:

"The only actual interregional incident was Osiris' decision to proscribe our region, though this was out of the control of the FA team as it was caused by reactionary partisanship rather than actual substance."

***Roavin*** · 01-20-2018, 10:31 AM

Hello South Pacificans,

first, congratulations to Seraph/Erinor on winning the Delegate election! We're sad to see him leave the Cabinet, but on the other hand, we're also sure he will make a fantastic Delegate. For the rest of the term (one month), Kanglia will take over the reigns in the Regional Affairs Ministry. This was by Seraph/Erinor's recommendation, who has left an active, organized Ministry in good shape (and, presumably, will continue to contribute regardless). Meanwhile, the Delegate transition is being planned, with us already reaching out to our friends allies to garner support for the transition when the endorsement count is appropriately close.

I've heard some rumors here and there that people felt Foreign Affairs was not active - quite the contrary, and we have something to show for it now! The FA departments of the South Pacific, the East Pacific, and the Rejected Realms have now revealed The January Accords, a treaty amongst those three regions. The direct highlights include mutual defense, intelligence sharing, cultural cooperation; indirectly, this will be a major step in the Foreign Affairs portfolio of our region. The Assembly will vote on this in a few days, and I'm certain it will pass. More things are in the Foreign Affairs oven, though I'm not sure yet which of these will make it out before the term is over (FA can be a slow, arduous process at times).

The Legislator Committee, a topic near and dear to me, has been off to a rocky start. The reasons here are many (and some of it is my doing), but USoVietnam and Farengeto are settling in now, finally with established security check processes. I expect that the Committee will outgrow the last few growing pains within the next month, at which point these things will run faster and more secure than ever before.

You can expect a Sunshine Act release of old cabinet files within the next few days. Otherwise, as always, I love answering your questions, so spam me with them!

-- Roavin

**Belschaft** · 01-20-2018, 01:56 PM

Can I be Deputy PM?

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

***Roavin*** · 01-20-2018, 02:01 PM

(01-20-2018, 01:56 PM)Belschaft Wrote: Can I be Deputy PM?

I offer the job of Chief of Subversion and Sandwich Making, on the understanding that you maintain a ratio of three sandwiches to every act of subversion.