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**Amerion** · 10-12-2018, 03:13 AM

Polls tighten in two key races ahead of final tally

[Election Central] October 12

With 40 hours remaining until polls close across The South Pacific, current voting patterns suggest tight races in two races.

Islanders enjoy a customary 'democracy sausage' after casting their ballots

In the most closely watched race of every election season, Mr. The Serres Republic is leading first-time Prime Ministerial candidate and Minister of Regional Affairs Islands of Unity 12 to 9 votes.

The Minister of Military Affairs also show a surprising tight race. Chair Roavin is running uncontested in the election but a strong showing by Re-Open-Nominations (RON) has the favourite looking nervous ahead of Sunday’s final tally by the Election Commission. The race has Chair Roavin ahead in an 11 to 10 vote.

Councillor Pencil Sharpeners is having an easier time dispatching with RON. The candidate for Minister of Regional Affairs currently has an unanimous vote of 21 to 0 vote.

In the race for Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Military Affairs Somyrion leads Associate Justice Glen-Rhodes (Sandaoguo) by 15 to 7 votes.

While current voting patterns suggest a close race for Prime Minister and Minister of Military Affairs, private voting may tip the scales in either direction. The anonymised private ballots will be released along with the election results by Election Commissioner Belschaft.

Polling stations will close on the 14th of October at 00:00 BST (23:00 UTC 13th of October).

**Amerion** · 10-12-2018, 01:11 PM

Election Commissioner admonishes leaking

[Legislators’ Lounge] October 13

In a rebuke of candidates’ behaviour, the Election Commissioner, Mr. Belschaft, issued a series of statements denouncing the recent leaks of sensitive information.

‘I am not happy with the release of semi-classified/confidential material from a Cabinet controlled channel as part of an election campaign.’

Mr. Belschaft issued an informal notice to the candidate for Prime Minister, Mr. Islands of Unity, for his potentially illegal behaviour. The Election Commissioner referred back to his writ of election, which stated that the Commission would refer any legal transgressions conducted during the election to the appropriate authorities.

Mr. Islands of Unity has been named in a High Court case by the candidate for Minister of Military Affairs and current Chair of the Assembly, Mr. Roavin, for the crime of espionage. Mr. Roavin alleges Mr. Islands of Unity of having distributed confidential information contained within a Discord channel maintained by the Cabinet. Mr. Islands of Unity denies this allegation. Mr. Roavin also named himself as a person of interest in the case, due to his posting of a Cabinet transcript in his campaign thread. A High Court ruling to determine whether the case is justiciable is expected soon.

When asked by Mr. Roavin why he was not also being issued an informal notice for the same alleged crime, the Election Commissioner cited his secondary role in the affairs as the reason. ‘Well, based upon my understanding of what has occurred you didn’t so much release material from a confidential area as make publicly known that such a release had occured.’

The Election Commissioner previously objected to concerns over Mr. Islands of Unity use of direct-messaging campaigning.

‘As EC I’m not very happy with the attacks on Islands over his use of DM’s to campaign/target potential voters. It is entirely legal, and used to be incredibly common in TSP. I think most of our elections in the 2013-15 period saw extensive private campaigning by most candidates.’

‘The suggestion that he is doing something improper or illegal is completely false.’

(This post was last modified: 10-12-2018, 01:13 PM by Amerion.)

**Belschaft** · 10-13-2018, 11:56 AM

13th October 2018
For immediate release

SURGE IN "CRAZIEST" PRIVATE VOTING
Election Central, Fudgetopia Government Centre, Government Island

The Election Commission of the Coalition of the South Pacific can today announce an unprecedented surge in private ballots in the election for Craziest Person in the South Pacific. It is estimated that private ballots for this election are being received at a current rate of over five an hour, with over sixty private ballots already received today. Should this continue the Election Commission anticipates the highest ever recorded turnout in a forum based election.

Belschaft
Election Commissioner
[Image: wlftN2V.png]

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

PREVIOUS ROLES

(This post was last modified: 10-14-2018, 01:22 PM by Belschaft.)

**Amerion** · 10-14-2018, 02:41 PM

Interview with Prime Minister-elect

[Election Central] October 14

The Drama Llama Herald spoke with Prime Minister-elect, The Serres Republic (Serres), about his plans for the incoming Cabinet and his own personal aspirations. The following are excerpts of that conversation, transcribed by the Herald. They have been lightly edited for readability.

DLH: Congratulations on your election, Prime Minister-elect.

SERRES: Thank you! Im really excited to move into the next term. I really think we are posed to succeed as a region right now and I'm super grateful that voters have given me the opportunity to lead them!

DLH: In your campaign, you argued for a consistent and reliable position in the gameplay community. Given that the Coalition has, in the past, made blunders in this area, with Cabinet Ministers contradicting the official policy, how might you handle a similar situation? Will you be barring, as has been proposed in the previous incidents, government officials from speaking in gameplay - so as to not risk contradiction?

SERRES: This has always been a hard issue for us, with our Cabinet never really having a solution to the issue due to the independence of each Minister. I do not wish to restrict that independence either because the right to manage their ministries is a huge deal for me, something I will always aim to protect. This however has the devil's advocate argument of 'Well Minister's with too much independence put us at risk of repeat our past mistakes.'

I truly believe I have found a solution to this issue and that is respectful cabinet unity and a clear, defined process. I will be pushing for intensive private discussion to be conducted before any public posts are released. This will ensure that we can all be on the same page and not contradict each other unintentionally when posting in public areas.

Furthermore I will not allow disrespect between cabinet members. We can disagree without flaming each other and it is my primary goal during inter cabinet discussions to enforce this mindset with a heavy hand. It is my intention to build respect between cabinet members by forcing them to respect each other's voices and opinions. No such thing as stupid questions. No such thing as an incorrect approach. We will hear everyone out and then settle on a policy we can all agree on before moving into the realm of the public forum.

DLH: Former Prime Minister, Mr. Roavin, controversially proposed a Motion of No Confidence in himself and the Cabinet. Should you find yourself unable to effectively lead with what may be an uncooperative Cabinet, do you envision taking a similar route as the former Prime Minister took.

SERRES: A Motion of No Confidence is a necessary tool to ensure that the region can be protect by toxic, non productive, or dangerous leadership. It should be treated as a necessary last resort which I personally to this day believe was prematurely used in that case by Roavin as a PM. Not only was the Cabinet term closing out, allowing for potential new leadership, but after officially investigating the incident I can confidently say that the issues were a matter of respect between Cabinet Members. Something that could have been overcome with proper approach and policy. However to answer your question, as a last resort I would definitely use that tool to protect the region as TSP is my top priority.

DLH: Transparency and communication has been a major issue of the current administration. How do you intend on improving in these areas?

SERRES: I agree! Which is why the first step is just posting updates the top priority for me will be official statements immediately after policy has been decided via the previously described method. This alone will do a huge part in beating that issue.

DLH: You have raised the issue of under-staffing as one of the most important problems facing the Coalition. Could you expound on what you mean by this?

SERRES: To give a few examples of the problem. 1: Roavin who is a General and a Forum Administrator running for Minister of Military Affairs. 2: Glenn who is a member of the Council on Regional Security, Associate Justice of the High Court, and a Forum Administrator, running for Minister of Foreign Affairs 3: Vietnam holding both General and LegComm. 4: Us [The South Pacific] only having one Legislator Committee member (when we should have 3).

I can keep going, the fact is that we don't have enough hands to run the region efficiently. I plan to change that by actively scouting out and including members that have established themselves and are on the cusp of being ready for leadership. A few examples would be IoU, Yourself [Amerion], and Prarie. I then, with the help of the cabinet, push right forward with getting these types of people into the different ministries and directly assisting the Ministers while being educated on how to hold the positions and run them.

Additionally I will be continuing and strengthening our recruitment telegrams to bring in more new faces to train for this purpose as well.

DLH: What is your opinion of the Southern World Assembly Initiative?

SERRES: I plan on continuing to work on SWAI in the coming term. I am really excited to see where this Initiative goes!

DLH: The South Pacific recently saw the involuntary exit of two of its most prominent members, Tim and Escade. What do you make of those events?

SERRES: I have been in TSP for 4 years almost now (The entirety of my NS career) I am close friends with a ridiculous amount of people in the region and that event really struck home. Not only do Tim and Escade no longer consider me a friend for choosing to stay with TSP. It was an emotional and difficult event for me and it was compounded by Resentine my closest friend on NS leaving as well. However; in his and their honor, regardless of what has happened or will happen, I am moving forward with the goal of repairing my home. It is my hope that one day TSP will be even better than it was before. That is going to take work and proper leadership however and that is why I am here. I’m standing because my friends cannot and I see it as my duty to lead in their absence.

DLH: Is there anything you would like to say to your opponent in the election, Mr. Islands of Unity?

SERRES: I want him to know that with the proper training and adjustment of mindset he could really be fit to lead TSP. He is on my shortlist of candidates to train for that after all. He seems to approach this in a way that is too much like RL politics. We are building a community, not a country, we need to get along and respect each other in order to do that, fighting with longstanding members is not the way to build an active and close knit community! In the coming term I'm inviting him to join me in helping find great new members to train while also teaching him about all of the stuff he doesn't know himself. Like who our important allies our, what our regional history entails, and the way our community functions on the minute and massive!

DLH: Thank you very much Prime Minister-elect for taking the time to talk with us.

**Amerion** · 10-14-2018, 02:42 PM

**Amerion** · 10-14-2018, 03:00 PM

Prime Ministerial Candidate Islands of Unity Concedes

[Election Central] October 14

In a concession speech given at the steps of Election Central, the Minister of Regional Affairs and former Prime Minister candidate Islands of Unity conceded the race for the Office of Prime Minister.

‘The people have spoken, I am proud to say congratulations to Serres. Going forward I’ll be looking at how to serve the region, how to better myself and those around me, and how to advance my goals from outside of an office.’

The Minister also threatened the Minister of Military Affairs-elect and current Chair of the Assembly, Roavin, with a Motion of No Confidence.

‘As big as the urge is to say that it is now the time for unity, I can say that I am considering posting a MoNC [Motion of No Confidence] in the newly elected MoMA [Minister of Military Affairs], but well see how that goes and if he changes his ways and acts like a decent person.’

The two politicians sparred constantly throughout the election period. Mr. Roavin had alleged impropriety on the part of Mr. Islands who had mounted a private-messaging campaign to his supporters. Minister Islands responded that he was focused on other matters and would not be drawn into a conflict with the Chair.

The Minister also spoke to his supporters about his plans for the future.

‘I might be looking at a run for chair, or a position in a islandsism campaign for chair now that the position is open But that's just speculation, ill be taking it day by day seeing how the region needs me and my skill set. [sic]’

**Amerion** · 10-16-2018, 11:23 AM

Interview with Minister of Military Affairs-elect Roavin

[Office of the Chair of the Assembly] October 17

The Drama Llama Herald recently sat down with Minister of Military Affairs-elect, Roavin, at Office of the Chair of the Assembly for an interview on his upcoming term. The following are excerpts of that conversation, transcribed by the Herald. They have been lightly edited for readability.

DLH: Congratulations on your election, Minister-elect.

ROAVIN: Thank you!

DLH: Following his concession speech for Prime Minister, outgoing-Minister of Regional Affairs Islands of Unity said he would consider a Motion of No Confidence in you on the basis of your treatment of him during the election. What is your response to this threat?

ROAVIN: Well, first, it shows a lack of understanding of our laws. A Motion of No Confidence applies to the Cabinet as a whole, not to a single minister. Second, I predict that my work will speak for itself.

DLH: What are your immediate priorities as Minister?

ROAVIN: The first priority is to get SPSF shaking and moving again. Recent events in our region, coupled with a general lull in the R/D meta-game, have led to some stagnation in our military. We need to recruit a few fresh faces and keep them interested and motivated with more operations, both alone and with others.

DLH: In the past, how has recruitment for the South Pacific Special Forces been organised and how successful were these initiatives?

ROAVIN: Many different methods have been used. Participation in the military is part of our welcoming dispatch system. We have also utilised regional telegrams, RMB posts, advertisement on the forum and Discord, and even personalised telegrams to nations that seem like they would be interested. I don't think any one of these methods worked better or worse than any other, but rather that the combination of these efforts will be necessary if we're going for maximum growth.

DLH: What is the ideal relationship between the Minister of Military Affairs and the General Corps?

ROAVIN: In theory: The Minister is the civilian head of the military and deals with recruitment, public relations, FA cooperation, and such matters; meanwhile, the General Corps plans and executes the missions and keeps the soldiers trained and in check. In practice, these separate areas of responsibilities bleed into each other somewhat. This is not a bad thing, though — it doesn't matter to me who does something, so long as it's being done, and ideally, things are done such that the best person for a job is the one doing it. So, ideally, the relationship is just one of cooperation. Work together, make it awesome.

DLH: Your own relationship with Minister Islands has been heated at times. Is this something Islanders can expect to further escalate?

ROAVIN: Given that the election season has just ended, I suspect that things will calm down. Nonetheless, I will still make myself heard when I believe IoU, or anyone else, is not acting with the region but rather with a personal interest in mind.

DLH: What is your take on the events surrounding the proscription cases during the last Cabinet term?

ROAVIN: There are many unfortunate things about it; I'm not sure if it's worth rehashing them all. That they were issued as they were is, in part, a result of the turbulence our region experienced in the past few months, and have unfortunately negatively affected our standing in the NationStates multiverse. The court case did not help either, and despite my considerable satisfaction with the court under Chief Justice Kringalia, I'm not very happy with that ruling as it was issued. That being said, this is all fixable, and whether it's done by the outgoing Cabinet or by the new incoming Cabinet, I'm certain it will be satisfactorily addressed soon enough.

DLH: While foreign affairs is not within your purview this upcoming Cabinet term, may I ask what your worldview is?

ROAVIN: Well, first, I love foreign affairs, it's probably my favourite area of Cabinet business! I have a somewhat complex worldview that is hard to put to words in a cogent and concise fashion whilst still adequately portraying the nuances. I'll give it a try, though.

In general terms: I value regional sovereignty, in the sense that I strongly believe that the nations that consider a region their home should be the nations that decide on its governance, unimpeded by the whims of outside influence. In the context of GCRs, that certainly makes me a Francoist of sorts; in the context of UCRs, it makes me a defender of sorts. That's pretty consistent with my history as well - I was the most high-profile Defender for quite some time, and yet still always considered the South Pacific my home. I've retired from being a nominal Defender, concentrating instead on my home here, but I've kept my ideals as they are. Of course, that all being said: If you mess with my home region, or are generally espousing hate, I very much stop caring about your regional sovereignty.

DLH: Thank you very much Minister-elect Roavin for taking the time to talk with us.

Image credit: “Paul Ryan's interview with "CBS This Morning" – full transcript,” CBS News, last modified April 12, 2018, click here for the article.

(This post was last modified: 10-17-2018, 07:20 AM by Amerion.)

**Amerion** · 10-18-2018, 09:54 AM

New Cabinet Takes Office

Prime Minister Serres speaking before his supporters at Fudgetopia Government Centre

[Election Commission, Election Central] October 18

In a speech at the Election Commission today, Election Commissioner Belschaft officially certified the October 2018 Cabinet Elections.

The Serres Cabinet is as follows:

— Mr. The Serres Republic as Prime Minister;

— Mr. Pencil Sharpeners as Minister of Regional Affairs;

— Mr. Somyrion as Minister of Foreign Affairs; and

— Mr. Roavin as Minister of Military Affairs.

Minister Pencil Sharpeners, who now assumes the portfolio of Regional Affairs, is the only member of the Cabinet to have never served as an official in the executive branch. His election comes after a successful tenure as Local Councillor.

‘I’m very happy that the region has elected me to serve as their Minister of Regional Affairs’, the Minister said, ‘I’ll work hard to make sure I justify the faith that people have shown in me, and get the Ministry producing lots of cool stuff for the region.’

The new Cabinet begins immediately.

Image credit: “Canada PM Trudeau sworn in, reveals diverse, gender-equal Cabinet,” Dawn News (Reuters), last modified November 5, 2015, click here for the article.

(This post was last modified: 10-18-2018, 09:55 AM by Amerion.)

**Amerion** · 10-18-2018, 02:19 PM

To our readers, the Drama Llama Herald will be publishing a weekly briefing, appropriately titled the Weekly Digest. While it is still in the early stages of design and content creation, the general idea is to pack all the major news from Fudgetopia Government Centre into a two-minute summary. The Herald is also introducing 'This Week's Drama Llama', who is a person who has (for better or for worse) created the most news in The South Pacific.

(This post was last modified: 10-19-2018, 05:19 AM by Amerion.)

**Amerion** · 10-23-2018, 07:56 AM

Government Still Searching for an Election Commissioner

Councillor and Associate Justice Sandaoguo pleads for just one Election Commissioner

[Election Commission Headquarters] October 23

Election for the Chair of the Assembly is on hold until an Election Commissioner can be made available.

Minister of Military Affairs Roavin had previously occupied the Chair but having been elected to the Ministry, vacated the Office on October 18.

In accordance with the Charter, Deputy Chair Rebeltopia currently serves as Acting Chair, thereby authorising him to exercise all powers and responsibilities of the Chair.

While the Elections Act mandates that the Election Commission consist of at least one unique member from the Forum Administration Team, the Council on Regional Security, and the High Court, past elections have only been supervised by one Commissioner due to a shortage of eligible persons.

A proposal is currently on the floor of the Assembly to amend the number of Commissioners to one person who shall serve as Commissioner in a permanent capacity.

The lack of an elected Chair coupled with activity surrounding the past election has had an impact on the proper functioning of the Assembly. The Legislator Committee, currently comprised solely of Mr. USoVietnam, has requested a list of Legislators who are due to be unmasked for inactivity. The list is two weeks late.

Meanwhile, in a statement provided to the Herald, Minister Roavin sought to assuage any potential discontent among Legislators.

‘I'm sure [a Commissioner] will be found soon,’ Minister Roavin said, ‘Fortunately, our laws are set up in a way where a vacant CoA is not the end of the world scenario and the assembly can still function (though obviously it functions better with a sitting Chair).’

The new Chair will serve a term lasting four months.

Image credit: “Mitch McConnell Is Killing the Senate,” John Nichols, The Nation, last modified October 4, 2018, click here for the article.