| February 2021 Cabinet Election #2 - Minister of Culture Debate |
![[Image: wwRwWo8.png]](https://i.imgur.com/wwRwWo8.png) Year 18 | 07 February 2021 FEBRUARY 2021 CABINET ELECTION
MINISTER OF CULTURE DEBATE Moderator: James D. Halpert | Participants: Prarie and Royaltica Welcome to the February 2021 Minister of Culture Debate! I am James Halpert and I will be the moderator of this debate with Prarie and Royaltica, candidates for Minister of Culture. This debate is sponsored by the South Pacific Independent News Network. The format of this debate will consist of three sections: • The first section will feature questions for all candidates on their qualifications, intended policies and their visions for the coming term. • The second section will feature specific questions for each candidate. • The third section will allow each candidate to ask one question to their opponent(s), after which a few minutes for discussion will be allowed. Candidates are asked to clearly mark the end of their answers so that I may know when to invite the other candidate to answer or to move on to the next question and to answer no later than 3 minutes after a question has been asked. If any candidate wishes to respond to their opponent at any time, they should first ask for the floor; the goal of this is to keep an orderly flow of discussion and avoid excessive interruptions. Opening Statements [Prarie] Hi everyone, I'm Prarie. I've been in the Cabinet before, and with your vote, you can send me back. As Minister of Culture, I will reform the Ministry's infrastructure, prioritize effectiveness and reliability, and use Culture to secure our relationship with the Partnership for Sovereignty. I hope I can earn your vote. [Royaltica] Hello! I'm Royaltica, and I'm running for Minister of Culture once again. I'm hoping to help the ministry make amazing events, which will help bring the region together during these hard times. As Minister of Culture, I will make events the best they can be, and help strengthen ties with our allies, as events can play a major role in getting to know our allies. The Ministry of Culture had struggled this term to stand out. What do you envision the Ministry's mission being, and how would you fulfill that mission if elected? [Prarie] The mission of the Ministry of Culture is to bring our region together, through events and games, large and small, as well as to use culture as a tool to strengthen foreign relationships and to forge new ones. Frankly, the Ministry struggled this term because of a lack of leadership. There was no mission. I have proven myself to be a leader, serving as Prime Minister, where I pioneered the Cabinet Agenda and used by position to generate activity within the Cabinet. I will use my leadership experience to fulfill the mission of the Ministry by prioritizing events that are effective and reliable, rather than ineffective and generic medium-sized, South Pacifican-based events. A Culture Calendar, as well as monthly events with the Partnership for Sovereignty, are effective and reliable events that fulfill the mission of the Ministry. They're core tenets of my campaign, and that is how I will fulfill the mission if elected - by using my leadership experience to prioritize those events. [Royaltica] I think the ministry's mission is to help let everyone have a fun time, to help to get to know our allies, and as I said before, to help bring our region together in these hard times. I would fulfill that mission as Minister of Culture by making events better, and giving everyone a chance to do their thing, and to make different kinds of events that match everyone's likings, because everyone is different. I will have a To-Do list to keep the ministry organized. Also, I will have an Advertising Department to promote the ministry so more people will come to our events, because without people coming to our events, there is no point in having events. There are already people who come to the ministry's events, but more the merrier! I have had experience as a deputy for events under Seraph, and because I had Seraph's guidance, I can use that to be a good minister. How would you balance having a schedule of events that would benefit regional interests -for example, events with the Partnership for Sovereignty- with events that might simply help keep regional engagement? [Royaltica] To balance a schedule, I would assign different people for different events for regional engagement. For example, I would plan games like Swifty's Theme Thursday. There will be several of that, and instead of it being just me running the games, I will ask for volunteers to run a specific game. That will help run the events, balance a schedule, and it will help get everyone in the ministry a chance to run an event. [Prarie] It's really quite simple to balance those two things - PfS events and region-based events - if you have a blueprint for them. Working alongside Ministry staffers as part of my plan to build up infrastructure within the Ministry, I'll create a blueprint for the Culture Calendar, and working with my foreign counterparts, we can create a blueprint for PfS events. Having a blueprint and setting a schedule - as I have done in my campaign - will give us the ability to balance those events. Glad that you mentioned having a calendar. You have both suggested some form of tracking system for events, be it a calendar or a checklist. While much of this will depend on discussions with your staff, what kind of events do you envision having during the term? How do you expect those events to help the Ministry's mission? [Prarie] We'll be doing two types of events during my term. The first - Partnership Weekends, will be monthly, weekend-long festivals involving Partnership for Sovereignty member regions. Each member region will have a "station" of a sort - for example, TRR would host Werewolf, XKI would host Among Us, UDS would host Secret Hitler, and we would host Skribbl.io. With the stations system, discussion and prescense in other member regions is encouraged, which builds up community within the PfS and prevents us from stagnation. The second would be Culture Calendar events, which are the same small games, but internally. I would work with the MoC staff to create a system of running these games, so every Culture staffer is ready and capable to succeed in these events. These small events prevent burnout while doing wonders to establish community within the region. [Royaltica] We'll be doing three types of events. First is seasonal events. These events will be like the "fests" hosted by Phoenix. I hope I can work with her on that, instead of making new ones. So these events will be based on the holidays in a specific season. Second is foreign events. The purpose of these events is to strengthen bonds with our allies by socializing with a region's leaders and citizens. People from both regions will be encouraged to socialize and play fun games with the other region's citizens. This will help get to know our allies, and make us be able to depend on each other in times of need. I am hoping to work on this with MoFA. Third is regional engagement events. These events will be like Swifty's weekly games. I will ask for volunteers to make sure everyone in the ministry can be involved. One of the reasons I will make MoC better is because I will make sure everyone can show their skills with events. So regional engagement events will help get people in MoC and TSP citizens to participate in events. The outgoing Cabinet received a fair amount of criticism for a lack of accountability and transparency. How do you think the Ministry of Culture has fared in those two areas, and what will you go if elected to ensure that the public knows what you are doing? [Royaltica] I think the ministry has not been very accountable in getting the region to socialize, because I don't think we've had a good event in weeks. As I said before, I will not only encourage the members of the ministry to make events, but also help make them the best they can be. I can make them better because I have received comments that when I make an event, it is always good. About transparency, I will ensure the public knows what I am doing, by making announcements. As simple as that. The reason for announcements is to tell the public what is happening, so when something is occurring, I will announce it to the public and to the members of the ministry. [Prarie] The Ministry of Culture hasn't been transparent because, well, the Ministry hasn't been doing anything. So the first step is to actually do things. But when we do things, because we do, the best step is to use Cabinet Twitter. I used Cabinet Twitter during my term as Prime Minister, and as any Minister from the term will tell you, I badgered them to use it too. It's a great tool that I'll use frequently, and I'll work with the Cabinet too make sure that the Cabinet as a whole is transparent too. Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie? [Prarie] Ice cream. It's versatile, consistent, and goes great with both cake and pie :slight_smile: [Royaltica] Obviously pie. Pie is so good...thinks about how Royaltica dreams about pies every night :tspie: Prarie, you have suggested doing away with project-specific teams and instead letting everyone in the staff participate as they see fit. How will you ensure that people actually step forward instead of staying quiet and assuming that someone else will take charge? [Prarie] I'll annoy them! No, seriously. Consistent pings when we need to do something is a great way of getting the attention of staffers. If they don't respond, then I'll reach out personally and discuss the Ministry with them and how they think they can best serve. The open ministry structure will do wonders for staff engagement, however - people are more likely to participate if they feel that their voices are being heard and that they actually have a say in the matter. Royaltica, you have admitted to being inactive in the past term and faced some criticism in your campaign thread for not being fully aware of issues like regional role-play and TSP Campus. How would you assure voters that if elected you would be well acquainted with the Ministry instead of having to learn on the job? [Royaltica] About being inactive, it is because of the issue between Penguin and me, that I mentioned in my campaign. I got this message, and its contents just made me feel like I should take a break from NS. Later, I didn't want to come back, but I realized I should, because I shouldn't let a message get me down. I asked Swifty if I could plan an event, but all I got in response was "I'll see about that" and nothing else for days (sorry, Swifty). But if I'm minister, I can plan events, and that will encourage me to be active, because I love planning events. About not being fully aware, I was only not aware about the state of the campus, not roleplay (I knew that roleplay is not government controlled, I just didn't word my statement properly). I didn't know about the campus because of the huge break I took from NS. I've been caught up in everything I need to know, besides the campus. The campus server was kind of quiet, so I assumed that it wasn't finished. But I put it in a "not sure" format because my assumption could be wrong. Cross Questioning and Discussion [Royaltica] Prarie, you are involved in every ministry, but you chose to run for Minister of Culture. Why is that? [Prarie] My region-mates displayed incredible confidence in me, and I felt like this Ministry was the one where I could make the most difference. Royaltica - you have, basically, no policy plans. The "What I'll Do" section in your campaign is two sentences. The most policy we've seen from you is in this debate, where all of your new ideas are roughly the same as the things I've put in my campaign. You've been inactive for pretty much this entire term, and when you're asked about it, your response is "if you elect me, I'll be active, because I'll have the power to do things." To me, it looks like you're doing this for the power, not the policy. So my question is this - why are you running? [Royaltica] I am running because I know that I can make this ministry better than it is now, and that I can help make better events. Right now, there isn't much I can do to prove I am on NS frequently. That is because of the lack of events. By "I'll have the power to do things", I mean that I will have the ability to make more events. Right now, I can't make an event because I haven't been granted the ability to, but if I am elected, I can make events like I used to, and let others make them too. I'm not running for power. I'm running to help bring Culture back to how it used to be, with a to-do list filled with events, and eager people waiting for the next event. [Prarie] Royal - you deleted it, but in that last message, you said you couldn't do anything because "Swifty wouldn't let me". The "issue with Penguin" you refer to was not a both sides thing, it was in issue because you went behind her back to plan an event while she was MoRA. You're blaming others for your problems. Accountability is a core tenet of being a Cabinet minister. And you haven't been very accountable during this debate. [Royaltica] Yes, I thought it would be taken as blaming, so I changed it. As I said in my campaign, the issue with me not telling Penguin about an event will not happen again. In the message I got, I've seen the consequences of that action. The event started when Seraph was minister, and when Penguin became the minister, I didn't purposely not tell her, I just forgot. I usually don't forget things, so I was surprised when that happened. I only remembered when Swifty won the election, but I didn't know about the lame duck period so I told Swifty instead of Penguin, because I thought she wasn't the minister anymore. And if you think I should have thought to inform other cabinet ministers, it is because I just wanted to make the event a surprise. I did not have bad intentions, and I certainly did not mean to attempt to make events without informing the minister a regular thing. Everyone makes mistakes, and nobody is perfect. I still remember when the cabinet was trying to decide who should fill in for the rest of Seraph's term, you said I might be a spy in the region because of a few reasons that you said. If you think the issue with Penguin (I can't just say "I went behind her back to plan an event while she was MoRA" every single time) and not telling her is about this, then I don't know what I can do, because you seem really determined to repeat using this "issue" against me in this debate. Also, I can't just repeat this same mistake if I am not allowed to run an event. I just don't know how to say that without blaming. [Prarie] Royal, all I am concerned about here is your activity level over the past 4 months. It would be different if your inactivity was solely in the MoC. But it wasn’t - you have been inactive across the region for the past four months. [Royaltica] As I told you already, it is because the message made me feel like I shouldn't participate in NS anymore. I didn't feel trusted (and I wasn't trusted) so I didn't want to do anything that made the cabinet not trust me anymore. Closing Statements [Royaltica] Thank you to everyone who still believes that I can lead this ministry. I can't prove that I still have the ability to plan a good event, but I know I can. I am not running for power, I am running to make Culture like it was before, with events filling up the to-do list, and with eager people waiting for the next event. Thank you. [Prarie] I’m a proven leader. When I get knocked down, I get back up. I help the region and participate even when I don’t have power. I have put forward detailed policy on how to generate activity within the Ministry and use Culture to be a force for good. I believe that I have what it takes to be the next Minister of Culture. And I hope that you believe that, too. Thank you. The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is an independent news organisation established in 2003 with the goal of providing good, insightful and timely commentary on regional events for the citizens of the South Pacific. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. Content is published via pseudonyms. The SPINN is not associated with the Government of the South Pacific. |
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