The South Pacific

Hi everyone!

We are pleased to be running for the delegacy and the vice delegacy of this region. Our campaign might be slightly longer than what most would prefer, but it shows in detail the vision that we have for the South Pacific and the steps that we are willing to take to accomplish that vision. We look at this region and see the potential for greater activity, more cultural development, more dynamic roleplaying and an always friendly community that offers different alternatives for getting involved in whatever area feels more interesting.

How will we accomplish that vision? By working together. Serving as Delegate and Vice Delegate merely allows us to have a greater hand in directing the course of the region, but change will be impossible unless we work closely with each and every one of you. As you read this campaign, please know that we count on your participation and interest to accomplish these goals. We mean our motto: let's work together to make this region a better place.

Regional Affairs

We think that the Ministry of Regional Affairs is doing fine, but it could use some small improvements. Its current projects, particularly the regional media, are in good shape. What we do want can be summarised in the following:

• Like Punchwood has rightly pointed out, having too many festivals takes away from their special nature. Having less festivals would be good, reserving them for special occasions. On that note, we want to organise a Foundation Festival to celebrate Foundation Day and Delegates Day, consisting of the usual games, but including gameside activities and a series of lectures by valued members of our community.
  
• Improve our recruitment and integration efforts, by reaching out to nations and working on introductory guides, especially for the roleplay area. In addition, we need ministers or members of their staff to be ready to explain to interested newcomers how they can get involved and follow up with them. Our goal should be to let everyone know that we are interested in what kind of regional experience they are having.
  
• Beyond that, we think that both candidates for Minister of Regional Affairs have some outstanding ideas, and would be very interested in helping them implement all of them.

Special Forces

Our military is in a good place right now, but it definitely could be better. Under both ProfessorHenn and Siberian, we have seen a much needed institutionalisation and consolidation of our ties with allies and friends. What we now need to do ensure its activity is self sustainable. In order to do that, we suggest two points in particular:

• Facilitate recruitment when needed and encourage cooperation with Regional Affairs and Foreign Affairs, where appropriate. This involves encouraging the regular publication of mission reports, so the region knows that the military is active and welcoming new members.
  
• Introduce an amendment to the Code of Conduct that limits the raiding activities of the Special Forces, but merely so natives are not unduly disturbed and their region is returned to its original state at the end of an occupation. We feel being a non-aligned military has worked well and only wish to ensure there is no risk of being too destructive at any point in the future.

Foreign Affairs

It is no secret that Foreign Affairs is a difficult area to manage, since often the results are not publicly available. Still, there are some things that we can definitely do to improve our presence abroad that can also be evaluated by the public:

• Recently we have grown closer to Albion. We think they have a regional culture and values very similar to ours, and we would like to pursue closer ties with them, perhaps even initiate discussions on a treaty. They have been very agreeable and friendly in the past few months, and definitely seem to be the kind of friend and ally we want.
  
• We should seek out regions with values similar to ours, with a focus on culture and roleplaying. That does not involve abandoning our gameplay allies, but rather diversifying our circle of friends. We are undeniably tied to gameplay events, but that does not mean we cannot also be friends with less political regions. Where there is potential for friendship, we should make sure to make the most of it.
  
• Though this cannot really be evaluated by the public, constant communication with our allies and friends is important. We know many like foreign updates, but that should only be one form of communication. A very basic and yet important form of communication is heads of state and chief diplomats doing something as simple as catching up on each other. We need to build ties that go beyond mere treaties and into the realm of genuine friendships.

Cabinet

We want to see a return of the traditional model of collective Cabinet governance. In recent months we have not had much contact or meetings with the whole Cabinet, and we should fix that:

• We should have at least one full Cabinet meeting during the term, where we discuss regional policies and update each other on what our ministries are doing. Just as well, we should resume using the Cabinet IRC channel as a place to share with each other and coordinate policies. Communication within the Cabinet has decreased during the past year, and we should take at least these two steps to remedy that.
  
• Ministers should be held accountable to the Assembly and regularly answer questions asked by the people. In particular, we wish to have a special time for Questions to the Delegate at least once a month, so both citizens and residents can directly ask questions to the head of state on issues of their concern. It is important that we keep our democracy vibrant in between elections, and holding our elected officials accountable is a great way of doing that.

You can probably guess that our aim is to make the region more open and friendlier. We cannot do it single handedly, and in many cases we will rely on individual ministers as well as on citizens. Increasing the level of civil discourse in the Assembly is a goal many advocate, but for that we need the cooperation of both the Chair and those politically active. Making our roleplay and government sections more accessible is up to individual members of both. However, we can and should lead by example and help with our own efforts when possible.

Before we close this, some might be wondering who we are and what makes us qualified to run for these positions. I am the current Minister of Regional Affairs and previously served two terms as Delegate, one term as Vice Delegate and one term as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Farengeto is currently the Chair of the Assembly and previously served as Chief Justice and Minister of Regional Affairs. We have both been in the South Pacific since early and mid 2013 and just want to make this region better each day.

Let's work together to make that happen!

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I want to start by saying that I appreciate the comment. I do think discussing these things is much better, especially since you are the one actually in the field.

We have made that proposal, but it definitely is not an imposition. It is no secret that I have never actually served in the Special Forces, so my knowledge about the realities of missions and motivation in the field is limited. I'm glad that you brought up that subject, because we can and should discuss ways to limit our ability to damange regions while also letting our soldiers have success in a wide range of missions.

My main concern is about any future minister not having any limits to damaging regions that, while not fully active, do have a native community. I am not that comfortable with us doing refounds, but I think doing that with completely inactive regions is not so much of a problem that we should ban it. I think the key word is "destructiveness". It is difficult to say we are being destructive if we refound a region that had no activity or real community. But things change if we are talking about a region that, though less active, still has some kind of community.

I think it will be positive to have that discussion, so we can find a balance between the legitimate right of the Special Forces to do missions, and not being too destructive towards other regions. I too would be happy to work with you in seeing how those limitations could be worked out.