In the last few years, Lazarus was subject to several major upheavals and crises. In early 2017, Lazarus fell into civil war. Soon after, the region was subjected to the iron fist of the illegitimate Undead Dominion of Lazarus, which purged dissidents with impunity; in early 2018, the Khanate was instated by those same autocrats. Finally, in April of last year, Imkiville forcibly took over the region, prompting an unprecedented pact between six of the remaining eight major GCRs, with the South Pacific in a leading role. The Coalition of the South Pacific’s goals for our involvement in Lazarus was always to help the region realize “a new Lazarus by Lazarenes for Lazarenes,” as envisioned in the Peacekeeper Agreement of April 2018. The Cabinet signed the agreement in the hopes that a constitutional convention would result in a popular government, and that the process would be protected from outside interference by an interim caretaker Delegate.

Unfortunately, the convention did not succeed for many reasons. We sympathize with the frustration at the lack of progress, having gone through a constitutional convention ourselves following a coup. However, we were concerned by Imkiville's decision to put her own constitution in place, without consulting with signatories of the Peacekeeper Agreement prior to her actions. We believe it is important to keep the promises one makes in inter-regional diplomacy, and breaking the Peacekeeper Agreement, in letter or in spirit, instilled doubts about the Delegate’s commitment to diplomacy. As the oldest democracy in NationStates, and given our role and interests in the peacekeeping experiment, we found ourselves in an unenviable position. We decided to withhold judgment on Mandate 12 and the new regime’s ability to garner popular support amongst natives, and instead monitor the developments in Lazarus and reassess our position at a later date.

While we remain disappointed at Imkiville's sudden termination of the Democratic Convention, at this point we can no longer ignore the positive growth we are seeing in Lazarus. Imkiville and her appointed team have built a strong and increasingly stable community without any major conflicts, and even Lazarene citizens who were previously skeptical of Imkiville's rule have come to near-universally stand by the Mandate 12 government. Imkiville has eschewed full rule by fiat in favor of encouraging and promoting healthy debate and democratic decision-making. Rather than appointing personal associates, Imkiville chose to tap into the pool of Lazarenes both old and new, without consideration for their allegiance under previous systems. All of this is consistent with the guiding principle of "a new Lazarus by Lazarenes for Lazarenes", fully in the spirit of the original Peacekeeper Agreement. Furthermore, the government of Lazarus has acted nothing but friendly in our informal interactions, and Imkiville has been both professional and courteous with both our government and our citizens.

In light of recent dealings, we have had with Lazarus and the progress we have seen made by the new government, the Cabinet of the South Pacific has unanimously agreed to extend diplomatic recognition to the Corporation of Lazarus under Mandate 12 as the legitimate ruling government of Lazarus. We hope that the future continues to be bright for Lazarus and our long relationship with each other.

Sincerely, The Cabinet of The South Pacific.