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So, welcome deathtoll32, newly elected Prime Minister of the eUK. You are a member of the UKRP and were a member of congress in my region, the West Midlands, for 2 terms before being elected to office. During Dish’s last term as PM you were also minister of finance.
Despite this, until the recent elections you may not have been a household name for many in eRepublik. Would you like to take this opportunity to tell us a little about the man behind the power?
Sure. As most (if not all) the people on the forums know, I'm actually American. Surprise! But I have actually never held a position in the eUSA government. I joined originally in the USA, but moved around a bit (Ireland was another country I stayed for a while). In beta, "invitations" were required to join, and mine came from a man living in the eUK. I'm still looking for the person that allowed me to join . That's a lie, I'm not actually looking for him/her. But yeah, the person who invited me sent me a message on Nationstates telling me about the game and asked me to join the eUK. I told him I would, and then joined the eUSA (he got 5 GOLD, so he can't be upset).


ELECTION

I’d like to start with the elections if I may. Do you think it’s fair to say that your election win came as somewhat of a shock to many members of eRep?
Oh definitely. I logged on the following morning, and I myself was shocked. Leading up to the day, I knew that I needed a large fraction of TUP voters. Whether I got that or not, I don't know for sure. However, I got a lot more support than I though. Of course, there's definitely a large amount of opposition that I now need to prove myself to.


Relic ran a strong campaign that surprised many neutrals, and he gained much support in this area, TUP included, while your manifesto was considered disappointing to say the least. Why do you believe you triumphed?
I believe I triumphed because people knew I was the underdog (I'm unsure if this is an American concept only). A lot of people want to give the underdog a chance, and therefore favor him. At the same time, some people know me to be fair with my decisions and my work, and that also might have had an effect on my election.


I can understand that in sport, but do you think being the underdog is a valid reason to win a Prime Ministerial election? Does it not just show Relic ran a better campaign?
Is it wrong to win the election due to being an underdog is the question (more or less)? Of course not. I ran a decent campaign. It of course, could have been better (Relic's as well. nobody is perfect). I think that I am proving I can handle my own in the office though


How do you feel about accusations that sheep voting is the only reason you were elected?
Um...Thank god I was born in the year of the lamb. But seriously, I think that accusations like that are a bit ridiculous at best. Look at real life. Most people (in RL) aren't informed about the candidates. So can we really claim it's wrong?


Do you think you deserved to beat Relic?
It's hard to answer this. Relic was dedicated to the eUK, don't get me wrong, but I think his heart couldn't wait to get to Croatia. I'm not trying to be a jerk to Relic, as I now have to work with him in ATLANTIS, but I think the eUK voted who they thought they deserved.


One of the most disastrous aspects of your campaign was your so called ‘dream team’ of ministers. What you claimed was diversification many construed as simple ignorance of those players strengths. However, you recently announced your ministers for this term, and the reality is rather different to the ‘dream team’. Are you pleased with the way the ministries have shaped up?
Yeah, the "Dream Team" was shot down almost instantly. I really regret throwing that idea out there. I'm surprised that I didn't get a Boblo Award for it (something along the lines of "Worst Idea Ever Boblo Award"). However, the final version of the Cabinet, I think, is going to be a good one. I've put goals forward to all of them, and expect results soon. I'm pleased with the amount of people stepping up to the jobs.


Is there anything you would change here?
Umm...Well of course, if in a perfect world Kaleb would come back and help me out; Dish would be MoT again; Widdows, Deilos, Funky and Ip would be the heads of the MoD; FD would make an appearance I'm sure; Maybe Bob would become Minister of Comic Relief?


How do you intend to replace Ares989 after his shock resignation and ban?
Draaglom will be maintaining the Ministry for the remainder of this term. He was on the MoT team last month, and I was told he does some really good work. I'm sure we have nothing to worry about


DEFENCE

The ministry of defence in particular has seen numerous changes over the last few months. As of this moment, do you believe the military in this country is as strong as it could be?
As my campaign stated, I'm hoping for reforms in the Military. At the moment, I don't believe the military is as strong as it could be/is going to be. Ip agreed to stay on as MoD, and I agreed to let him run it his way. I have confidence that he will get the military in shape, and once again the eUK military will be a force that is feared globally by our enemies.


In your election manifesto, you proposed even more changes to the military model that were badly received by those in military circles. Do you still plan to see through these changes?
Nope. Ip assures me that the system will work, and I believe him. A little more time is the only thing he has requested right now.


By not bringing through these reforms you are breaking a manifesto promise, something that may have been the reason for people voting for you. Surely, as you were elected on these terms, you should carry them through?
Well, Ip is still "reforming" the way things are working. Trust me when I say that the whole system is still changing all the time. Until the system starts working, we'll make minor edits and get it right eventually


Do you have any plans for any wars in the future? Or do you believe there are any immediate or future threats for the eUK?
During the election, I made sure to state everywhere I had the chance: "I voted No on war (1 of 5 who voted no)". I don't plan on any wars in the future. As for threats, I don't believe so. We're pretty safe I believe.


Wars are the reason for many people joining this game. Given that the eUK is losing citizens at the moment, do you think a war could help us to retain new citizens, and bring our numbers back up again?
Well, countries go through "ups-and-downs". I'm sure we'll start getting tons more New citizens again soon. And think of it like this: Once we get in a war that we can't handle, get our ass handed to us, and lose the entire eUK land, how much longer will people be joining us to live with oppressors?


If necessary, could the eUK fight another war now?
Of course. Our enemies would have to be stupid to think they could beat us.


But we just were beaten, and you just said we would ‘get our ass handed to us’. Our military system is in turmoil, and we are exhausted from the war against France. Would now not be a good time for some of the more imperialist countries in eRep to attempt an attack?
In my last answer, I stated that we would get into a war, and get our ass handed to us. What I meant was that if we entered a war, spent the money that we had, we might get beaten up in the war after that. As for our "military system in turmoil": Our military is definitely not in turmoil. We may not be at full efficiency, but we certainly aren't in turmoil. I think for the most part, everyone has recovered all their Wellness from the war with France (so our citizens aren't really exhausted). No country would want to attack us right now.


There has been talk recently of the eUK leaving ATLANTIS. Where do you stand on this?
I don't think we will be leaving ATLANTIS anytime soon. All of the new leaders in ATLANTIS are dedicated to making the alliance work, and we will of course make change where necessary.


ECONOMY

Does the country have enough gold? Not just for a war, in general.
Well, we're building up our GOLD reserves so we shouldn't have to worry. We've still got plenty of GOLD, so the public shouldn't worry about much. If anyone wants to make a large donation of GOLD to the Treasury, it won't hurt though


Until your election, you were minister of finance. Exactly how healthy is the country economically?
Well the country makes a bit of money each day through taxes. Of course, most of it gets spent on our programs (i.e. NHS). I'm sure that we will be growing economically in the future though.


I was under the impression the economy had recently shrunk considerably, along with the population. Do you have any plans to improve the state of the economy?
I'll be discussing with my Cabinet, and we'll of course be talking about the state of the economy. However, as we're still early in the process, we're still gathering our footing.


A lot of recent proposals have included spending far more public money (such as raising the citizen fee), how do you propose to offset this if the legislation passes?
Well, the proposal you speak of will not be passing. The majority of the House of Commons has stated they would not be willing to raise it more than 1 or 2 GBP. Therefore, I do not find it to be substantial. A while back, we were receiving nearly 100 new citizens a day. For the past week or so, we've received roughly 20 new citizens daily. That's a fifth of the price we were paying before. Therefore a 1 GBP raise would not break the bank.


So should the citizen’s joining now not receive more, as much of what would be budgeted for citizen fees is not being used?
Well, I wouldn't say that it's "not being used". The money will more likely be used in the NHS, the Military, or other Ministries. Don't worry, I promise all money that is spent will be spent wisely.


COMMONS/CURRENT LEGISLATION

One of the first things you said, on your first day report is that you want to speed up legislation passing through commons and ensure things move as quickly as possible. However, we are just over a quarter of the way through your term and still, the same legislation is being discussed. Is there any chance of this speed up you promised?
Really? Already a quarter of the way through? Wow, I should be preparing next month's campaign. As for the speed up, it took me a while to receive mod powers over the commons. However, I'm trying to get the Commons moving.


What is your view on the proposal to allow anyone to be a minister, regardless of whether they have been elected to congress or not?
Well, the proposal excludes specific Minister positions, but I really want it passed. In my opinion, anyone should be allowed to be any position (as long as HoC approves). Let's be honest: Anyone can become a Congressman anyways, so how does that stop anyone?


So you think it’s a good idea that unelected anybodies could potentially be in charge of vast sums of money, our military or the NHS?
See question above this one. However, I don't think "anybodies" is the correct term in this case. The Prime Minister (I would hope) would only pick trusted members of society. I myself was ousted from a Congress seat one term. Does that mean I was an "unelected anybody" and shouldn't have been allowed to be a Minister?


Perhaps not an ‘anybody’, but the fact that you were not chosen to represent your region shows a lack of faith from your constituency, and somebody else was deemed more capable. Is it your place to say who would be in the best interest of the public? Don’t you think the public themselves should be the judge of this?
During the time, it was not by region. I forget the exact procedure, but the faulty system gave it to the older member, and I was ousted. I'm not saying I should have been elected, however I think after 3 terms of Congress before that I would be eligible for a higher position (even though I wasn't re-elected).


I thought the House of Lords enabled this? Trusted members can become ministers from the lords when they finish with Commons. Why then, should somebody not given the honour of Lords, and not elected into Commons be chosen without public consent?
Higher Position meant Minister Positions (or Under-minister). I had not done enough to be in the HoL (and I still haven’t I believe).


How long has this proposal been in commons, and when will voting finally take place?
This legislation is currently being voted on in the HoL. Multiple votes have been taken already, but for the most part it was sensitive information.


THE FUTURE

Ok thank you. Just a few personal questions now, about your future plans for yourself and the eUK. Where do you plan to go from here? What next for Deathtoll and the eUK?
(I shouldn't be revealing this, but I will). My next step is re-naming the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Military. I'd like to change the Para's to the Knights of the Round Table, and assign each group a different "Knight". The House of Commons will become the Mansion of Elites, and the House of Lords will be the Slum of Peasants. (no association between names picked and people involved in each group. Just opposites ). I feel it will bring the eUK closer together, and unity is important. Just to clarify, everything in this specific answer is a joke. I'd hate to mislead people.


Finally, are you committed to the position of Prime Minister of the eUK, or do you plan to move on next term?
I plan on returning of course. I don't feel like being a one-term Prime Minister. It's my opinion that I wouldn't/won't achieve everything I want to in one term. Of course, I hope by the end of my first term, more people will believe in me on February 5th. Actually, now that I think of it, I still have to make sure the UKRP will support me for the next election. (Note to self: Check with Jerry about next election).



Well, thank you Deathtoll32. I would like to personally wish you the best of luck for the remainder of your term, and look forward to another meeting towards the end of your office. Could I also take this opportunity to persuade anybody reading this to subscribe to DT’s newspaper, ‘the UKRP gazette’. This will allow him to keep everybody up to date (and force him to keep us informed!). I would like to end with a number of quick-fire questions; some serious, some not so …:

Would you like to see a monarch in the eUK? Unless it's me, no.

What’s your favourite sundae? Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

Who will win the next congress elections? That's a tough one. I'm going to have to vote for whoever the "We are the Borg" candidate is.

If you could have one person to join the UKRP, who would it be and why? Stan Wephen. The man is a symbol to the eUK. Who doesn't know Stan Wephen after all?

Bob Boblo or Taytaz? Bob Boblo. Just the sound of "Bob" TWICE in two words makes me chuckle.

Brown sauce or red? I'm American. Is that what you call "BBQ Sauce or Hot Sauce?" If so, red.

PCP or TUP? PCP. I need someone to argue with every election TUP just sits around and maybe writes an article once a month, so I never hear from them (just kidding guys)

Skiing or Surfing? Skiing. Less chance of me dying by a wave while I'm skiing.

Too hot or too cold? Too hot. I love hot weather.

If you could win a Boblo award, what would it be for? Prime Minister of the Year? If not, Worst Idea of the Year (see question regarding Dream team).

Marmite: Love it? Or hate it? Marmite......You'll have to forgive me, as I have no clue what marmite is. Sorry

eRep or crack? Those aren't the same thing?

eRep or Sex? That's seriously a question? Remind me, did you come up with these questions or were they sent to you?


That concludes my interview with Deathtoll32. I hope everybody has enjoyed reading it and has learned something about our Prime Minister. I think the only question he failed to answer was the last one, and I’m sure we can forgive him that! That and the marmite!


Editors Note - Please, vote this up if you are happy with it. I would like to interview DT again, along with Party Political leaders, ministers and members of congress in future, but will only do so if this proves popular and informative.

Any advice or questions are welcome. Message me in-game or on the forums (name is Jizm on there).

Hopefully, I can arrange more interviews in future. If so, I will release an article detailing who and why. If anybody has any questions they would like to ask, please fee free to message me.

I’d like to thank anyone who has actually taken the time to read this! I hope it has been accessible enough. I couldn't get the bold to work so ...

I'd also like to thank Hazzn, and evrybody else who helped with the questions, and most of all DT himself. For submitting himself to the whim of an unknown interviewer.