A month begins
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by Sophia Forrester
This is my first month back in the Imperial Diet since my retirement. The term started slow, with forum maintenance delaying the opening of debate for close to half a week. When the forums returned and the Diet did convene, I jumped into debate with a proposal for an official government statement on the PTO and rogues like Sugawara. There seemed little interest and I was told it would only give them undeserved attention. But today, with our sidebars flooded with pro- and anti-PTO ads, it seems hard to say that a government statement would give the Indonesian PTO more attention. Rather, my hope is to confirm for our citizens that the government is actively addressing the issue. And indeed, the Congress forum has been abuzz with ideas for securing our coming Presidential election from the PTO. There, citizens can see the pros and cons of the primary-election issue.
My own position is based on my commitment to upright and flourishing government. I don't believe that naming only a single candidate would significantly reduce the chance of PTO. And it looks like, whatever the case, we will have at least three candidates, including Calon. One of the legitimate Party Presidents also threw his support to Calon because of a grudge against Kita Ikki. Such spiteful behavior only hurts our country. But when people feel that they will not be heard, that sort of behavior is sadly only natural.
I believe a competitive election would strengthen eJapan. If multies elect Calon, there is little we can do. The votes for Sugawara, last time, outnumbered the votes for Danyeo, the legitimate candidate. The idea to unite around a candidate so as not to divert votes is a noble one, but its flaws are starkly highlighted by the Godzilla Party President's grudge endorsement of a PTO candidate. Someone will almost always find a reason not to get behind a consensus choice, when the choices are artificially limited. The better way would be to run four serious candidates and let them contest for second place, especially when PTO proposals routinely are getting only two in-game Congress votes. Then an impeachment will remove Calon before he can do much damage. (The worst he could do, in the time he would have, is open an unscheduled training war.)
For all the buzz, not much was done on the primary issue. Instead, former President Kita Ikki secured the endorsements of two major parties, and was then endorsed by the only other declared candidate. An announcement of the primary had been made, removed, and made again, but no consensus was reachedin Congress on whether to hold one, and with less than three hours until the candidates are final, no primary vote has been held. In a way, this was the worst of both worlds -- even the limited and rushed choice of a primary would have been better than a choice made only by a few.
This is also, however, an opportunity for eJapan. Disagree though I might, the advocates of a primary have the best interests of eJapan at heart. They honestly believe that the best chance to defeat a PTO rests in uniting around one candidate. So I commend Geno for taking the high road and endorsing Kita. I hope that he continues to be actively involved in the government and I hope the next President will give careful thought to his advice.
Let us unite, but let us also make our resolve clear: We want more than just safety from PTO: We want a thriving community. Kita-sensei will have the chance to have a truly open government, with both old and new citizens involved and included. Based on both his past service and his current plans, I am optimistic.
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Comments
As always, well said.
Voted.
v+s
If anything Kita is a strong advocate for a transparent government. His policies of an open government and having citizens participate in that government, is excellent and the very policy we need right now for a flourishing government full of activity.
Then let eJapan support Kita.
endorse Geno
> " I jumped into debate with a proposal for an official government statement on the PTO and rogues like Sugawara. There seemed little interest and I was told it would only give them undeserved attention"
I LOVE ATTENTION!!! ^__^
But a good article nonetheless. Many good points are made.
Sophia you forgot to address that you missed two days of the discussion but for some reason you're criticizing the activity and the readiness of the government? Also this discussion took five days after the congress elected (even the forums were down for three-four).
I even TOLD you that if needed I was going to debate you on this subject on the IRC(real-time) but you went inactive and then claimed that the government was not ready on its part? Seriously?
Kitta 4Pres
I'm a little unsure what's being asked here. I was out of town for two days, yes, with limited access to Internet. I was able to check for votes in-forum and in-game but did not read any debates. When I got back, I saw that you had offered to debate -- but the question in my mind is, why was the offer made to me personally, as if I were the only person standing in the way on this? Would my changing my position have made a difference in the outcome? Presumably not, when no Congress vote was ever held on whether to hold a primary.
Rather than getting specific attention, I would rather have drawn more of our Congress Members into the debate, as well as general citizens. That is an area where I, personally, would like to improve.
As for "criticizing," that was not my intent. Please let me know where I came across as negative, and I will do my best to correct the misunderstanding. This article is not meant as "criticism" (even constructive criticism), but rather as an update for the general public, to keep everyone involved and in the loop. Thus my mention of my own position in the debate, and a link to the thread involved.
If anyone has questions or concerns, I would like to address them. Thank you.
FoH is gone and they're tired of making fun of me, claiming it as fueling my interests. The Old-guard ISP needs new targets, Sophia. Don't take it personally.
I am also disappointed that the traditional method of having each party fielding their own candidate has been hijacked. However, for this idealistic theory to work, it also requires a larger number of active citizens interested in the national politics than currently exist in eJapan. As it is, we barely have enough candidates for our 40 seat congress, Party President elections are only contested when the party is the target of a big PTO, etc.
If elected, I will do the best I can to get people back into the game and active, but idealism has to be tempered with a little realism and pragmatism.
Sugawara-san, your pretended concern is misplaced. I never once felt targeted by Minister exReality. He and I have disagreed many times in the spirit of democratic debate, but we respect each other's motives and commitment to the nation.
The attempt to sow division by a self-declared enemy of the state is noted, however. Thank you for making your own motives clear.
Kita-sensei, you are very right that democracy only works when citizens are active and committed. I hope that in the coming month,, we can together stir up much more activity in eJapan. Loyal opposition is essential to a democracy, because otherwise, traitors may usurp that role.