Honor and our Constitution

Day 1,197, 18:09 • Published in Japan Japan • by Sophia Forrester

As I write this article, there are three candidates for President of eJapan. One is Alfred Ball, with whom I have had strong political disagreements in the past, but whose genuine loyalty to eJapan need not be exaggerated. One is powerindo, a not-so-veiled PTOer who has installed himself as leader of the Harajuku Union (the former Godzilla Party.) With our low level of activity, the Indonesians seem not to need the defeated multi horde of Calon Rakyat Jelata. They have apparently slipped in while the watchers were asleep at the switch.

Would Alfred Ball be the best candidate to defeat this perhaps lackadaisical PTOer? I have my doubts. As Minister of Defense, he was quite energetic in getting the army up to speed, but he was much more helpful last month as ambassador to Panam. He is a better diplomat than executive, and as Squibeel's quite able performance as Minister of Defense has shown, sound judgment is much more important for a commander than international connections or activity level. I have had specific concerns about Mr. Ball's performance as a member of the Imperial Diet, which I will detail in the course of this article. However, that in and of itself is not the purpose for which I write.

The third candidate, who may become the only alternative to Mr. Ball available on the ballot, is the reigning Emperor of Japan. Since the ratification of the Imperial Constitution, eighteen months ago to the day, Kokawayoshi Makoto has served "above the clouds," as Emperor of Japan. The term "above the clouds" was used in the Heian period to describe the Emperor's isolation from politics and administration, which ostensibly had a corrupting influence. In practice, the reigning Emperors typically were children, with well-connected elders pulling the strings.

Has the drought of activity in eJapan become so severe that we must rely on the reigning Emperor to save us from ourselves? Perhaps it has. The Constitution states, "The Emperor is above politics. He is therefore forbidden from participating in any political party, election or other function of the electoral state. so too is he immune to it."

Is the Emperor thus in violation of the Constitution? I do not believe that he is. He has not sought any party's nomination, and if he has not resigned the candidacy either, it is likely due to his preoccupation with his prayers, not to any deliberate neglect. If the Emperor is the true Son of Heaven, he will either name a successor before the election and then abdicate, or, if the game still allows Presidential candidates to do this, he will resign his candidacy, leaving two parties without a nominee.

However, the Constitution is a covenant between the Emperor, the state and the people. In order to be genuine, this covenant must be kept by all sides. For five months, the duties of the Minister of Security have been included in the Constitution, and these have not always been faithfully performed. Virusxpl, the current Minister, has done a conscientious job, recording all approvals and violations.

A case in point is Alfred Ball. Knowingly or otherwise, he violated the Constitution on multiple occasions while serving as a member of the Imperial Diet. The constitutional reforms of last September laid out the requirements for becoming an eJapanese citizen in utterly clear terms, yet Alfred Ball did not follow them. In January and again in February he approved extralegal applications. In February there seems to have been some purported justification, because the Minister of Security claims that former French President Lyne Faynel was approved "for tanking purposes." Although the Minister of Security has quite clearly no authority to make exceptions to the law, much of which is contained within the text of the Constitution itself, this is poorly documented as the Constitution on display at the Kyushu library does not include the September amendment.

Was the January approval likewise justified by custom, if not by law? In January, I discussed the matter with a member of the Cabinet, who was quite concerned by Minister Ball's failure to wait for Security Ministry approval. However, I have no firsthand knowledge of the matter. As a member of the Imperial Diet I had intended to seriously investigate, but the amount of data involved in checking fairly was staggering: dozens of approvals since September, all undocumented except in disparate forum posts. After leaving Congress, I continued the investigation, eventually giving up on the longer list and only examining January and February.

These were my results. Of fifteen approvals in January, there were irregularities in five of them. That is one third -- far too prevalent to single Mr. Ball out for a violation. One of the citizens not approved in accordance with the Constitution was Foreign Minister DanMK, who I believe had left the country for ATO purposes. One was Mr. Ball's approval of Isy, very possibly for similar reasons. One was a now known, active member who had not realized he had to apply, and applied after the fact. One was a returning citizen who was known to be no threat, and one was PowerIndo.

So it seems we have failed you -- we, the experienced players, have failed the newer playerbase of eJapan. As a Member of the Diet, I could have mentioned the Security Minister's lapse when it first was called to my attention. Yet the Minister, at the time, had only accepted the job reluctantly. He was clear that he would prefer that someone else take the job, and there was then no one more qualified.

That was typical of that time -- those with more energy did not know that duties were neglected, and more experienced and conscientious players did not have the stamina to point it out. Personally, it was only when I was severely clinically depressed that I left the Congress, and that while intending to register as a candidate at the last minute. The neglect of duties was more than mere inactivity -- it was a sign of an illness of the national heart.

There are twenty-seven hours left for parties to name their candidates. The ISP is now voting to nominate theirs here; although only the existing candidates are mentioned as choices, the voting is open ballot. For democracy's sake, I hope that the JDM candidate is not the only choice. But if it is a choice between him and the reigning Emperor, then I will cast my ballot for the Constitution and for Alfred Ball. His is hardly the only, and certainly the lesser betrayal.