Inaugural Address

[Belschaft]

~ Inaugural Address of The Delegate ~

 

 

<span style="font-size:24px;">~ of The Coalition of The South Pacific ~</span>

 

Greetings my friends, fellow citizens, residents and honored guests in our fair region. I have the great privilege of addressing you today, for the second time, as the newly elected Delegate of The South Pacific. I say second time as this day, my inaugural day, is by an act of chance the two year anniversary of my first election as Delegate in 2011. I couldn't have planned the transition any better if I had wanted to, though I was aware of the date and the possibility this would be the case.

 

As I have said, this is a great privilege and one few experience. That the region has once more invested its trust and hopes in me is something that I cannot thank it for enough, and I promise to do my utmost to not disappoint. I ran on a platform emphasizing the need for transparency, communication, reform of our government and the empowering of our community to the greatest extent possible. I intend to deliver, and over the last two weeks The Cabinet and myself have been making plans for the coming weeks and months to meet our promises. I'm going to tell you a little about them - you'll be hearing more detail about what we will be doing from The Cabinet members themselves - but first I would like to briefly introduce those of you who don't know us to myself and the other Cabinet members.

 

My name is Belschaft, known as Bel for short, and I first joined TSP in 2011 during the Devontitians coup, having joined NS in 2008. I like many others came from abroad to help return control of TSP to her community, and many of us choose to stay and join the region. It is a decision I have never regretted. Before and after that point I had been a Defender, and helping regions out in the time of trouble was something I still feel is a fundamentally positive thing to do. I quickly became involved with the community, and was elected first Minister of Security and then Delegate in a short period of time. TSP became my home, and since then I have served the region in a number of roles both elected and appointed; today, as well as Delegate, I serve as an Administrator on our forums and am a member of the Committee for State Security, tasked with watching out for and preventing attempts to coup or invade the region. I was, along with Brutland and Norden and Hileville, part of the troika that was invested with the supreme command of our region and all her resources and allied forces during the Milograd coup.

 

My Vice-Delegate, Rebel-topia, is a former Minister of Security and Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as recently having been appointed as an Administrator. He is loyal, trustworthy and dedicated, the best kind of qualities to have in a second-in-command. Drugged Monkeys, the Minister of the Army, is one of our most decorated soldiers and a former Minister of Justice multiple times. He has been a close colleague of mine for some time, and commanded our Army during both the Milograd coup here and the Dourian coup of our ally Osiris. Sandaugo, the Chair of Assembly, is new to TSP and to The Cabinet. Better known as Glen-Rhodes, he is a long time WA activist and author, and someone I served with both in the United Defenders League and a region called the Eastern Islands of Dharma. He is man of principle and strong opinions, and will do an excellent job running the Assembly. Escade, our Minister of Regional Affairs, is also new to TSP. She became active here during the Milograd coup as a firm defender of the region and someone with new ideas and a will to implement them, and was appointed Minister of Regional affairs to finish up Topid's term in office; her re-election was never in any doubt. Lastly, our new Minister of Foreign Affairs Kringalia is another person new to TSP. Another recruit who joined us to fight against Milograd, and has already set about his work bringing his Ministry up to the standard we need. This Cabinet, a mix of experience and new faces, has the makings of the strongest I have served in yet.

 

In addition us six, we have chosen to expand The Cabinet to it's largest ever, bringing the Deputy CoA, MoA, MoRA and MoFA into it, as well as the Chief Justice and the Editor in Chief of the South Pacific Independent News Network. Our eventual goal is to involve the entire region in it's own governance, but that will take time. Until then we are involving more people in a policy making role than ever before, rather than limiting meaningful decision making to a small, inclusive group. No Deputies have yet to be appointed - a deliberate choice - and the Cabinet will be seeking them out over the next week. I have asked them to look for new, dedicated people with a desire to serve TSP rather than older, more experienced players, so even if you have no history of government service here, or at the time lack citizenship, please consider applying.

 

It has been a common complaint in the past that our forums are hard to access and navigate, and that is something we are fixing. The Admin team is in the process of re-writing the FAQ's and introduction areas, and the government area has been simplified. I would implore anyone who has been reluctant before to consider joining the forums and apply for citizenship in the coming weeks, and to get involved in TSP to a greater degree. A further complaint was communication, and that is something my predecessor Southern Bellz made great strides on. This is address is being sent out to the entire region via Telegram and future, shorter, regional updates will be issued regularly, the first one this coming weekend with details of The Cabinet's plans for their Ministry's.

 

As I have said, we wish to expand the governance of the region to as large a group as possible, and that does not stop on the forums. I intend to consult and communicate with the entire region, and give all residents who wish so a say in how it is run. I hope to be able to hold Q.A. sessions about government policy on the RMB, and will be including a link to any major Assembly debate on the WFE - I will be considering any and all RMB commentary this produces a part of the debate, and will respond accordingly. Finally, both the MoRA and myself will be holding regular RMB activities - competitions, games, debates, etc - sometimes both RMB and Forum activity being needed to take part. In the spirit of this I will be holding a competition to design a new flag for TSP over the next few weeks. I will be accepting entries via TG, the RMB and on the forums, and once we have built up sufficient numbers of them I will hold a simple vote to decide which one we will fly for the foreseeable future, held entirely on the NS site itself by a method I will reveal at the time. Until such time I will be flying a flag of my own design above the region, and I hope you all like it, and wouldn't mind if a few of you vote for it come the time.

 

I wish you all well, and hope you consider what I have said and ask me questions. I would like to see as many of you as possible taking part in our region to the greatest degree possible, and I would have you consider this a personal invitation to join in NS's oldest democratic process and take a part in the governance of our region.

 

Thank you for your time,

 

Belschaft, Delegate of The South Pacific