Vote Mark for New Republica South!

[Markanite]

My fellow Islanders, I’d firstly like to thank you for taking your time to read this campaign statement.

For those who do not know me I am Mark and I want to be your senator for New Republica South.

Since joining 10000 Islands in 2009 I have held a variety of government positions and these have been listed in my signature:

Markanite said:

56th TITO Knight, Account Confirmer, Former Registrar General x2, Former TIP Chairman, Former Minister of Education x3, Former Delegate x3, Former New Republica South Senator x3, Former Dean of the University, Former TIP Whip, Former Emissary to Nine regions, Heart of the Islands recipient

Apologies for the exhaustive list, in the nine years that I have been in the Islands I have enthusiastically gotten involved in as many areas as I could to ensure I could help enhance the Islands. We are lucky to have an amazing community here and I want to do my best to help make this forum and our region, the best it can be.

It is for this reason that I have decided to run for office, I have not held a council role in a few months but I am ready to get involved in our government again.

Now that that preamble is out of the way I can explain what I will do if I am elected:

New Republic South responsibilities:

Upon election as NRS Senator I intend to:

- Assess the current parties’ activities, membership lists and liaise with party leaders and members to seek out improvements to the current system.
- I will create a summit thread, where anyone can comment on the current system and together, we can start a conversation on how to enhance our political party system and boost activity
- I will hold ‘parties’ in the sub-forum, these seasonal parties will have games and activities to increase activities and participation with political parties
- I will also contact each new nation that arrives on the forum to encourage political party participation

The four points above may not seem like much, but in a four-month term I believe these will help get our political parties active and membership engaged to a greater degree than they are currently.

Areas of Enhancement:

As a Senator I believe I would have a duty to seek out areas of enhancement for our forum, with this in mind I will also:

- Work with the Council to assess each area of the forum for viability, the need for enhancement and if they are fit for purpose. By doing this we can enhance our forum and make it even better than it is currently. This would fall in line with our current modernisation theme.
- I believe the Council should turn its attention to nation retention and take a more active role in reaching out to nations personally in game so that we can direct more users here. This will tackle our current problem with recruitment
As Senator’s terms only last 4 months, I hope to be able to accomplish my above goals in this time frame and work towards enhancing our already amazing Islands. It would be a pleasure to work with the other council members and I hope my previous experience, good work ethic and adaptability would ensure I am an asset to the Council and the Islands as a whole.

I’d also like to take this time to wish my opponent Jabberwocky good luck in the campaign!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

**The image at the top of the page is a Vote Mark Banner with Vote Markanite for New Republic South written on it. It is green with a diamond shape at the top.**

[Louisistan]

Hi Markanite,

how nice to see you back in politics. Here are some questions for you:

1.) If elected, would you increase your presence on Discord?
2.) Reforming the political party has been a core promise of basically every NRS Senator for the past three years. What makes you think you'll fair any better at it than your predecessors?
3.) What's your opinion to the previously proposed Senatorial Campaign Credits? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/35734/initial-senatorial-campaign-credit-proprosal
4.) Do you agree that the main purpose of 10ki's political parties should be to support its members when running in elections and motivating its members to run in elections? If not, what is?
5.) What is your stance on the Transaprency Act? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36520/ns-284-transparency-act-passed
6.) How would you have voted on the latest treaties with Yggdrasil and TRR? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36457/10000-islands-yggdrasil-treaty-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36334/282-xki-treaty-friendship-passed
7.) We recently saw the first invocation of the Senate Vacancies Act. Are you content with how it played it out or do you believe it should be improved? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/35801/275-senate-vacancies-act-passed
8.) Knowing that non-secure Council Debates will now be made available to the public eye. Will that impact your behaviour during such debates compared to previous terms you served on the Council?

... Well that should do it for now. Looking forward to your responses.

[Tuga Nation's Dragon]

You have my full support as always, my friend! The Council without you is not the same, I know that for a fact...

[Jabberwocky]

I asked for an opponent; I got one. I didn't anticipate running against a candidate of your stature, however. Nevertheless, good luck, Markanite,

[Markanite]

Jan 3, 2019 9:32:36 GMT -5 Tuga Nation's Dragon said:

You have my full support as always, my friend! The Council without you is not the same, I know that for a fact...

Thank you so much for your kind words my friend, that means a great deal to me. Your service was exemplary and I hope I can follow your example if I am elected!

Jan 3, 2019 10:36:33 GMT -5 Jabberwocky said:

I asked for an opponent; I got one. I didn't anticipate running against a candidate of your stature, however. Nevertheless, good luck, Markanite,

Best of luck to you too Jabberwocky! I know this will be a fun race!

[Markanite]

Hi Louisistan! Thank you for your questions, I had wondered who was going to get in first and ask questions between yourself and Paffnia and it looks like you win!

Now onto the questions.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

1.) If elected, would you increase your presence on Discord?

My interaction on discord has been limited, my hours of work don't allow me to be around for update so I have neglected discord. I will however attempt to be more active, you should some activity from me in the next few days!

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

2.) Reforming the political party has been a core promise of basically every NRS Senator for the past three years. What makes you think you'll fair any better at it than your predecessors?

A few years ago I was the senator for NRS and implemented a variety of initiatives (the summary thread, contacting each nations, prepared the way for primaries, themed 'Parties') which led to an increased level of political party activity. I also led TIP, the largest and most successful political party, this was however quite a few years ago and the political parties have now become quite inactive. For the last few months I have been out of elected office and haven't held any responsibility for a party since then. This has allowed me to reflect and assess the current engagement and activity and see the need for reform. As I outlined in my first post I want to:

- I will create a summit thread, where anyone can comment on the current system and together, we can start a conversation on how to enhance our political party system and boost activity
- I will hold ‘parties’ in the sub-forum, these seasonal parties will have games and activities to increase activities and participation with political parties

The 'parties' and other activities will help to increase traffic towards the political parties sub-forum and subsequently increase engagement.

The summit thread will allow us all to contribute to a conversation on the future of the political parties and help craft a way forward which makes them relevant and fit for purpose.

In short, my past experience in various roles, my determination to succeed and the open way in which I will seek a solution to the activity problem will enable me to reform this system and make it a success.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

3.) What's your opinion to the previously proposed Senatorial Campaign Credits? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/35734/initial-senatorial-campaign-credit-proprosal

Whilst I agree with their sentiment, I do not believe that the proposal is really necessary. This could be accomplished by the political parties and they could fund or contribute to a candidates' campaign.

Poltical parties should be funding their candidates and also raising party funds.

I don't recall any fundraising activities, games or events being held by political parties and I feel this is a missed opportunity. An exciting fundraising event raises the profile of the party, raises funds, helps seek out future candidates and also provides something for new or arriving nations to get involved in. This could also help attract new nations to our forum and help with our nation retention problem.


If elected I will work with each party to help facilitate events of this nature and will liaise with each party to ensure that funding elections is part of their policy.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

4.) Do you agree that the main purpose of 10ki's political parties should be to support its members when running in elections and motivating its members to run in elections? If not, what is?

I would agree with that statement, political parties should work to vet their candidates and ensure talented nations have the opportunity to run for office and remain engaged in our political processes.

I would like party leaders to demonstrate they are reaching out to new nations, welcoming them, inviting them to join the party and get involved in the community. This could help retain nations, increase our community size and help solve the variety of problems facing our islands today.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

5.) What is your stance on the Transaprency Act? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36520/ns-284-transparency-act-passed

I think this is a very interesting piece of legislation and I have signed up to Paffnia's public comment subscription list. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future and hopefully will be able to engage with it's development and implementation after the next election.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

6.) How would you have voted on the latest treaties with Yggdrasil and TRR? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36457/10000-islands-yggdrasil-treaty-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/36334/282-xki-treaty-friendship-passed

I would have voted for both. Increasing relations with our allies and extending our influence beyond our shores is extremely important. During my terms as Delegate I maintained strong links with our allies and worked diligently to ensure our embassy corps were well maintained and active. I believe crafting treaties like this shows we value our allies.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

7.) We recently saw the first invocation of the Senate Vacancies Act. Are you content with how it played it out or do you believe it should be improved? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/35801/275-senate-vacancies-act-passed

I am happy with how it has played out so far, I am hoping someone will come forward to run for HW and ensure that we have a capable and enthusiastic senator in that seat.

Jan 3, 2019 7:30:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

8.) Knowing that non-secure Council Debates will now be made available to the public eye. Will that impact your behaviour during such debates compared to previous terms you served on the Council?

No, I will still voice my opinion, give ideas and contribute enthusiastically just as I have done in previous terms.

Louisistan thank you very much for your insightful questions, I hope I have answered them satisfactorily and if you have any follow ups, please let me know.

[Markanite]

It's great to see Siuts and Twobagger in the race for HW!

It's also nearly election day! If you have any questions please let me know, I am happy to answer any and all of them!

[Markanite]

Voting is now open!

Vote Mark for NRS!

[Markanite]

Firstly I would like to say thank you to everyone who has voted, it is great to see so many Islanders exercising their democratic right to vote and have their say on the future of the Islands.

I would like to announce that I am going to pull out of the Senate race for New Republica South. Good luck to Jabberwocky, I know he will do an amazing job as Senator.

I would also like to thank all of my supporters for placing their trust in me. I hope to work with Jabberwocky to develop the political parties further and achieve all the things I had outlined in my campaign thread with his help.

Mark

[Louisistan]

Wait what

[Louisistan]

Why?

[Jabberwocky]

I don't get it. I'm right in the middle of writing my concession speech.

[Louisistan]

Jan 13, 2019 10:57:05 GMT -5 Jabberwocky said:

I don't get it. I'm right in the middle of writing my concession speech.

He's been appointed Minister of Education instead.