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NDU January 2013 Senatorial Debate; Candidates should be prepared for the first question from the moderator
Topic Started: Jan 6 2013, 06:29 PM (261 Views)
Cohesion
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the January 2013 Presidential Debate. Once we have established who the candidates are the debate will commence. Marks will be awarded for originality, innovation and overall artistic impression.

Expect the first question when all candidacies are announced.
President, NDU
Major exporter of the exclusive Human-itarian range of cookies, foie gras and jelly babies - solving overpopulation one bite at a time
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Cohesion
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Senate candidates:

The Liberal Republic of The Wiggle
The Federal Republic of Zaharawi
The Impenetrable City-State of The-Commonwealth
The Free Peoples of The Peace of the World
The Republic of Hedfer

They are vying for 5 seats in the senate.

Let the debate commence.
Edited by Onza, Jan 9 2013, 08:34 PM.
President, NDU
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Cohesion
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Candidates:

Internal Affairs: what would you nominate as your two main priorities and how do you propose to achieve your goals?
President, NDU
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Hedfer

Recruiting has always been of foremost interest in the region. Last term, we did a decidedly poor job addressing the issue. However, this time around it WILL be different. My party, the Peoples' Party, will spearhead the effort to have more nations recruiting in different places. One important aspect of this is finding new places to recruit. Yes, there are the obvious places, but we need to find regions with nations who are attempting to make a difference, but their voices are being suppresses and bring them here where they can make an impact.
Secondly, we need to establish an University for the region. This may not seem necessary to some, but I believe that it is essential. Many newer nations have no idea how to recruit or how to write legislation. Having an University which can educate nations in such areas will greatly increase the output of all the nations involved.
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Commonwealth
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My first issue is Recruitment,During my last term I never wrote legislation about it or even proposed anything about it but I was a member of the recruitment board so I have first hand experience doing so. I came up with the idea to hold a recruitment drive after we have the senatorial election, We would have one nation in every feeder and sinker nation sending recruitment telegrams whenever they could for seven days.

My second issue is presidential term limits, This may not be a very important issue to some but to me it is. I believe that in order to keep our region democratic we must set limits on the amount of terms that the president can serve.
Minister of Regional Records
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Zaharawi

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

I will like to first of all use this opportunity to thank you all for the support I have been given since my arrival at this newly created region.

As my fellow colleague has mentioned, the priority of the next senate is to increase the population of our region. In the past, we have done many different things to try to address this pressing challenge. If elected senator, I will work with the other senators to rewrite the Telegram that we send to nations. I believe part of the challenges that we are currently having in targeting the right nations is due to the fact that those telegrams are too broad. Every nation is looking for different thing and we have to ensure that we understand what majority of the new nations need in order to feel welcome.

Secondly, we need to address the challenges of creating activities in the region of the newly arrived nations. Those activities have to be engaging and interactive enough to keep their interest in our region. One of the activity that I have in mind is actually the idea of creating a regional Olympic. It will take a lot of effort to draw up the details, but I believe most nations are very interested in something that allow them to use their nations.

Finally, I will also work with other members of the senate to create a regional currency. This will allow nations to role play with their nations and do business with other nations. Ultimately, the goal of this will be to get them familiarized with different nations in our region.
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Cohesion
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We do not presume to exclude Wiggle or Peace of the World from this debate, but as there is a quorum of answers already we will continue. Wiggle, Peace, your answers are welcome when you have a chance. (We understand perhaps more than most the difficulties of time zones and outside priorities.)

Supplementary:

Recruitment is top of everyone's agenda so far. As the current recruitment thread shows, we were one of the most active recruiters latterly. Perhaps 2 in 10 of the nations contacted come on board, some then leave, and none to date has been very active. Would a preferable goal be to recruit fewer but better nations?
President, NDU
Major exporter of the exclusive Human-itarian range of cookies, foie gras and jelly babies - solving overpopulation one bite at a time
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Zaharawi

Like I said earlier, the goal of recruiting involve knowing what the nations want for their nation. They want a region where they can establish themselves and let their voice count.

Our job as senators should not be to target a specific group of people. We should offer an open arm to all nations willing to migrate.

Our job however is to ensure that we maintain their interest in the region. That is what our challenge is.
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Commonwealth
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Yes. I think that quality outshines quantity by far, 1 active nation is worth 100 fold compared to 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376 inactive nations.

(100 fold = 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376)

Edited by Commonwealth, Jan 6 2013, 11:46 PM.
Minister of Regional Records
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Hedfer

I started NS without knowing what it was, but quickly became involved in the politics. You never know which nation will contribute, so quantity is important. However, we also need to provide nations the opportunity to be involved, and education through a University would help that. Also, many nations in other regions are suppressed and can not have their voices heard. We need to find these nations and bring them to the NDU where they can have a voice
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Cohesion
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Working in the Senate: For the first time in the NDU, there are a number of strong personalities. How do you propose to be able to work effectively with your fellow senators? Do you see a place for formalising party groupings in the senate?

(And once again, we do not wish to exclude Wiggle and Peace. Feel free to jump in when you are able over the next 24 hours.)
President, NDU
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Cohesion
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Explanatory:

Is it still enough to talk through issues together on the forum or via TG, or might parties become more entrenched in the new senate? Is there a possibility that this will become a partisan senate with members caucusing by affiliation to propose or defeat legislation? Or will it be business as usual?
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Yanow

Personally, I plan on putting aside issues with a bill publicly, and taking up any concerns I have with the author personally. I am capable of being diplomatic, and will be perfectly civil.

I will try to compromise and keep things from becoming partisan, but there are no guarantees as to what actually will happen if a controversial bill is proposed.
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Hedfer

My party, the Peoples' Party, stands to potentially gain a majority of seats in the Senate. However, even if this is the case, no bill should be steamrolled through the voting process. My party's goal is to keep everyone in the region involved. If there is opposition to a bill in our outside of the Senate I want to hear the concerns nations have and address them to the best of my ability. This can be achieved either on the RMB or via telegram. Unless I feel the bill is of utmost importance to be passed in the way it stands, I will compromise with the concerned party. And if I feel the bill must be passed as it stands, I will be sure to give a detailed explanation to the concerned party as to my reasoning.
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Cohesion
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These are thoughtful responses to something that may or may not come up in the 2nd senate. We will move onto a new question, however this does not mean that responses to any previous question may not continue to be made.

Foreign affairs now: Our embassy with NCON and a possible associated treaty could see the NDU obliged to assist if NCON raided. (Similarly NCON would be obliged to reciprocate.) Should the NDU get more involved in foreign affairs, defending, etc, or should we turn our backs on the outside world and be a self-sufficient region?
President, NDU
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Hedfer

This subject can not be dealt with lightly. It will by no means benefit the region to adopt an isolationist policy. I believe we must become more interactive in foreign affairs, even defending regions from unjust raids.
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Commonwealth
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The New Democratic Union can not benefit whatsoever from isolationism. I think we should participate more in foreign affairs by doing more than just create embassies, we should form pacts and treaties so that our relationships with other regions mean more than a imaginary embassy. I also think that it would be wise to participate in defending regions in time of need, just in case one day down the road we need help, this reminds me of the poem "First they came" by Martin Niemöller.

"First they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me."
Edited by Commonwealth, Jan 7 2013, 07:56 PM.
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The Wiggle

I believe that we should work to create embassies and treaties with peaceful regions. It can never hurt to have allies, should something happen!
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Cohesion
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With respect to our "Working in the Senate" question, it now appears somewhat irrelevant. With Zaharawi and Yanow both joining the People's Party, it means that 4 of the 6 candidates are now members, and that they are guaranteed a majority, with at least 3 seats. We move onto the next question. It will be the last new question. We will gauge the interest in continuing to probe some of the issues through supplementary questions. We expect to hear the exact election date from Onza soon and will allow each candidate to make a closing remark.

Achievements: Each of the candidates has held elective office here, in DUAN, or both. What would you regard as your biggest success in office and how did you achieve it?
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Onza
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From St. Saratoga of the NCON:
--------------------------------------------------

"Hello potential Senators, I am St. Saratoga from the New Coalition of Nations. I would like to know how you would react if the NCON or any of your allies were raided? Would you prefer to negotiate or immediately attack the invading party?"
Founder/Regional Administrator.

"It's a bad religion to be in love with someone who could never love you." - Frank Ocean
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Hedfer

St. Saratoga, I would first like to thank you for your interest in our campaigns. Our allies should be of utmost importance to us. I believe that each situation calls for an individual response. If there is a chance to negotiate successfully, negotiations should be attempted. However, if it is clear from the outset or after attempted negotiations that an invading region does not wish to negotiate, then I fully support attacking the invading party. Such is our duty to our allies.
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The Wiggle

I completely agree with Hedfer. I believe that negotiation should be the first option; however, if that fails, I believe that it is our duty as allies to attack the region that attacked our allies.
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Onza
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I would also like to address St. Saratoga's question as founder and as the current President:

My first priority would be to collect as much information as possible on the attack to ensure that it is an actual attack and that as much intelligence is known about what is going on.

I would urge the Senate to declare the need for soldiers, and I'd have my Minister of Defense properly inform and review all potential soldiers before sending then to the front line. Hopefully, all of this could be conducted in a fast enough manner. Though, if not, a few steps may have to be skipped for the sake of success in liberating the region.

If we could not expel the invading force from the NCON, I would initially try for peace talks, though if nothing good comes of them, invasion of the invader would be the only option.

The NDU is currently small compared to our friends, though that'll hopefully change soon.

I hope my answer helped the Senators answering the question a little bit.
Founder/Regional Administrator.

"It's a bad religion to be in love with someone who could never love you." - Frank Ocean
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Zaharawi

On the issue of how I plan to work to bridge some of the differences I might have with my colleagues. As many of you know, if I have an issue with anyone, I usually attempt to work things out by stating what the issue is and attempt to resolve it. I am a firm believer in civil resolution of conflict of interest, hence that shall be my way of handling issues.
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Zaharawi

Senator Wiggle and myself have always been very close during my time as former senator. He could perhaps testify on my behalf on my views on dealing with foreign relations. I believe that has a democratic region, we should abstain from involving ourselves on any issue relating to raiding another region. If our friends needs help, we should do our best to try to resolve the conflict amicably. If the issue can not be resolved in said manners, then we should offer ourselves as peacekeepers. This are our stands.
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