Jyskmark for SLU Delegate | July 2019

[Jyskmark]

Dearest Members of the Social Liberal Union,

Somehow, less than five months after creating Jyskmark, I now find myself standing for the position of World Assembly Delegate of the Social Liberal Union. Do I really think I'll win? Honestly, no. I suppose someone has to come last though, hey?

First of all I just want to say how much I have come to enjoy this community and its people in the relatively short time I have been here. Not only was I welcomed with open arms when I first joined the SLU Discord and moved what was then a lowly puppet into the region, but after troubles in my original region which left me doubting my will to even continue with Nationstates and its communities the SLU quickly reaffirmed their willingness to have me around and truly made me feel at home. Since that time especially, I feel I have grown to know many of you reasonably well and my interactions with you all are a very enjoyable part of my life (even if it is just Helvurium hurling abuse at me). When I committed to putting more time into Jyskmark and the SLU I also said that I would seek to become more involved in the region at large, and I think it is now about time I made good on that and start to give back to this group which has offered me so much. I appreciate some of you have had doubts about it, but the Social Liberal Union is really my home now.

Anyway that's enough of the sob story

My Credentials

As of the end of July 2019, I will have served as Secretary-General of the Democratic Socialist Assembly for a cumulative total of six months. While this sounds underwhelming in pure numbers, it does also represent pretty much exactly 50% of my time as a Nationstates player and a significant part of the past year for me. I believe I have carried out the duties of that role well, and demonstrated a good ability to serve in regional government as well as performing the administrative functions needed to keep a community running (for the most part) smoothly. I have also contributed to the DSA through authoring and co-authoring a number of items of legislation including key pieces such as the Administrative Omnibus Act. For the DSA I have also acted as a cabinet aide for even longer than I have as Sec-Gen and held ambassadorial roles to The Revolutionary Communist Alliance and The Versutian Federation.

While my experience has not been in the SLU and has little to do with foreign affairs, I believe my track record in Nationstates and the variety of roles and tasks I engage in in real life demonstrate that I can adapt to new roles and quickly learn how to adequately fulfil them. What I'm trying to say, really, is that I do not believe there is any reason I can not deliver what is required for the Delegate role and if anything I think my relative 'outsider' position leaves me able to offer something of a fresher outlook on the SLU, its current state, and how it can push forward.

Setting Out My Stall

Ultimately, however, elections ride on candidates' ideas and objectives so I might as well put some forward.

World Assembly

While the Delegate would ideally follow the consensus of the region in their handling of world assembly matters and votes, I do not believe this is mutually exclusive with offering guidance to the region's World Assembly members and stimulating discussion to actually achieve a consensus in words rather than waiting for regional voting trends to emerge. As Delegate I would publish detailed opinions on pieces of legislation that reach World Assembly vote and how I personally would vote. While I would still of course seek to follow regional consensus when issuing the Delegate vote, I feel that the region could also benefit from a greater Delegate presence in ensuring that WA matters are actually discussed by members in the SLU.

On a related note, the SLU is of course a member of the Interregional Legislative Coalition bloc of regions. I do not think it is unfair to say that the ILC currently lacks any real sense of cohesion or direction, and what should be a formidable team of associated regions is simply just not that. As SLU Delegate I would seek to use my role to stimulate ILC discussion and activity, hopefully contributing towards unleashing the potential that the ILC has and securing the SLU's place as a leading member of the bloc.

Involvement in the Region

At the moment, I believe it is too difficult for new members of the region to take a more active role in its actual affairs. While the four-month term for the Delegate and Ministers is suitable for the SLU in my opinion, this does also limit chances to become involved in government and while ministries do have some non-elected roles it is not made clear enough as to what opportunities are available or who is currently filling them. In order to increase participation in regional affairs, I would work with the ministries of the SLU to clarify and open up SLU governmental roles to allow non-ministerial members a greater ability to actually be properly involved in regional activities should they so desire.

The SLU 'In-Game'

By refraining from participating in organisations such as NSLeft, the SLU finds itself in the helpful position of being able to act freely in matters of 'in-game' diplomacy and it is my belief that this advantage should be pressed home. While we already enjoy good diplomatic relations with a number of Nationstates regions, there is no reason why we can not be constantly exploring new avenues and potential allies and while the SLU is not itself a huge region its members have a great deal of experience in Nationstates. With this in mind, as Delegate I would seek to expand our diplomatic efforts to an even greater array of regions while making doubly sure that we are forging ties with like-minded communities sharing common values with the SLU. I do not see why we should not do this, and it can only benefit us to increase our contacts in the world of Nationstates.

And on that note...

I think I have said all that I really want to. As I said at the beginning of this message, I do not particularly expect to garner tons of support but if you could send a vote or two my way that would be rather nice. Feel free to bother me through some medium of communication if you have anything to ask. And uhhhh... yeah, that's it. If you're still here then thanks for reading this and goodbye.