[Manifesto-part 1]This is my generation

Day 1,897, 09:37 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Joku Gones

Theme for the manifesto!
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, today sees the arrival of the first half of my manifesto. It’s not really split into any sort of fancy grouping, just sections which appear relevant to each other have been bundled together.

To start however, I would like to thank the fantastic response I saw when I formally announced my candidature, and I would like to thank the UKRP for being the first party to declare public support for me. I hope I am fortunate enough to have more people invest their faith in me so please consider me at your party primaries. Without further adieu, let us begin!

Who am I?
My name is 5butjam, an eRepublik addict who has spent a good chunk of the past 6 months involved heavily within the game. Whether that is chatting to friends through the forums, IRC and in game messages, or involving myself with government whenever I get the opportunity to do so I relish the opportunity to log on and participate in the eUK. I also sincerely believe that I am fully capable of being exactly what this country needs.
For a while, the politics between the parties have been just that, politics. Arguments have hindered us, party lines have stifled debate. I stand for Presidential election because I am a statesman, time and again I have proved I have the capacity to transcend personal disputes and party divisions and I would like to bring this ability forward in service of our nation.

Apolitical cabinet
I don’t wish to just come across as another who promises to ‘heal the divide’ before promptly ignoring the issue. As a show of good faith I’m looking invest in an idea from previous terms and ensure myself and members of my cabinet sign an agreement during their tenure.
This will consist of:
-Cabinet members will resign from externally visible party positions
-They will abstain from actively recruiting and publishing articles to promote their party
-A cabinet member who breaches the agreement will be warned one time only. If they break it again they will be immediately replaced.
The eUK does not need politicians, it needs statesmen, people willing to fight their corner fiercely for what they believe to be right, but with the ability to compromise and work together for the greater good of our country.
I will also be looking to reduce the number of ministers to one per department, then allow the ministers to access applications in order to choose their own deputies.

Communication
I’m a firm believer in communication through every avenue possible, hence why I am such a strong supporter of using the forums and IRC as supplements to our in game work and why (after initial scepticism) I support the prevalence of communicating in game. This requires effort but I believe it can work. To support this, cabinet mails and congress announcement mails will be organised by my MoLA. I will be eliminating unnecessary use of googledocs where possible. Votes outside of game mechanics will be run concurrently on the forums and in an article published by the MoLA. Whilst I appreciate this will be increased effort on behalf of the department, I value the increased activity and discussion worth every sweat. Proposals will be accepted as either forum posts or as in game articles and there will be heavy encouragement for them to be done in both. Maximum visibility will facilitate discussion, leading to smarter choices by congress.
As many of you will know, I was recently appointed as an administrator of the eUK forums recently and hold them pretty dear to my heart, considering they were what kept me in the game. It should come at no surprise, therefore, that I wholeheartedly support them, provided they do not take away from the in game experience. To me, their value as a supplement is limitless and I will seek to help people from every background reach them and contribute to the conversation. Every player deserves to choose.

Citizenship
Every congress member has the ability to grant up to 4 people a term Citizenship, this means that immigration could be as high as 160 citizens a month. This, in the vast majority of cases, is a good thing. There are many people who have come to the UK and integrated into the community very well, bringing their damage and their experience with them. However, there are certain people who should not be granted citizenship, those who would do us harm and we must seek to keep them out.
In the past, committees and trusted,experienced individuals have been involved with approving the applications. This has unfortunately shown to be untenable, as there are always people who will go against the system, often out of ignorance but a few times by malicious action because they dislike the system. I have concluded that the best way to protect us from people who would undermine us is education. For that reason, I believe that our googledoc system is a step in the right direction. Work must be done however to get us at as close to 100% adoption of the format. My goals for reforming this will be higher visibility, a personal involvement with speaking to those who have acted against advice and the appointment of someone who will keep the document tidy, organised and accessible. Education and common sense is key.

Foreign Affairs
TWO as an alliance is a powerhouse and it is the overwhelming opinion of the majority that we are very happy in this alliance. I cannot foresee any events that will change this in my presidency. The rest of foreign affairs will centre on assessing our relationships and any damage that they’ve incurred over the past few months. Repairing these are important steps to preserving the integrity of the nation.
Mittekemuis had a strong proposal last term, involving increasing communication between TWO members. It involved an exchange programme in which a citizen of each country would volunteer to move to another TWO country and serve as dMoFA. Not only would this help increase communication and empathy between our allies and us, but the UK spearheading a proposal of this calibre in TWO HQ can only show our commitment and dedication to the success of the alliance, and prove that we are worthy members.This is not a guarantee of success, as I cannot and will not promise something that I may be unable to do, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to push for this programme.

So there we have it, part one of my manifesto. Please vote and let your friends know so I can get maximum visibility, and consider subscribing so you get the rest of my articles delivered straight to you! Please also provide any comments you have on my policies, good or bad as it’s discussion and compromise that will let us work together.

Same as last time, I’m not going to ask you to start shouting my article, I just ask that you keep the message of ”Patriotism, not politics!” alive in your feeds for as long as possible.
Thank you all very much for your time in reading this and any more time you give to thinking on it,
5butjam-Presidential hopeful