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I had an IRC interview with Greyhunter, Remon777 and RonelI on each of their presidential campaigns, how they position themselves and what they envisage for their term in office (should they be elected). Unfortunately Varlosh has not responded to my request for an interview.

I hope these interviews will help prospective voters make up their mind in what is probably one of the first elections in a while where there isn't necessarily a front-runner. (Sorry guys and gal, but I'm not backing any one of you). Its up to the voters to decide.



Question 1: Firstly, in a nutshell, what distinguishes you from the other candidates for this election?

Greyhunter: Besides my charming personality and colourful vocabulary?
Mr Kitty: Yeah, let’s give the voters something they can make choices on.
Greyhunter:
I believe that Ronell, and especially Remon777, are both good candidates. However I do believe that personally i have had a little more experience in terms of game mechanics and exposure on the international front. During my time as MoD i have gained experience in the the War module (i know its gonna change!) as well as working and forming relationships with people abroad. Having made friends internationally.. I believe that through the friendships we have formed, a level of trust has been reached, where all parties know that if any country needs support, they can get it on short notice.
That's it in a nutshell champ.. if you want an essay give me more time please and nutshell would be - international friendships + exp in war module and coordinating multinational strikes.

Remon777: hahaha! you don't play around kitty!
Steven Bosch: Kitty needs to make this challenging. I mean its the Presidential election after all.
Remon777
I believe that this CP elections is gonna be a good one! All candidates are well known and have done a lot for this country. I believe that i will bring calmness into government, which i believe is needed and I also believe that in my character, I am level headed. I have the ability to look past party politics, and see what is best for eSA
Relationship is NO 1 in this game for me, so that's gonna be a huge focus point1. Part of this becomes teamwork. I believe I have the ability to inspire healthy teamwork and the way people will interact with each other.

Ronell: Lol. Hmm. I'm looking at doing a lot of changes to the way things are run in government. Some of the departments as I've said in my campaign need a real shake up. And people appointed who don't resign because their PP is fired. With the other 2 I think it will basically be a status quo from what I've seen of their campaigns.
I'd just like to say I've been a player in eRep for nearly a year now, and have gathered a lot of experience along the way. I've made mistakes as have many people, but have learned from them and will use all my experience as well as experienced players to help with the running of eSouth Africa. If I am elected you get my full attention and effort in making eSouth Africa a safe, peaceful ecountry to live in.



Question 2: We're in a volatile time in the country in terms of security.With the liberation of Gauteng, we'll be a target, and we've got the lurking channers. What are your strategies there? (Obviously without spilling all our plans to the Brazilians)

Greyhunter: This is one of the areas i will need to focus and have thought about long and hard. Firstly, MoS is a vital post and needs a very active and dedicated player and team of players. Citizen applications are vital, but more so, we need to sort out or current situation. We need to isolate all the multi's and the "bad apples(channers)" that already have SA citizenship. As for how we route them out is the problem. Admins only apply the ban hammer when 1 of their laws are broken. Hence we need to make this work in our favour. MoS and his team will need to be vigilant and nail all these people as soon as they make a mistake. We will need to make the public aware as this person,with proof beyond reasonable doubt, and have the whole eSA report them for the law broken.. we all know admin work by volume, so let's bring the spotlight on those offenders.

Remon777: Because we are still a small nation, and military wise we will be a target, it will be of vital importance for us to keep strong relations with other countries. The MoFA has done an AMAZING job with this! The key here would be to keep this relationship alive! This is done by making friends with CP's and their cabinet of other countries, and offer our help to other nations when it is needed.
With regards to immigrants, we need to show that we are a friendly and welcoming nation! and that we want people to come here! but we also need to check out these people as far as we can to protect ourselves. ATM we need to step up our internal security and investigations. The current system is not working at 100%. We have a secret service that I'm not at liberty to speak about in public, but this team is gonna be heavily upgraded. With regards to channers - we have a list of them, and this needs to be updated regularly. We need as many people as possible to report them for multi's, and if they make a mistake, our Secret Service team will be sharp enough to catch it. we cant stop them from being born in eSA, but can do a lot more when it comes to the congressional elections. That why I want PP's to become more involved in government. I propose weekly meetings, and for the next election, we might need to work closer together, to ensure the safety of our country. our countries safety needs to be a bigger priority than party popularity. I have a gut feeling that the next elections we need to be EXTREMELY prepared and if I am elected president, I believe I have the social and strategy skills to ensure that we are safe

Ronell: I'll be working closely with our MoS to take note of any dangers that are out there, and to make an effort to counter them. Yes I think this term coming up is going to be a hard one. Brazil are not happy with us getting Gauteng. And until we are rid of the problem people we can never be safe. Keeping ties with our friends will also help a lot.



Question 3: There are allegations of elitism in eSouth Africa – what would be your response to people saying that a closed select group of people control the country?

Greyhunter: I believe that most of these allegations are unfounded.. when i first started erep.. I was in awe of the "elite" or "experienced" players if you will..I thought I would never get a chance to be MoD, least of all run for the presidency.
However, same as in RL, for you to be able to rise through the ranks and get noticed, you need to be recognised as a hard worker and get noticed..
Personally, I started as a PVT in SAAF.. I then got promoted through the ranks as my senior officers recognised the fact that i am always here and willing to help out where needed. That's just my scenario.. but the most important thing is that people recognize you for what you are doing.. then when the chance arises, you grab it with both hands and ask for more.. the road will be long and trying.. but its the way you come through this that you will be known.
Hence why I don't believe that there is an "elitist" system in SA.. just experienced players who are willing to help out (on that note one of my presidential points is that i want the "older" players to tutor and teach the younger ones).

Remon777: Well. there are two types of people I believe say that. The first are channers. These people are here to create a government of chaos and let us be destroyed once again. So they should be ignored. The second we have South African citizens. They have the right to their opinion. I can't think of who they are, but if they want a change in the way things are done, then they should get more involved in government and run for president because we live in a country where the president and congress are chosen by the people. That being said, i personally believe in a regime called a "liberal democracy" - that is a regime that the citizens appointed freely, and that competition is a great thing (the democratic part). The liberal part is that the government needs internal and external "checks". In other words, it needs to be held accountable for its actions. This is because the people elected the government, and have the right to see if it is truly doing what promised. To close of the elitist part, the CP candidates are all new faces. and all of us have new and fresh ways in which we see the government being run. I'm sure that in cabinet we might see a few fresh faces as well! So i would like to see those people saying we are elitist, to step up their game and start making a difference in our country.

Ronell: Actually I've seen a lot of that in all presidential terms. The same people are mostly selected every term. And some of them have gotten to the point where they think its their right to be selected and to order people around and get worked up if anyone takes a standpoint that's different from there view of things.
Sbosch: Are you part of that elite? Ronell: No I don't see myself part of the elite. Yes I've been asked to take positions and accepted them to help eSouth Africa. But I feel that I more neutral when it comes to interacting with fellow eSouth Africans.

[img]http://thedarkmaster.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/irc.png?w=398&h=292[/img]

Question 4: The IRC has been a burning point in eSouth African society, what would be your opinions on the problem?

Greyhunter: My opinion on the problem is that with any mixture of people from around the world, with conflicting views and beliefs, there will always be conflicts... the IRC is a way for people to interact, meet new people and plan to your hearts content. There are 3 fundamentals that will cause any conversation in the world to get aggressive, namely politics, religion and beliefs. These topics could incite a group of nuns to a downtown bar brawl. Its one thing to state your beliefs and have people disagree with you.. its another if you impose your views and/or beliefs on others. If you don't agree with someone, its can be healthy to have a discussion, but as soon as it gets heated, we need to be mature enough and step back and accept that everyone is different. IRC is the same.. no one should ridicule people for their views.. as long as those views aren't being shoved into peoples faces constantly.

Remon777: The IRC is a place for people to connect and build a community. The problem is that its full of people, and no proper guidelines are given to regulate what is happening there.I love the idea that Mark gave, that we need to setup a few rules and guidelines on the use of IRC, but these rules should also not be so strict, that no one wants to come online anymore, and that all the fun is taken away. this is not its purpose. the purpose would be to create a strong and healthy community, and be a place where everyone feels welcome. This I believe is the dream of our IRC.

Ronell: The IRC is a problem. Once again people can't take criticism and different view points and think banning people is the solution. Yes I agree a temp ban in some cases is required. To cool players off. But some of the players with op ban people at the slightest criticism to themselves and their view point. I would like the IRC to have a neutral set of ops who will look at things from an overall point of view not just theirs.

Question 5: How do you intend to reach your National Goals:

Greyhunter: My goals of achieving 10% GDPp and 10% population were based on gaining back WC and GP.. GP i had to include into the goals as we were in the planning phases and eBrazil just found out about our early Sunday strike..and it would look suspicious if I suddenly left that out, while at the same time being MoD. They knew we were up to something, so had to make them believe that the strike would be after elections. However, back to the point: With GP back in our grasp. WC will present another boost in our population. GP and WC are our RL high internet access areas, with these 2 secured the chance of us increasing our population is increased and hence the population increase is covered (and I work at a school and will make it compulsory for everyone to at least register and get to LVL 6 to pass the subject).
10% GDP growth ties hand in hand with the population growth.. i.e. more people = more productivity... my economic model is simple and follows the Gold Party manifesto.. keep taxes low, but at the same time stimulate competition

Remon777: Well, I am human and made a mistake for not changing my goal from Gauteng to WC. I should have changed my goals before this day. But I actually thought I had one more day to change them, so it is my fault. But let's review them: GDP 13% - seeing as Gauteng is liberated, and my goal now will be to liberate Western Cape, I really can't see this as happening in a natural way. Also if we can keep as many of the people currently in GP as possible. The economy is giving signs of recession (some say we are there), so the GDP will have its challenges regardless. But I believe that our MoF is doing a fantastic job. Control of Gauteng - as you said, this is now already done, so my focus will be Western Cape. Population - this wont happen now. this was done in the thought that we get Gauteng back. Now, I believe that we will have a negative impact on population. the term most probably will end with less than what we have now. Most probably very drastically. But to boost the population, I want to create a ministry calle😛 "Ministry of Pro-Creation", who's sole purpose would be to focus on getting babies, and also people from other countries. So a "Tourist Department" would be heading the latter. Here i want to see new faces bloom.

Ronell: Population through RL advertising on other internet sites, with the help of fellow eSouth Africans. As well as people from other ecountries within eRep itself by advertising the benefits of living in eSouth Africa. Increased population should increase our GDP with more workers available. As well as I would like to encourage more players to invest in companies here in eSouth Africa which will increase it as well. Western Cape either through negotiation or if that doesn't work through a well organised RW like we did with Gauteng.



Question 6: Ok, but its one thing to try and liberate the whole country, what do you think needs to be done to protect what we have?

Greyhunter: We have already begun procedures to make sure SA stays in our hands(top secret for now ).. but another crucial point is our MPPs.. we have built very close ties with the US and the Polish and I believe that by working together we can ensure that any threat to our home soil can be dealt with.

Remon777: A very good question! Strong relations with countries. I have explained this above. Stable MPP's with larger countries, which should come naturally cause of our strong relations with them. Consistent training wars to keep our military to grow strong! In my platform I mentioned that our mobile military unit needs to reach a status where other countries call on us for help. So our military needs to be strong and grow daily! New borns and citizens need to form part of our military asap.
But, we also now have a PTO threat from Brazil and the channers. I have discussed earlier that we need to upgrade our MoS drastically, and have a superior Secret Service team. They are our first line of defence. So to sum it up: protect our borders by all means possible, and have a solid internal security structure and system in place, that is very active, and very effective.

Ronell: We need to fortress more of our regions. Currently we have 2, which to me is not nearly enough, against outside attack. Also I'd like to see our MoS increased in size to help with PTO attempts.

Question 7: What do you foresee will be the challenges that V2 will hold for us? Should we be planning ahead?

Greyhunter: The main challenges will be to adjust to the new system and as quickly as possible.. my real worry is that admins will over-complicate eRep thereby losing my fans from V1.
I mean, not my as in Greyhunter's fans, but many fans of eRepublik.
sbosch: lol.
Greyhunter: In terms of planning, I know that the military have had discussions already about the new war modules, with the different systems, as well as other departments about the changes. As yet no-one is 100% certain as to how it will work, but we are putting plans into action to ensure eSA will have a quick and hassle free change over.

Remon777 I think that we are gonna face many challenges especially when it comes to the new military module. Its gonna take some time to get to know the new way war is gonna play out and the eSAAF is already holding discussions on this topic, which is good! We need to plan and speculate ahead. We need to be ready, and have an idea on what we are going to do when this happens. If we are not ready, and say eBrazil is, and they attack, they might conquer us only on the basis that we were not prepared. Thus, preparation is VITAL! Even though we can only speculate still, we need to think this one through.
On the economic side, I'm a company owner myself. so I'm waiting eagerly to see how it will all play out. Again, we can only speculate now... but company owners might need to come together and talk about how they envision their co. eg. food now plays a larger role, and can be for happiness or wellness. If all food companies go for wellness, this won't be a smart move. The ministry of trade will need to work on this, and encourage open discussion between co owners. The key word here again - Preparation. To sum up - we can only speculate on whats gonna happen and how. But it is the cabinet as well as the governments task to start to prepare our country for what is to come

Ronell: Major challenges will be in the military branches to be had. With our small population we have to be careful what gets specialized. Economics there are a lot of changes coming but until we know exactly what resources we will have available with eSA its hard to make any predictions on that.



Question 8: How do you plan to involve younger players and get a more active population in eSA?

Greyhunter Well.. I believe that there was a program like this in the past.. I feel however that this needs to be revived and put more in the spotlight (top 5 articles etc).. Young players need to see articles about how things work, and this will be done by the corresponding director or minister. (finalizing that). As to members that are keen to participate in government, an application process would be established and like in RL, have a shortlist. These candidates would need to be dedicated, hard working and trustworthy (obviously they would have limited access) but they will know how things work and why. I am also a firm believer of change.. if i become CP, 1 term will be enough.. let someone else have that great privilege and growth.. same way with ministries.. let's train the "youngsters up" and give them a chance.. we were all given that chance ourselves while becoming experienced.

Remon777: I believe in a team. And in a team we can achieve this. That is why the Ministry of Social Development and the new Ministry of Pro-Creation is gonna be so important! We need to keep the game fun. We need to help the people that have great baby boom ideas and support them in any way we can and the Government and eSAAF is setup in such a way, that a lot of people can be involved. Lastly, its also the responsibility of each PP to ensure the activity in their parties is high. It starts from the grass roots.

Ronell More advertising to make them aware of the forum and chat sections of eSouth Africa, as well as our mentor programme. Plus a section on the forum where they can ask questions which will be answered by older players not only the people who mentor them. In this way they get a more overall picture of eSouth Africa society.

Good luck to the candidates. If you want more info: check out their platforms:

Greyhunter: platform
Remon777: platform
RonelI: platform

Steven Bosch
a.k.a Mr. Kitty and doer of various stuff