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As I am sure many of you know on Saturday 1st of May the presidential candidates , Craig Rossiter (Capitalist), jamesw (Socialist) and Elbanaan (Communist), went head to head in an prime ministerial debate. Thanks must go to Maddog Jones who both engineered and presided over the debate.

For those who missed it, here is a write up of the questions and the responses from the candidates (after a lot of trimming down of course):



1. Maddog Jones: What are your opinions on a direct war for the eUK in your term?

Elbanaan: Direct war, if it has any purpose, should be started without second though. That said, I do not see any opportunity or purpose for the eUK. We are surrounded by allies, and nations with butt-loads of MPP's, which give us no chance of winning. Attacking these MPP'd nations will give us far too many open fronts (including eUSA), who can swoop in and take back any region we hope to conquer

In short: Direct war yes - if possible

Craig Rossiter: While I would love to see war. Those of you who have looked at my campaign goals will see Vestlandet there. Any direct war we enter must have a justifiable and obtainable end. So no wars for the sake of wars. Although I have no problem in pulling a Woldy and blocking anyone.

i]Note: at this point jamesw was absent[/i



2. Maddog Jones: If you had to invade one of our neighbours, which country would you choose? And why?

Craig Rossiter: As I said before there needs to be a reason for it. So we have three countries with a reason, eUS, eIreland and eNorway. I favour eNorway due to high oil and some chance of keeping the place.



3. Member of Public: Why is war for the sake of war is not a justifiable option? This is a game, war increases retention rates and is fun.

Craig Rossiter: We have MPP wars for that. i]In regard to retention rates[/i The invasion of us by the eUSA didn't give us a baby boom so I don't see why another war would. I feel home war would make no difference.

Maddog Jones: Elbanaan, the member of the populace says 'wars are fun'.

Elbanaan: Hitting eIreland and losing 2mil damage everytime won't be fun. So as mentioned, war yes - if justifiable. It is likely that no open war would be started. But if there is an opportunity, i'm sure all 3 would take it. i]Note: Other candidates agree[/i

jamesw: War, in my opinion, can help, when its used properly. The reason the eUSA war did nothing, is because we were too busy planning how to fight. Instead of planning how to use it properly. In regards to war, there is a severe short sightedness at times. Battles can have more than one use. So yes, I think domestic war can help with retention/recruitment more than MPP war. But it isn't solely for retention/recruitment that we should open domestic war



4. Iain Keers: I want to know what the candidates think about our relations with the eUS and Max McFarland II?

Craig Rossiter: I love our relationship. A competitive rivalry. If elected there will be an element of respect towards both country and president. I must confess though I am unsure if url=http://www.erepublik.com/en/citizen/profile/1624959]Max McFarland II[/url is one of the serious eUK haters.

Maddog Jones: I think the question was asking about the huge accusations of the backroom dealings. Could you elaborate a little more on that?

Craig Rossiter: Yes. A Bro/EDEN split is good. Ergo Max is good, since he is a Bro fag. Gaius is EDEN fag.

jamesw: Ok, in terms of McFarland - we should all weep he won't be CP this month. I've spoke to him quite a bit before all of this shit-storm happened, and he was an incredibly decent guy. In terms of relations with him, personally, I'd say they are ok.

In terms of the eUK and eUSA, the war seems to as McFarland said "let off the steam". Whilst the eUSA aren't technically in EDEN, i still think it is silly to say they are separate.

Elbanaan: The eUS still fights alongside EDEN, especially in the non-original Phoenix owned regions - Hello Kitty as an example. I wouldn't try to strengthen relations with them.



5. A member of the British Armed Forces: What are your opinions on the current funding of the military, would you support increased funding to make us more attractive to players who aren't in the military at the moment because they need extra money for Lana?

Elbanaan: Gold funding for high strength players for Lana - NEVER. At the moment the military is paying the higher strength, and higher skilled players. I would undo this decision, and put them back to enough wage to pay for wellness, and guns (like normal). When you start in the military, you get way more guns than you produce. At a later stage, you will produce more than 5Q1.

That's in short my thoughts on this subject, there will be more in my manifesto

jamesw: Ok, my thoughts on this are simple. We haven't yet done the reform, but its in the final process steps of being implemented. In my opinion, no-one should comment yet - we need to test this out and see if it works. If we get more people involved and our high strength players like Hassan/Kumnaa back: that's good. But a caveat to that: any spending should be thought about carefully. We should never have a situation where we spend more than we earn, and effective use of money here is key

But on the whole - I think anything which helps us militarily, provided it doesn't bankrupt us is good.

Craig Rossiter: I work on the motto "Give them the tools to do the job". Obviously this must be balanced with what the Ministry of Finance (MoF) says we can afford. But if Tom Morgan (Minister of Defence) feels it will benefit the military I am inclined to agree with him.

Maddog Jones: What about a dispute between the financial boffins and the military whizzes then? Who would you side with?

Craig Rossiter: I would not stand in the way of this happening if A) Tom wants it and 😎 My MoF agrees spending is at an acceptable level. I would imagine a compromise would be able to reached between both.

Maddog Jones: Craig, we have a question following on from that directed at you - does 'tools to do the job' include Lana spending?

Craig Rossiter: Maddog, if Tom Morgan wants it yes

jamesw: Lana spending is untenable. The amount we would have to spend on it would mean it is severely restricted. So not only would people bitch about not being picked, but the people we did fund couldn't be fully funded.

Craig Rossiter: Well before anything is done, a review would be formulated by the MoF and MoD and scrutinised by Parliament. We cannot outright start making assumptions without factual evidence to reinforce them.

jamesw: We've already done that it isn't yet in parliament because it's not been trailed yet.

Elbanaan: What it would come to is either dropping MPP, don't spend anything on a direct war, or pay for Lana

jamesw: Funding 10 people, fully, with Lana would mean we can't afford a single MPP. That's how restricted we would have to be with anything like this.

Craig Rossiter: I am sure Tom Morgan would weigh this up when he makes the decision.

Maddog Jones: So Tom Morgan would be the one making the decisions under your government Craig?

Craig Rossiter: The decisions relating to the inner workings of the military, yes.

jamesw: I don't want to make military decisions, but I will say this. I favour it in part but anything we do must be severely restricted and tested to ensure value for money before fully implemented.



6. Member of the House of Lords: How do you plan to prepare for V2 with the changes to the economic module?

Elbanaan: When is V2? Can you answer me this? We will deal with it when it gets here. The most important part- military, has been dealt with.

Maddog Jones: So you don't plan to prepare for the economic part of it, but rather deal with it when it gets here?

Elbanaan: Yep. We have no idea on what is changing, how skills are transferred, if formulas are changing, etc. how we will be able to transfer companies. Until then I'm not going to bother.

Craig Rossiter: It will be the job for the ministry of education. They will go through each article, including future ones, and plan as best they can. Although like Elbanaan I doubt there is much we can do.

jamesw: In terms of V2 preparation, we can do a little bit, but not much. I'm going to ask all economic ministries/ministers to think about what is the absolute worst that could happen, and plan to fix that eventuality. if it knocks us off a bit, we can address that at the time. But i think we should do some planning. just in case it fundamentally undoes everything.



7. Civil Service L: How do the CP Candidates plan to increase the effectiveness and inclusiveness of Congress, and what is their position on the House of Lords?

jamesw: First a short bit on House of Lords. Kill it with fire. Secondly, congress. i want a more involved, more active and more effective congress. which is why i'd replace MoLA with an elected figure and ask congress to use their treasure map gold to fund congressional initiatives.

Elbanaan: I have 2 proposals, which I will carry out whether or not I become president (as a member of congress myself)
1. Helping the military and government companies. Congress will be encouraged to work in government companies, at market wages. a thread will be started, asking to volunteer to donate RM. Upon !!, they will be given access to an org in an allied country, and donate RM across
2. Helping the MOHA. Congress will help mailing noobs, workers, low wellness people.

HOL: I don't mind them, the biggest power is a 24h delay

Craig Rossiter: The cabinet will be more visible. With weekly reports to me. With as much of that as possible being shown to congress in sensitive. This will allow congress to know more and increase effectiveness. i]In regards to the House of lords[/i If congress repeals, lords becomes ministers without portfolio.



8. Maddog Jones: How do each of the candidates propose to undergo the healing of citizens who are currently on extremely low health due to the amendment of Hospital Rules?

Craig Rossiter: Education, education, education. They need to learn the game mechanics or they will forever be there. The Minister of Education will write a for dummies series which will address all aspects of the game mechanics. Personal Messages will be sent and the gifting scheme will continue.

jamesw: We need a new welcoming message - less clutter. Education is important, yes, but it isn't everything. Some people know how to heal - they just forget - sometimes it can't be helped. We should continue the gifting scheme, but ask for public donations as well as asking for donations from people we heal. We could also explore government housing, whether that be subsidised or free.

Elbanaan: The gifting scheme should continue. I would have a gift company run by the government. Asking for donations is a good thing. Most new players have enough gold from lvl 6 etc. and just don't know what to do with it. Emphasis should be placed on joining the forums or IRC (to be able to ask for people to help them). In my opinion, it's worth far more if the players ask for help themselves, instead of being offered.

Craig Rossiter: I wanted to talk about the housing jamesw bought up. How would it work?

jamesw: If we bought off the domestic market, we can subsidise houses for new players. Or we could use money made from an extended ministry of profit to buy them outright & donate to new players a scheme that Romania does, which I am looking into doing.

Craig Rossiter: Sounds a little expensive for what could be a quick loss if the player leaves.

jamesw: Its giving houses to new players for a month. Without contracts, obviously that's harder to do now. But we can't just abandon people. Another option is to increase the construction wage in skill 0 companies and get people in government owned housing companies then give out those houses.



9. Maddog Jones: Would you rather support eUSA and have them join Phoenix, or invade them along with eSpain and ePoland?

Craig Rossiter: eUSA in PHX could create a Sweden/Germany situation. For those who don't know it killed Atlantis. I'm not too enthused about joining up with eSpain and ePoland. Would prefer to sit on the sidelines. Anyway, it doesn't look likely.

jamesw: It's a none issue now, in that ePoland cannot into eUSA. There are many things we can do. It depends what Phoenix wanted to do. I would be happy to invade eUSA with eSpain, ePoland and Phoenix.

Elbanaan: Any opportunity for open war should be followed.



10. Maddog Jones: What would the candidates do to promote a baby boom during their term if elected?

Elbanaan: Nice Guy Eddie has started some initiatives. First thing, would be to see them through. Recruiting is ever so important, but we are already doing a whole bunch. Anyways, if I had a steller idea, I wouldn't save it till I ran for CP.

jamesw: Before we even think about baby-booms we have work to do. I'd use my term to ensure we have the infrastructure and activity to fully make use of a boom, and support one. Then if I get a second term, we can try for one then, or my successor can. But booms aren't easy, most are unplanned and hard to get/keep/take advantage of. So all we can do is try our best, and ensure we have an active population/articles/good welcoming message/backup food.

Craig Rossiter: Ministry of Recruitment will be whipped into spamming the internet. That Facebook group is awesome. Real life posters like NGE plans would be fun. Also inviting your friends will be encouraged maybe with small financial incentives for people who get friends forum active.



*Note: Several questions have been missed out due to irrelevance.

Closing Statements:

Elbanaan (Communist)

I'm a pretty awesome guy from an awesome party. Don't let the whole communist thing change your mind. We are communist party, but until we have over 50% of the votes, we won't run a communist country. Government will be run efficient, with consideration for all players. I won't be funding the happy few, but will ensure most funding goes to the majority of players. I'm an active, and experienced player I've been congress, minister of finance, and a bad ass soldier for quite some time and know a lot about each different module, and will use this to better the eUK. Be sure to read the upcoming manifesto, which will blow your mind.

Many thanks.



jamesw (Socialist)

i]Note: Iain Keers will be doing jamesw's statement in his absence[/i

Being CP is about two things, ability and vision. A lot of the questions here tonight seem to be there to judge ability, does this candidate understand strategy, the economy, the social side of the game. jamesw in my opinion is qualified to be CP but he also has vision He has been working on manifestos for months, approaching people from all sectors of the eUK and working on ways to get citizens involved in the forums, and citizens of the forums involved in the brainstorming and decision making that makes the eUK keep ticking. If you want a capable president with the vision to make this country great, vote jamesw.

Thanks.



So, there you go. Make of it what you will. Feel free to post what you think of the candidates below.