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Greetings eBelgians!

So you may have noticed that the Training War (TW) with the eNL interferes with Congress Member (CM) elections. As has been pointed out, numerously and quite vehemently, such a plan, to start a TW in the days before CM elections, is a Really Bad Idea.

A Really Really Bad Idea.

Yes, a CM who can't do basic maths or isn't aware of how calendars work (other than the Mayan Calendar and the upcoming apocalypse) would be an idiot. Unintentionally or inadvertently arranging a TW where it would interfere with CM elections is a terrible idea, something a CP shouldn't do. A Derp move.

A Derpy Derp move.

I'd like to believe I have at least a few functioning brain cells (which has yet to be shown) and indeed noticed ahead of time the fact that the TW was planned to coincide with CM elections.

So what the heck is going on?

As some of you have gleaned from various articles and forum posts, an anti-PTO effort is occurring in eBelgium. The TW with eNetherlands is an integral part of that.

Some backgroun😛

What is a PTO?

A PTO (political take over) is when a group of folks infiltrate a country in eRepublic. They move to a country, sometimes acting friendly and helpful, not arousing much suspicion (Hay! Look! A guy who can't find eBelgium on a map, smells weird, and only has 3 teeth! Great! Let him in!).

Over time, these innocuously admitted folks get more of their similarly innocuous friends allowed into the country. Together, in secret, they build up a power-base, enough to gain CM seats, with an end goal of having one of their members become the country president (CP). A PTO may take months, but starts with just one or two people getting citizenship passes (CS passes), and getting a few more folks admitted over time, until they are ready to strike. They strike by either by getting elected as CMs to get more CS passes, with enough numbers directly going for the CP, or a combination of both. Even when the threat is realized, it is extremely difficult to remove admitted citizens, as a determined force is immune to pressure and can't be exiled or forcibly removed.

While called a PTO, this is not really a political act, but occurs through the eRepublic political system of parties. Nothing to do with ideology or left/right views or democracy vs. autocracy, but a plan based on greed.

Why do people do a PTO?

The CP of a country has unfettered access to the state organizations (orgs). Most countries store their treasuries on an organization, as it is far easier to control and use the funds if they are on an org rather than in the country's account. Since the CP directly controls the orgs, and therefore the treasury, the CP can use that treasury however they wish, according to in-game rules. Countries have congresses, forums, constitutions, and other supra-game ways of deciding how the treasury is used, but the CP can decide unilaterally to use the org to distribute the funds however they want.

And that means a CP can always decide to rob the treasury, permitted by in-game rules. Yep. Take all those funds and give them away, spend them on wild parties, buy all the moving tickets in the world, or just put them on their own account (or their friends).

Wait? What? That isn't fair? It must be against the rules!

Yes, it isn't fair, but no, it isn't against game rules. And theft of the treasury occurs far more frequently than you would expect. Why? Because of PTOs and PTOers. The insidious infiltrators sneaking sneakishly into a country run off with the funds; the hidden threat that sometimes isn't recognized until it is far too late.

But what does this have to with eBelgium?

eBelgium, as one of the smaller countries in eRepublic, does not have a particularly large player-base and population. Just a few PTOers allowed in can seriously disrupt the country, as a handful of rogue players is a far higher percentage in eBelgium than in the larger eRepublics. eBelgium has to remain especially vigilant against citizenship requests, as again, letting in a few folks in here and there without review can relatively quickly lead to a serious crisis.

But what does this have to do with eBelgium -now-?

One of the political parties of eBelgium has decided, on their own, that all players in all countries should be allowed CS passes with no-questions-asked, on demand. Guided by their party's ideals, they hope for a free and egalitarian society without borders and are using CS passes thinking that will help their cause. A noble goal...but remember about that whole PTO thing?

Over the last few months, the "open borders" political party of eBelgium has allowed in several known PTOers and continues to do so. Not "oh, maybe that guy isn't a PTOer" use of CS passes, but for actual genuine PTOers that are embers of known organized PTO groups, folks known and proven to go to countries for the express stated purpose of PTOing them. Persona non grata everywhere in the eWorld, but freely admitted to eBelgium.

And it continues.

As CP, I decided that the security threat had become grave enough to warrant extraordinary measures.

By having our neighbors to the north, eNetherlands, in a pre-arranged war, take one or more of our provinces, this will allow the CM elections to be more tightly controlled. Fewer provinces means that it is easier to elect persons who understand and follow the laws and rules that the eBelgian community has established, and agree that CS passes should not be given without careful review and through established procedures. CMs that understand that with ability comes responsibility (just like Spiderman or Voltaire).

The current anti-PTO plan isn't an ideal solution, and may not be effective or work. It also isn't a long term solution. Only by a dialogue with the people involved and reforms of the eBelgian immigration procedure can an agreement be reached and the issue be avoided in the future. But such a discussion and resolution requires time that wasn't available, so the TW with the eNL was arranged.

So what's next?

On the day of CM elections, a voting sheet will be provided showing which candidates should be voted for, candidates that have pledged to respect the laws of eBelgium. Additional details and instructions will be provided in a forthcoming article.

-Goopypants, CP

tl;dr: yes, the TW with eNL is mucking with CM elections, as is intended.