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Candidates Experience
The AV Manifesto
The Karacticus Manifesto
Conclusion and Verdict (tl;dr version)

Presidents & Podcasts

In this issue I shall be examining both of this month’s presidential candidates here in the eUK, assessing their experience and manifesto. Not only that but I'll be looking into specific policies mentioned in their manifestos and eventually outline the main points you should take into consideration when you vote.

This article doesn't aim to show bias, or direct your votes towards either candidate. Instead it aims to point out the pros and cons of specific policies outlined by each candidate, and offer some criticism on their manifesto writing skills.

However, before get into that it's time for a shameless plug.

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That's right!

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And now for the main topic of debate in this article;

The Presidential Elections

This month like previous months there are two main candidates. This is because it technical terms it is uncool for there to be more than two candidates running, because then all the parties who befriend each other would be competing and chaos would ensue.

This Month, we have Karacticus running, backed by TUP, PCP, and 5 other smaller parties. He is running against AltmerVampire, backed by RFA, UKRP and 4 other smaller parties. These are rather well known people, so let's take a look at their experience.

The Experience

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AltmerVampire
AltmerVampire has served as MoFA twice here in the United Kingdom. He has also served 7 terms in the House of Commons and twice as RFA PP. In his second home, eJapan he has sat two terms in Congress and was MoFA for a week. He's currently the CO of the Paratroopers.

But what skills has this given him fellow student in life?


Well you can be assured he is familiar with the foreign affairs aspect of eRepublik, although questions have been raised as to whether or not he is 'out of touch' having not been involved in the eUK's government for a number of months. Having been in the House of Commons for a total of 7 months, he's going to be pretty familiar with the eUK's legislative system and so has recently been made a Lord.

Having been a CO for the past month, he is undoubtedly well versed in how to run a military branch. All in all, AV is still somewhat well versed in Foreign Affairs and military matters. Despite having left eJapan in some controversy, and arguably not being up to date with foreign contacts.

The main area of concern regarding AltmerVampire's experience is his large lack of domestic experience. It is a strong feeling here in the eUK that now the invasion has finished and V2 approaches, the Domestic side of the eUK is going to massively increase in importance. In a recent survey ran by the Unity Party, the results showed that well over one third of the Public feel that domestic issues are the most important to them at this point in time. That in mind, and when considering the competition AltmerVampire faces he doesn't seem like the ideal candidate.

He is conscious of this however, and to try and compensate he has declared that John Bartlett will be his Deputy Prime Minister, john having been an under minister of Home Affairs in the past.


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Karacticus
Karacticus has served 3 terms as the Minister of Home Affairs here in the eUK, and has also sat 6 terms in the House of Commons. More recently he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister under Dishmcds and has done various other tasks such as a Foreign Affairs Envoy and Party President.

What can this fountain of knowledge bring to the table?


It really does seem as though Karacticus has chosen a good time to run, especially with the domestic issues in elife rising to new levels of importance. The Ministry of Home affairs has been the domestic front of the Government since it was established under Malta 1990. Since then it has become the largest Ministry in our government, and deals with a wide range of tasks. From messaging new players to running entertainment schemes it is exactly this kind of experience that is required with V2 around the corner. Like AV, Karacticus is a member of the house of Lords, having sat 6 terms in the House of Commons, he too will be familiar with our legislative system.

For the past month, he has been serving the United Kingdom as the Deputy Prime Minister. In his capacity in this role he has already picked up experience in military and foreign affairs that he may otherwise had been lacking in. He's risen to the task wonderfully and has slipped into the Prime Ministers shoes easily on occasions when Dishmcds was unavailable.

Again there may be a few reservations over whether or not he has enough experience in these areas. Having seen him in action, even stepping into my shoes as MoFA on occasions he seems one hundred percent up to the task. He's proven already that he can lead the country, so I see no way any reasonable person can doubt his abilities. This in hand with his Domestic abilities makes him seem like this month’s ideal candidate.

So we know what the candidates have been doing in the past, but what do they hope to do in the future? Fortunately presidential candidates have a habit of releasing a manifesto or two, looking at these gives us an insight to what the following month may hold. Let's take a look at what each candidate plans to do in 4 key areas, Foreign Affairs, Military, Economics and Domestic.

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The Manifestos



AltmerVampire

What AltmerVampire gains in Military and Foreign Affairs experience he lacks in his first manifesto, which you can read here. In reality what he made fell short of my personal expectations, and what someone with his experience could potentially produce. (Manifesto part two is here

As we dissect the article and extract the raw goodness that is the policy, and discard the page descriptive text and pictures there isn't too much to be found in this manifesto. There is little clarity and contradicting remarks make it unsure as to what he wants.

Domestic

With V2 rapidly approaching (I can't not mention it loads of times) a good set of domestic policies are going to be vital for our presidential candidates. AltmerVampire seems to be reintroducing old policies and adapting a few initiatives currently ran by the PCP. He also proposes the creation of a new position, the DCS.
• Fortress London
• Prime Ministers Questions

Fortress London is another example of one of AV's de facto policies. Something that is already being done and will continue to be done regardless of who is elected. None the less, it is the right choice to make. Sustaining a fortress region and moving everyone into London to use the hospital is the best move to make. The reasons why, are for another article.

Prime Ministers Questions was something first introduced by Sara Droz. There were around 3 sessions and then it stopped. Partly as AV states due to trolling, but mostly due to it grinding to a halt as the same questions were asked by different people, or people not showing up. All in all as its popularity decreased and the general availability of the CP to answer questions it was seen as somewhat redundant, and so not picked up by any other administration.

The next 3 policies I'm going to look at in his domestic part are;
• Ministerial Reports
• The DCS
• FAQ's

Altmer shall be pushing his ministers to release a report every fortnight. Much like Karacticus this is to try and improve the amount of information relayed form ministers to the public. To try and aid this The Director of Communications and strategy who will keep the Prime Minister up to date with things he has missed when he is offline, and push ministers to get their reports done. However, you can't help but think how active a CP intends to be if he creates a position solely to keep him up to date with what he has missed.

Altmer also says that he wants a list of FAQ's to be drawn up by the MoHA and posted on the forums so people can find and read them via the new players link. This is a good idea although a tad mediocre in its approach. It will however help new players coming into the game who need a hand getting started.

His final two domestic policies are:
• A Commune
• A War College

The PCP run communes in which new players can sign up and work for them. They’re paid a minimum wage and the goods produced are supplied to them. Products like food and guns are given to the workers to substitute the low wage. In general if a commune can be managed on a large scale it is a good idea to get new players involved and educated. Although Altmer doesn’t go into a lot of detail on how he intends to run the commune, but there will be a crack team of economists on hand to offer their assistance in running the commune.
The idea of a war college is a nice idea on paper. People sign up and get taught the ropes of eDiplomacy, taught the ropes of eWar. It’s basically like an eOfficer corps. Again ideas similar to this have been tried in the past and finding the people with the time to run them properly can be difficult. However, most of the skills it aims to teach can easily be picked up by reading guides or simply by seeking an apprenticeship or job in the Navy. Experience in these branches will likely show people the ropes better than a few forum posts.
The one thing that is missing from his domestic manifesto is any sort of preparation for V2. He outlines a short plan for businesses in his economic manifesto but hasn’t addressed the key issues V2 brings us.

Foreign Affairs

AltmerVampire in his foreign affairs section seems to have outlined 3 key points, and a fourth possibility he would like to explore. Firstly, I'd like to pick up on these two points.
• Helping Our Allies
• Not rage attacking Ireland

These are the things you will likely find in any manifesto a candidate in the eUK would release following recent events. These are the generic policies that we'll likely see in both candidates manifesto. In other words, it's stating the somewhat obvious, helping our allies is the prime example of this. It's a de facto statement - no sane candidate is going to abandon our allies.

His next to point are the more unique ones however, and the ones we should take a closer look at and examine.
• EDEN does not always mean enemy
• Exploring the possibilities of the ESA.

People often talk about improving relations with Eden countries. The reality of it is people want to be trolled less by the United States. This trolling has hugely decreased following the invasion of the eUK and there is surprisingly little resentment on either side. In other words, there isn't much more to improve. It seems then, that Altmer has identified a problem that doesn't really exist.

He specifically mentions South Africa and Australia, and says there's no reason we shouldn't have respectable relations with them. Currently, we do have respectable relations with them. Furthermore, any attempts to make our relations with Eden better could raise question amongst our allies. Why would we need to seek good relations with the countries which repeatedly harass our friends eGermany, eBrazil and other countries such as eTurkey and eFrance.

It seems contradictory, that Altmer specifies we'll still help our allies and at the same time seeks good relations with the very people we'd be helping our allies fight. Currently, our relations with Eden countries are as good as they need to be.

The European Social Alliance was indeed put on the back bench with the emergence of Phoenix. Since then, the Entente has formed mainly to facilitate countries in Europe that do not wish to be affiliated to either Eden or Phoenix. This means that now in Europe we have Eden countries, Phoenix countries, and a small group of countries that don't want to be affiliated with either Eden or Phoenix. In other words any European sub-alliance involving the eUK would only be feasible with countries that are Phoenix members, and would literally mimic the structure of Phoenix.

Military

Again with the military front not a lot has been said here. There is one striking policy that Altmer has listed which we will speak of shortly, but again lets quickly run over the generic;
• Increased recruitment
• Overcoming branch prejudice

Again, no candidate is going to reduce the amount of military recruitment, but it's worth clarifying in your manifesto. The prejudice between branches is the idea that the Para's and the Navy do not get a long, and as a result people from the Navy are reluctant to move into the Para’s.

However, as a navy commodore I personally think that this issue only exists in a minority of sailors in the navy, and even then it doesn't sprout from rivalry or a dislike of the paratroopers, but from a commitment and fondness to the navy. To tackle this, and to make good use of highly active sailors the royal marines was introduced and helps people get to grips with a transition from the navy to the paratroopers.

This aside, there is one more military policy Altmer intends to introduce;
• Mini-Tanking

This is the idea of supplying weapons and gold (for wellness packs) to soldiers in order to tank them up a rank. It's usually done to generals who are close to Field Marshal. However, Altmer says that he would be willing to tank people who are a lower rank than general. Although this idea has its merits, in that people would be ranking up faster there are a few serious problems.

Firstly, we have just come out of an invasion and our gold supplies are relatively low. This is a period of time where only our strongest Field Marshalls should be considered for tanking, to get the most damage for our money. Unfortunately, we simply cannot waste money tanking people who won't do a lot of damage. Furthermore, if this gold was spent there would be issues on who to use it on. If you mini tank one colonel it's not fair to leave the rest.

Finally, the gold that would be spent mini tanking and the guns used in mini tanking would be taken from the military funds. Ultimately meaning less gold for running ads, and less gold for serious tanking when the situation arises. Overall, this idea would sap our military funding.

Economic

AV’s economic policies seem quite straight forward, mentioning taxes, cooperation and V2 preparation. However, the only policy that only really stands it is the methods he has in mind for preparing businessmen for V2.
• Taxes
• Cooperation

AV states in his manifesto that our gold is “Massively Depleted”. This is an unwise choice of words from someone who also wants to mini tank soldiers. However, AV has said he will not be lowering taxes. This is what I would personally expect from both candidates as keeping them high at this point in time is the quickest way to regain our wealth.
AV also states that he wants to increase the cooperation between us and our allies when it comes to aiding the economy. The Phoenix alliance already does this, and the eUK’s very own Iain Keers in his capacity as the treasurer assists countries in aiding their economies and also suggests ways we can help other countries
• V2 Preparation

Here Altmer talks about giving the Ministry of Work a budget so they can quickly adapt to V2. He also states his team of economists will be on hand to offer support to the public and iron out any shortages which may arise in V2. These ideas address the changes is the economy module V2 shall introduce.

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Karacticus

In contrast, Karacticus has released a set of policies that seem to outline some initiatives he hopes to launch should he be elected. Being a member of The Unity Party his policies will be the result of the joint minds of many prominent eUK'ers. This month the party polled the eUK's public, meaning some ideas and opinion will be directly represented in his manifestos both here and here..

Again, I'll be raking through his articles to find out what plans he has for the eUK, and discussing how practical and effective they can be.

Domestic

Having been Minister of Home affairs for 3 months, we'd expect a lot from Karacticus when it comes to domestic issues. He has outlined 4 key points he shall be working on, and the final point is something very new and appealing. He seems to have laid out a good plan on how to re-establish a good government infrastructure and has taken steps to prepare us for V2.

His first point is one which CP's in the past have tried to introduce;
• Weekly Government Reports

It is often very difficult for ministers to compile a weekly report. Often, it's been a busy week or maybe an uneventful week and ministers can't think of what to right. Or, simply just forget. This has meant that in the past it has been difficult for governments to release weekly full reports. However, Karacticus has introduced a new position - the director of communications. The director shall be around to harangue ministries and ensure reports are filed and released in game. This should help increase the communication with the public, a problem flagged up in the Unity Party survey.

The other remaining 3 points outlined in his manifesto outline changes to the gifting hub, and 2 new ideas to solve a few issues the public and government had raised.
• The Citizens Department
• The Brain Trust
• The National Information Hub

The Citizens Department will be the new name given to the Gifting Hub, Department for players and the department for education. It effectively streamlines and centralises all the resources newer players will need and could hopefully increase the efficiency of the handling of new players.

The other two changes following tweaks in game are that the Citizens department will also offer a higher quality food, this following the change in hospital rules. It will therefore offer two ways of support for players struggling with wellness whilst educating them on how to maintain it. Not only that, but following the introduction of in game chat rooms several months ago, Karacticus plans to have a member of the MoHA man them in order to direct new players or players who are on the chat towards IRC and the forums.

The 'Brain Trust' isn't as sinister as it sounds and is quite a straight forward solution to the problem V2 poses. Simply put, he's gathered a selection of the eUK's best players and when V2 is launched they're going to be tasked with decoding it all and will probably work with the MoHA to help everyone in the eUK understand what's going on.

One of the freshest ideas I've ever seen on the domestic front is the concept of the national information hub. Basically a one stop shop for new player guides, frequently asked questions and an assortment of links to get people started. The MoHA can manage it and also respond to any further queries or trouble players may be having. Using API technology a hub can be created and all new players can be tracked on it to see how they are progressing through the game.

Foreign Affairs

Similar to Altmer Karacticus has some fairly standard policy here, although he does plan to slightly change the tasks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be doing.

• Watching Ireland
• Aiding our Allies

Karacticus briefly mentions Ireland but openly declares he open to having fun, mentioning toe-to-toe combat. He does follow it up saying that there is a line that Ireland shouldn't cross. The Irish situation depends on who is elected on Ireland - and how 'compatible' they are with the eUK.

He goes to reinforce the fact that we'll be aiding our allies, specifically mentioning Germany and Turkey, two Phoenix countries who have recently come under attack. Much like Altmer's policy of aiding our friends this is somewhat generic and to be expected from both candidates.
• Investigating

Karacticus proposes the MoFA explores initiatives and schemes ran by other countries to see what plans we can begin to implement here in the eUK. This is a pretty good idea as we know that with a wide range of different countries there are going to be a wide range of initiatives being ran by their governments. This government will likely be open to share how they deal with new players, or what they do to keep people entertained. Good ideas discovered by the MoFA can be easily passed onto the MoHA and become part of the eUK's entertainment and retention programs.

It's nice to see a fresh new idea coming into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because they often just reiterate existing policy or outline ideals that in reality cannot be achieved. This final idea is a fairly obvious one yet one with the potential to bring good new changes to the eUK whilst strengthening relations with our allies and neutral countries.

Military

Karacticus has outlines an array of military ideas and has obviously put thought into how our military can adapt to the introduction of V2. Firstly, he discusses two issue;

• Military and Congress
• Having Fun

Here Karacticus says that the Minister of Defence will be submitting regular reports to congress. Although congress doesn’t make military decisions it is still important to keep them updated, and it's often the case that they are unsure what is happening. Dishmcds kept the House of Commons updated but a regular report from the MoD specifically about the military should help congressmen get a firmer grasp of what is going on.

Next he goes on to talk about maintaining the fun. Being invaded was for many people fun, we had battles to fight in and a goal to achieve. Being a somewhat small country, we can't maraud around the map like some larger ones do. None the less, our military will be kept busy being deployed across the globe. Fear not, as Karacticus states that for those of us who are home bound he will do his best to ensure the eUK is involved in regular training wars, so until we get some serious action we can remain fit and healthy.
• Military Improvement Council
• Military Deployment

The military improvement council is basically the fighting equivalent to the Brain Trust. Karacticus aims to gather our best military minds in order to guide our armed forces through V2 and keep a well balanced and supplied structure. This is a rather straight forward idea but the eUK is not short on enthusiastic military types so if elected you can rest assured V2 won't create an issue for our armies.

Karacticus has spotted a slight problem we have with military deployment. That being that ordering troops to find jobs when deployed can be tricky as we don't when they are going to be recalled, (and so don't want them to be in a position where they can't be fired) and ordering people not to find jobs risks people losing hard worker medals. To tackle this he outlines his plan to have a Phoenix database of companies in foreign countries where we can drop our troops into and work in, if we supply the wages and raw materials. This is a good flexible idea that can be used by many countries in the Phoenix Alliance.

Overall his military policy is rather sound, he'll ensure we're kept busy and also brings some great new ideas to the table for our command groups to work with. He also aims to explore the recreation of the RAF as a lower tier to the Para’s, something only viable with an expanding military and has a few ideas to discuss with the improvement committee over the armed forces manufacturing systems come V2.

Economic

Karacticus has a well defined and reasoned plan for our economy. Currently we're in a downwards spiral, this has been identified and he has a suggestion for how to tackle it. He has 3 policies overall, 2 of which are fresh and interesting ideas.
• Lower Taxes
• Establish a Commercial Bank
• Establish the Ministry of Profit

First of all to tackle the downward spiral in our economy, he plans to lower our war time taxes back to what they were. This seems like a sensible move as we are no longer in war. This will increase the real wages of the average citizen (or increase how much you can buy with what you are paid) and so increase consumption. This should help tackle the production issue the eUK currently faces.

Next, he plans to create a commercial bank. This will basically create us a bit more cash, which if goes to plan will compensate for any drop in income created by the lowering of taxes. Interest loans will also be offered to help generate even more money. Specifically he talks about offering large scale loans to our allies when they need cash to generate large chunks of gold through interest.

The Ministry of Profit plans to use the Valletta Model, which effectively makes use of the black market to produce an income by selling goods abroad at a fixed price. Providing capable economists are on hand to help run the ministry and the commercial bank, both of these ideas have a great potential to bring in extra sources of income for the eUK.

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Conclusion

After going through both Candidates experience and policies there is one candidate who does seem to overshadow another. AltmerVampire although raising some good points often contradicts himself; paying for mini tanking whilst stating that our gold is massively depleted. A lot of his policies are based on unrealistic ideals or old ideas that have proven unsuccessful.

On the other hand, Karacticus plans to introduce new and innovative ideas, as well as having identified issues with our economy and implications V2 shall introduce and having planned initiatives to deal with them. Something Altmer doesn't appear to have done.

Reading over the manifesto of each candidate, you can see Karacticus has had a lot of thought from a wide range of people when it comes to making his policies. He has a set of new ideas to help rebuild our infrastructure and tackle issues faces us now, and potential issues V2 can bring. Altmer, on the other hand seems to say a lot but has little new policy in his manifesto. What he does has doesn't always seem workable. To be honest, this month AV's policies aren't so great.

This may sound awfully biased right now, but avoid criticising if you haven’t actually read all the arguments. As they're pretty sound.

Having gone through each candidates platform with a fine tooth comb, it think it's fair to say if you want to see us going anywhere,


(this bit is biased)

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Mr Woldy
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