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Dispatch → Bulletin → News
Griffindor's 15th Fortnightly Update
This dispatch was originally sent as a Regional Telegram on March 27th, 2024:Greetings, my fellow South Pacificans!
It has been 18 days since my last Fortnightly Briefing! :') Apologies for the delay. My real-life obligations (grad school) are eating me alive (one-ish months left!!), and also, there were some developments yesterday that I wanted to be sure were included in my Fortnightly Telegram! Various parts of the region have been active since the last update, and some other parts have been very active! Now, without further ado, it is time for another fortnightly briefing!
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First: The Assembly was active in discussing many of the same topics I informed you about in the last briefing but did start new discussions too.
Starting first with new business, I gave the State of the Coalition speech to the Assembly detailing the Prime Minister's plans for the remainder of the term, as well as the stuff accomplished so far. You can view it here: https://thesouthpacific.org/t/state-of-the-coalition-march-2024/5277
Next, on new business, the regional administration team presented a new guideline to the Assembly to receive comments. The guideline adds harassment to the list of violations a member of the region can have moderation action taken against. This new guideline is set to become part of the Community Guidelines in just a couple of days.
Moving now to old business, the Assembly is continuing debate on proscriptions and whether or not to expand the grounds for which they can be issued. There are sharp divisions on the topic with some arguing that the authority is not wide enough, while others arguing the current setup is sufficient. I will update you at the next fortnightly telegram on the progress made on this debate.
The last item of Assembly business, the Assembly finished debating and passed a resolution restoring accountability to those individuals involved in the 2016 Cabinet Coup. Specifically, the resolution revokes the Amnesty granted by the Assembly in the immediate aftermath of the coup. Opponents of the bill argued (as I said in the last fortnightly telegram) that the resolution was intended to strip the High Court of its ability to determine the facts and rewrite history. The argument did not seem to hold much water as the region was lopsided in its support for the resolution in the final vote, and it has since become law within the region.
Second: The Prime Minister and Council on Regional Security of the South Pacific jointly issued full proscriptions upon several regions and organizations.
The organizations and regions in question are Astoria, The Black Hawks, the Brotherhood of Malice, Lair of the Dragon, Osiris, Sparkalia, and Warzone Trinidad. The reason for the proscription of these regions and organizations was their unlawful unseating of the lawful Delegate of Concord. This is the largest and most extensive use of a proscription in regional history. The full statement, jointly signed by the Prime Minister and Council on Regional Security, can be found here:
Citizens, allies, and other concerned parties:
During the major update of 24 March 2024, the forces of several raiding militaries attacked our allies in The League and Concord. Without justification, the forces representing Astoria, The Black Hawks, the Brotherhood of Malice, Lair of the Dragon, Osiris, Sparkalia, and Warzone Trinidad invaded Concord and unlawfully removed the recognized native delegate of the region.
Concord is a Recognized Protected Region under Annex III of the Aegis Accords, a treaty of which the South Pacific is a party and founding member. Additionally, The League is a treatied ally of the Coalition under the Fellowship of Llamas and Eagles and the Coalition of the South Pacific recognizes Concord as a lawful territory of The Republic of the League. The Coalition of the South Pacific unequivocally condemns this breach of an allied region’s sovereignty and is in active communication with The League and Concord about how to best support them following this attack.
Beyond giving our support for our ally, there are lessons learned from this invasion concerning our security. By targeting an ally of the Coalition, the aggressor regions have confirmed something that the Coalition has long suspected, which is that they are a threat to the Coalition and have no reservations about undermining our security and community. If we do not consider this as a warning shot, we would be making ourselves willfully ignorant to the reality of the ongoing conflict between raiderdom, led by the Brotherhood of Malice, and our allies and the place we risk finding ourselves within it.
As such, all members of the following regions are issued a **full proscription** under the provisions of the Proscription Act, in addition to any currently standing proscriptions issued previously:
Astoria
The Black Hawks
The Brotherhood of Malice
Lair of the Dragon
Osiris
Sparkalia
Warzone Trinidad
This proscription will take effect one week from the issuance of this statement. All members of these regions who are also members of the South Pacific may choose to either divest themselves of membership in the proscribed regions, or will otherwise be subject to the proscription and all associated consequences therein.
This proscription may seem broad but all of these regions have chosen to make their political, military, and cultural infrastructure into pliable pawns in the Brotherhood of Malice's unmitigated and unprovoked assault on our allies and friends. Moreover, it has long been clear that the divisions between many of these regions are closer to fiction than reality, and this invasion further demonstrates this. We in the South Pacific deeply value the commitments we have made in the Aegis Accords, wholeheartedly support this multiregional Defender alliance, and will always provide support for our allies.
Consistent with the 2019 Resolution on Adopting Defending Military Principles and Article 4 of the Aegis Accords, the Coalition respects and cherishes the sovereignty of all innocent regions within NationStates and commits to the protection of these regions, which especially includes those closest to us.
Faithfully yours,
The Prime Minister and Council on Regional Security
Third: The case before the High Court, [2403.HR] Review of the Rejection of Siberian Districts’ Citizenship Application, remains ongoing.
The holdup stems from the real-life obligations of the primary and secondary justices. Further, the Court appears to have been waiting for the changes being made by the Assembly to play out before making its opinion. This is because any potential opinion could be impacted by the decisions made within the Assembly. With the decisions made by the Assembly implemented, the Court will likely be making its final moves in the next several days. Hopefully this means that I can report the conclusion of the case in the next fortnightly telegram.
Fourth: The Minister of Roleplay has issued the "Treasure Island Report," which is a first-of-its-kind update on the status of the roleplay canons within the South Pacific.
Yes, right here: https://thesouthpacific.org/t/treasure-island-report-redux/5334
Going forward, I hope to be able to give you these updates on the roleplay canons to keep you informed of the other major aspect of our regional forums and Discord. Stay tuned!
Fifth: Get ready! The next election for Prime Minister is fast approaching!
Every three months the citizens of the South Pacific get together to elect a Prime Minister. The last election began on January 15th, which means the next election begins on April 15th!
Incumbent Prime Minister, Drew Durrnil has not yet announced whether or not they are running for a second term, which means you may or may not be running against them! If you are interested in running for Prime Minister, voting for Prime Minister, or serving in the Cabinet, you'll want to be sure you have citizenship prior to the start of the election. Apply for citizenship today, as it can take a bit to get all the steps done! I look forward to seeing y'all run!
Sixth: With all this talk of regional security, proscriptions, and elections, this is just a friendly reminder to endorse me, Ebonhand, as well as all the other members of the Coral Guard!
You heard me: 🍰
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The South Pacific Coral Guard (SPCG) is a group of trusted nations who maintain a high-endorsement count and are one of the most crucial lines of defense against external and internal security threats alongside the Council on Regional Security (CRS).
For the safety and security of our region, we ask that all World Assembly (WA) member nations in the South Pacific endorse the members of the SPCG, as well as the Delegate. There is no requirement to do so but endorsing the SPCG and the Delegate will make those who do a SWAN Knight.
Member nations of the SPCG (Number of members: 5) | ||||
Duties and privileges of the SPCG
Member nations of the SPCG are permitted a higher Endorsement Cap than that provided for the general World Assembly membership. The current endorsement cap for SPCG members is set to be 60 less than the endorsement count of the delegate. (Currently Ebonhand at 555 endorsements)
A member of the CRS will be appointed to act as a liaison for SPCG members and, in times of emergency, SPCG members might be called upon to support or otherwise work with CRS members.
Joining the SPCG
Requirements
In order to become a member of the SPCG, one has to:
Have maintained citizenship for at least six consecutive months prior to the date of their application to the Coral Guard; and
Meet the requirements for influence and endorsements set and published by the Council on Regional Security
Process
Step 1: Ensure that you meet all the requirements listed above.
Step 2: Write up an application which provides:
The name of your WA nation;
Your history in NationStates including any aliases you are using or have previously used; and,
One (or several) paragraphs arguing why the Council should appoint you to this position of high trust.
Step 3: Send your application to a member of the CRS. You can do this by a variety of methods (a telegram, a private message on the forum, or a direct message on Discord).
The CRS will review your application. This can take a number of days to three weeks. The Council will likely have additional questions which they will communicate to you via the method of your application. Following a formal vote within the Council, it will decide whether to appoint you to the Coral Guard and notify the Assembly of its decision.
Please be advised that meeting the requirements does not automatically guarantee that the application will be successful. These mechanical conditions are one of several factors which the Council considers in its determination.
A few notes:
Everything is updated every 24 hours so you need to wait for any change in the data to happen.
If you see any inaccuracies, errors, or have ideas for improvements, please contact us.
There are some minor inaccuracies in the data, read this for more information.
If you want to know more about the SWAN initiative, check out our dispatch index.
Seventh: Everyone be sure to check the regional polls! Our Minister of On-Site Events (MOOSE) is currently going through our SwanVison contestants!!!
No, seriously: 🍰
Well, we may have to wait for the next one to be posted first (so don't eat your cake until then!!)...
That is all for this fortnightly update! For making it to the end of this Telegram, you all get the traditional end-of-update slice of cake! 🍰🍰
I look forward to updating you all again in a Fortnight and talking with you all in the interim! Remember, my Telegram box is open to those who want to talk!
Always and eternally yours,
Ebonhand/Griffindor
His Most Benevolent Cakeness, the Mother and Delegate of the South Pacific