NationStates Jolt Archive

Prime Minister Nikos Karagounis has called an election to take place on Saturday, January 29th, 2005. This is solely an election to decide who will take over the executive duties of the country (PM and thus those he names to cabinet) - the makeup of the CLP and Senatoro will remain intact.

Some biographical information on the four candidates

Megescu: A so-called "uber-socialist" but not communist. He and his party have moved to the right a few notches to be more attractive to the voting populace. Governmentalisation of everything, collectivisation of agriculture, industry and commerce (which would go far enough to merge all the private banks into one and as said, collectivise them). Wants to renounce diplomatic and military ties to Roach-Busters, The Parthians, Doomingsland, Generic Empire, Borman Empire and other nations he classifies as being run by "megalomaniacs". Wants more spending on health care, education, social welfare and social equality, and the reduction of the military's size from 36.6 million forces to 12.5 million by 2007, and a resulting complete sell-off of unnecessary military equipment by that time as well.

Chiovitti: Ardent pacifist, only slightly left of centre. Wants more spending on government aid programs and more foreign aid like programs to combat AIDS and malaria, and if elected says he will declare the total neutrality of Pacitalia (however, he has no plans to decrease the military size). Wants closer ties to other pacifist nations.

Karagounis: Former senior deputy prime minister, has the most executive-branch experience of any prime ministerial candidate, as he has been in an executive position for almost 20 years. A "true capitalist" but libertarian in the social respect, however he does not support government funding of social welfare and equality and says it is the choice of private citizens to donate small portions of their leftover income to welfare organisations if they wish to. Wants to retain ties with Roach-Busters and her allies, along with creating stronger bonds to Sarzonia and Comatica.

Santo Paraggia: Nearly a fascist, but not quite. Publicly called Adolf Hitler her veritable idol five times, swears on national television and said that she wanted to move the PdI in the direction of the Nazi party if elected. Barely ever garners more than 5-7% of the public vote, mostly in the ultra-conservative southeast.

OOC: Note that I don't trust the lot of you, since the majority of you are left-wing, to make the right decision - if I let the forums decide who should be the next PM, Pacitalia will most likely end up with socialist leadership, and I definitely don't want that. However, I respect your opinions and would like to know who you would rather see as the leader of this country.

No offence meant by that comment, of course.

Oh, and the +1.00s and -2.50s etc. on the poll choices refer to their economic and social rankings as equal to if they had taken the test at PoliticalCompass.org (http://www.politicalcompass.org)

We hope to see a militant anticommunist assume power, one who has the spine to defy world opinion, and the balls to attack Sarzonia for murdering the late Tim Ell.

-Generalissimo J.L.

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The Citadel
Imperium, Commonwealth Republic of New Britain

Ivan Valovich lightly placed the small black leather bound report on the heavy oak desk in front of the Emperor. “Your Majesty, these are the initial reports coming out of Pacitalia – the nation who’s PM was assassinated a short while ago. It looks as if they will be fielding four candidates, at least four with any national Pacitalian appeal. Inside this report is a basic summary provided by our intelligence services on the candidates.”

The Emperor, who’s body was slight by mind quite the opposite, smiled and nodded his head. Mikhail Barin was not a man possessed of many words, however, in his early years many had mistaken this quiet, shy, introverted personality as a sign of weakness and stupidity. In a few years, Barin had maneuvered his enemies into positions where they compromised themselves and found themselves as supporting treason against the throne. The remaining detractors of Barin quickly changed their beliefs – although they had no proof of what Barin had been able to accomplish. Now, years later, he basically helmed the Commonwealth. As such, his Prime Minister saw fit to keep him updated on international affairs including this slight deal of Pacitalian elections.

There had only been minor contact with the former Prime Minister Ell, Barin himself had not even drafted the only communication sent with his signature, but he was aware of the response. The small slight by that government against the Commonwealth could be easily forgiven – but not forgotten. He really felt no ill-will towards Ell or the current government, but should the two nations ever have to deal with each other in later times, it would be more advantageous to be dealing with a government more sympathetic to the interests of the Commonwealth.

The first candidate, Megescu… was interesting. Here in the Commonwealth, the experiment with full communist state had failed miserably – although it was his own firm belief that the experiment had failed due to bureaucratic mismanagement. Instead, the Commonwealth had re-instituted its capitalist free-market economy with some new regulations to provide for the people. In effect, the economy was free-market with socialist regulations that left the people highly taxed but well-provided for. This Megescu would more than likely eventually realize the errors in his ways if elected and chaos would potentially arrive in the long-term in Pacitalia. Switching from a conservative to a liberal would be very hard to sell. However, this candidate did offer some benefits, the reduction of Pacitalian armed forces was something to be noted, especially given their recent engagement in armed conflict. The details he was not to sure about, but he had caught something a while back in his daily intelligence briefs – he’d need to look into that later. Instead, this man would spend that money on social reforms, which was itself a highly laudable idea. However, given the recent combat experience, it would leave many dissatisfied soldiers and a nation vulnerable to an enemy probably more than willing to continue inflicting casualties.

Fernando Chiovitti was also interesting, probably the most similar to Barin in his own personal beliefs. However, there was markedly less information on this individual, something worth noting to the Central Directorate. With the Commonwealth as a neutral, primarily pacifist state, that would present a good opportunity, perhaps, to expand political and military ties between the two states. Normally, he would have expected an ardent pacifist to reduce military forces or spending, but it could be that this man was wise in knowing that the best defence is a good offence – and that it was better to appear strong and not use the force than be weak and be forced to use that weakness. Barin would watch the progress of this candidate, although given the popularity of the former PM Barin also had little expectations of a true government change.

Which brought him to the last two candidates, and with the last being a fascist he simply tossed back that report and looked at the report on Karagounis. More than likely, this would be the man to succeed Ell. Barin really had no problems with Ell or his administration – he just disagreed with their decision on allowing the Commonwealth into their fancy rich nations club. Ultimately, the Commonwealth could deal without such a group; it was expanding its bilateral free-trade treaties with nations on an individual basis. It merely would have been easier for a carpet treaty to deal with such agreements for so many nations. Although this Karagounis was more than likely the winner given the popularity of his forbearer and the administration, it would still be better to elect a slightly more liberal government. This world had far too many idiot leaders who ran their foreign policies off mere ideological beliefs without regard to realpolitik. However, it seemed as if this Ell and potentially this Karagounis were not the typical idiots who ran the powerful nations.

For the first time in several long minutes Barin opened his mouth. “Ivan, draft a letter to the Pacitalian government, that being Karagounis. Inform them in a short statement that we support them in their endeavours to continue diplomatic traditions in the face of such hardship and that we will continue to offer them our best wishes et cetera. Normally, I’d prefer to lend our public support to my personal favourite candidate – but in this instance that would probably do us more harm than good. So that one letter will suffice. Now, what else do we have to deal with today?”

“Well, sir. There is that whole affair down in the Indian Ocean…”

Private Communication

To: Prime Minister Nikos Karagounis

Mr. Karagounis, the Commonwealth of Azazia wishes to express once again its sympathy for your loss of such a great statesman – but rejoices that in such times, such wonderful things like this continuation of the great democratic tradition will continue and thrive. On the behalf of the Emperor and the whole Commonwealth, we fully support your nation as they prepare to elect their new leader. And should the need arise, we look forward to working with whomever your people choose.

Ivan Valovich
Minister of Foreign Affairs

OOC: Beautiful post, man. :)

IC:

http://kfox.gamehorizons.net/coatofarms_Pacitalia.jpg
Official Statement of the Republic of Pacitalia

Mr. Barin -

First off, thank you for your message. I am pleased to see your willingness to cooperate with whomever the Pacitalian people choose to elect and the full declaration of support. It is always nice to see other nations unafraid to show their happiness with the democratic system of government.

Sincerely,
Nikos Karagounis
Prime Minister of Pacitalia

We hereby endorse Roberta Santo Paraggia, Party d'Italiano.

-The RB Government

The SovietRepublicofRussia would like to express official support for Lemvi Megescu. But also would like to state that we would work with Chiovitti or Karagounis.

OOC: Ouch, J.L. not supporting the party of his late friend hurts. :p

Bump

Secret IC

To: Roberta Santo Paraggia
From: RBESH

We are appalled that a candidate such as Lemvi Megescu is being allowed to run for public office, let alone live. Though the president of our company is currently in Sarzonian custody, most of our employees are still in RB. For a modest fee, we can kill Megescu and the other candidates, hence ensuring your victory.

To: RBESH
From: Roberta Santo Paraggia

Any contact with the RBESH by citizens of Pacitalia has been prohibited. That is all I'll say.

Secret IC

"Screw what that fool says, we'll take out Lemvi Megescu anyway," said B. Moore Paneful, Barry's brother. "I want ten of you to infiltrate Pacitalia, locate the aforesaid son of a bitch, and kill him, by any means necessary."

Inside the secret underground hospital at RBESH headquarters, plastic surgeons surgically altered the ten assassins' faces so they looked exactly like Pacitalians, while linguists and speech therapists helped them master perfectly plausible fake Pacitalian accents. Finally, each of them adopted a Pacitalian pseudonym, acquired fake I.D.'s and passports that looked 100% authentic, and flew to a different nation, from which they would travel into Pacitalia.

OOC: If you're going to RP this, I'll just say that Pacitalia uses biometric systems to identify people coming in to the country therefore since the RBESH is on the customs/immigration watch list, it is a very good chance that none of your assassins would make it onto Pacitalian soil, and you already know border security is amazingly leak-tight. Also, there's no true Pacitalian accent, that's what makes us special; and there is no Pacitalian facial structure since there are four main cultural groups.

Just a heads-up. :)

OOC: If you're going to RP this, I'll just say that Pacitalia uses biometric systems to identify people coming in to the country therefore since the RBESH is on the customs/immigration watch list, it is a very good chance that none of your assassins would make it onto Pacitalian soil, and you already know border security is amazingly leak-tight. Also, there's no true Pacitalian accent, that's what makes us special; and there is no Pacitalian facial structure since there are four main cultural groups.

Just a heads-up. :)

(OOC: Could I make it where they get into the nation and almost kill Lemvi Megescu, i.e., shoot at him and miss, or critically injure but not kill him?)

OOC: Hmm, I dunno yet. You know, Pacitalians have already had to deal with the shock of losing their prime minister - the near-assassination of another high political figure would be a drain.

You need a Liberal Imperilist Party! But failing that, I'll vote for the Liberal.

OOC: Hmm, I dunno yet. You know, Pacitalians have already had to deal with the shock of losing their prime minister - the near-assassination of another high political figure would be a drain.

(OOC: Ah, c'mon. ;))

Bump

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We condemn this evil practice of democracy, only the will of Ahura Mazda matters in the selection of a ruler. We hereby call on Roberta Santo Paraggia to win and free their nation of socialist stains. Execute them all and we will give you all the assistance you need to gain power for the Wise Lord has chosen you to rule. Democracy is evil, it gives people without qualification of rulership the opputunity to ruin a nation because the majority of misguided and stupid people select that. Socialism is an excellent example of the corruption of democracy and the need for dictatorship of the sensible and repression of the imbecilic.

http://members.aol.com/ahreemanxiv/images/flag%20ir%20court%20imperial%20coat%20of%20arms.jpg

Shah Khosru III, Member of the House of Sassan

Bump

We believe in the rights of the Pacitalian people to determine their own affairs and to vote for the candidate whom they feel will best serve their own interests. We hope to continue to foster strong relations with Pacitalia regardless of the outcome of this election.

To the vile, now deposed dictator J.L., we find your accusations laughable. They might have insulted us if they weren't so wholly baseless in their obvious and pathetic attempts to cause diplomatic damage when they were unable to inflict much more than negligible military damage to our forces. It is J.L. whom we hold personally responsible for the assassination attempt on President Sarzo, and he will stand trial in a Sarzonian court. Sarzonian Attorney General Jonathan Cochrane (http://www.cochranfirm.com/images/home-johnniecochran.jpg) will prosecute and he will ask for the death penalty so we may rid the world of this insane madman.

To Shah Khosru III of Parthia, we find your statements regarding the rights of the people to be wholly offbase and completely without merit. No man is greater than another and the role of the government is to serve the people. Your days of despotic rule are numbered.

http://kfox.gamehorizons.net/coatofarms_Pacitalia.jpg
Official Statement of the Republic of Pacitalia

We thank Sarzonia for its message to attempt to set the record straight. We agree and will be defiant - our democratic process is cherished and will be defended to the very last, no matter what others may say.

Nikos Karagounis
Prime Minister of Pacitalia

To Shah Khosru III of Parthia, we find your statements regarding the rights of the people to be wholly offbase and completely without merit. No man is greater than another and the role of the government is to serve the people. Your days of despotic rule are numbered.

My days are numbered? Why don't you just come and get me then? Thats right, come subdue my nation. I will let you know we will not surrender to a bastardized democratic nation, and even if you forced us to adopt democracy, my people would vote to abolish it.

-Shah Khosru III

Bumpz0rz

http://members.aol.com/ahreemanxiv/images/flag%20ir%20court%20imperial%20coat%20of%20arms.jpg
Message from His Majesty Shah Khosru III, King of Kings, Celestial Seed of the Gods, Worshipper of Ahura Mazda

I cannot stand to see this farce of legitimate government! The current head of state of Pacitalia should immediatley execute the far-left psychopath in the interests of his nation. You have allowed your people to choose a man to rule who would destroy your nation and ruin your lives with corrupt socialism. It is best for the current ruler to simply abolish elections, we will support such a measure and recognize him King of Pacitalia. Why do you not seek absolute power? Ahura Mazda supports one man ruling his people with an iron fist in a velvet glove, capable of benevolence and striking with amazing force depending on need.

We beg you to reconsider elections.

http://kfox.gamehorizons.net/coatofarms_Pacitalia.jpg
Official Pacitalian Government Statement

The Honourable Shah -

We do not seek absolute power because we believe democracy works. Pacitalians believe in this system, they trust it and they work hard to make elections fair and free. My people have elected no one yet, we have made the elections fair to all, mostly by allowing one candidate from each quarter of the political spectrum to run for the leadership of the nation.

Pacitalians do not believe monarchies work. We as a people feel that eventually, a decision that a person with absolute power makes will come back to haunt them and then things will go awry from there. However, we respect the ideals of Ahura Mazda and know that what Ahura Mazda sets out for the people of Parthia will continue to benefit them for ages to come.

Sincerely in good faith,
Nikos Karagounis
Prime Minister of Pacitalia

http://kfox.gamehorizons.net/coatofarms_Pacitalia.jpg
Official Pacitalian Government Statement

The Honourable Shah -

We do not seek absolute power because we believe democracy works. Pacitalians believe in this system, they trust it and they work hard to make elections fair and free. My people have elected no one yet, we have made the elections fair to all, mostly by allowing one candidate from each quarter of the political spectrum to run for the leadership of the nation.

Pacitalians do not believe monarchies work. We as a people feel that eventually, a decision that a person with absolute power makes will come back to haunt them and then things will go awry from there. However, we respect the ideals of Ahura Mazda and know that what Ahura Mazda sets out for the people of Parthia will continue to benefit them for ages to come.

Sincerely in good faith,
Nikos Karagounis
Prime Minister of Pacitalia

Then we shall in turn respect the ideals of Pacitalia and their democratic ideals. We, however, shall use the system we have used for the past 2200 years to the Arsacid Parthians who freed Persia from the Greeks, continuing into the current house of Sassan, a family I am myself a descendant of.

-Shah Khosru III

I beg Pacitalia to consider Parthia's wise and sagacious advice. The Shah is imbued with a genius intelligence which vastly exceeds the capacity of most men, so disregarding advice from such an ingenious man as he would be utterly foolish. I myself often prescribe to his solutions, and they have benefitted my nation immensely. Ignore that malodorous bastard Mike Sarzo. Democracy is a virulent infection which, if allowed to fester in your nation, will perilously endanger its health, causing severe complications such as socialism, corruption, tyranny by majority, weak-kneed leadership, disorder, and eventually death. Shun democracy, and step into the limelight of enlightened nations.

-Generalissimo J.L.

Then I would rather be sick with democracy, than healthy with overblown dictatorism. That's enough.

Nikos Karagounis

Then I would rather be sick with democracy, than healthy with overblown dictatorism. That's enough.

Nikos Karagounis

It's your loss. Don't come crying to me when your nation is entrenched in a sticky quagmire of socialism, rampant corruption, dire poverty, and utter lawlessness.

-Generalissimo J.L.

It's your loss. Don't come crying to me when your nation is entrenched in a sticky quagmire of socialism, rampant corruption, dire poverty, and utter lawlessness.

-Generalissimo J.L.

Amen. There is nothing sweeter than law and order, and when the people are allowed to do nothing but complain, nothing will get done, and a mobocracy will form. Those societies that have kept their poeple in line, like the Persians, and the Chinese, have accomplished amazing feats, like the Pyramids, Persopolis, the printing press (invented in Korea first), and some of the first ironclads, plus magnificent artworks and cultural masterpieces, like paintings and fine literature.

What have mobocracies to show? Decadence, greed and debauchery.

Karl von Esling
Director
Special High Police (Tokko)

Then I would rather be sick with democracy, than healthy with overblown dictatorism. That's enough.

Nikos Karagounis

My friend, for the last time, listen to Karl, Shah Khosru, and I, and stop acting like such a fool.

-Generalissimo J.L.