NationStates Jolt Archive

It had been nearly a week since President Andrews had typed up invitations and sent them off to various nations within NU. He was hoping to have some nations with which he had basic relations or no relations at all to attend a conference within his nation. He got his wish. Four nations had replied and agreed to attend.

He now found himself donned in his best suit, a very expensive, Orbathian tailored piece and amazingly polished shoes which reflected the light coming down from the high ceiling.

He was standing in the Diplomatics Building, or more exactly, in the Great Hall. A Great Hall was actually the best way to describe it. It was a large room, however it was made smaller by massive white shiny pilers which rose up along a sparkling red carpet which led through the middle of the room. Above, the light shone down, illuminating just the carpet and giving it a sort of movie premier setting.

Behind the pillars, standing along the walls at intervals were a couple dozen, highly trained Orbathian Special Forces soldiers donning black combat uniforms, black balaclavas and holding Yanitarian made AY-143 rifles. Although intimidating in the light, the lights along the walls had been completely shut off, making the soldiers nearly invisible.

Andrews was waiting on the arrival of his guests which would likely be pulling up any minute now...

OOC: Just skip the whole plane landing things and just RP your character(s) entering.

A limo pulled up, and President Martin Watson and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raul Riddle got out of the limo. In a SUV behind the limo were eight special operations soldiers trained for protecting the president. They got out also.

OOC: Sorry for the short post

OOC: Bump

Governor Ozzanil pulled up to the building in a black SUV.The Governor was exicited for he would be the first Nosorian to speak for his people in many centuries of Boobthy rule.Nosoria was organized by the Boothby government as a national homeland for the Nosorians.Ozzanil was anxious to meet with other nations to make a reputation for his people.

A black Hammond armored Limousine pulled up to the entrance. Three men disembarked: Edward Welter, an ordinary, stern man, the Volunteer Controller of Gesford, dressed in a pinstriped navy blue 3-piece suit, Robert Fuller, CEO of Venner Incorporated, a tall, calm man with close-cut hair and wearing a pinstriped charcoal suit, and Warren Murdoch, a large, mustachioed man wearing a grey pinstriped suit. Behind them, 2 CSF personnel, with Para-Ordnance Hi-Cap sidearms and ballistic armor hidden under their plain black suits, got out of the vehicle and scanned the surroundings.

Welter walked towards President Andrews and regarded him calmly.

"President Andrews? Our escorts are armed, is this permissible? If you desire we can have them place their weapons inside the vehicle for the duration of the talks, but in any case, I am eager to begin."

Welter extended his hand to the man.

Andrews shook Welters' hand and addressed not just him, but the small group.

''Greetings to you all, I am indeed President Andrews. My friend here just raised an important question. I would prefer that only two security personnel accompany your parties, to prevent a crowded conference room. They are permitted to bring whatever weaponry they so require.''

Andrews stepped off to the side to reveal an older but much larger and still more physically fit man dressed in a nearly identical, nearly same priced suit.

''I would like to introduce you to the Right Honorable Arnold Robertson, Viscount of Throppe. This is the man who heads up my colony and rightfully so, he is quite qualified. If nobody objects, he will lead you to the conference room, while I wait for the others.''

Robertson smiled and nodded, pushing open the large oak doors and motioning for the guests to follow him. He led them through the Great Hall, the watchful eyes of the OSF surveying each of them and their staff carefully. At the end of the Great Hall they entered another, much less spectacular horizontal hall, took a short walk and then a left into the conference room.

The conference room was much more modern with a large black table and executive style high backed office chairs. Built into the table was a laptop for each national leader or representative to use if they so desired. Sitting in the middle of the table were platters of food and pitchers of water and glasses. Also sitting at the very end of table, the spot reserved for President Andrews was a large stack of manila folders.

Robertson allowed each diplomats security personnel to check out the room. Once they appeared satisfied he spoke.

''It shouldn't be much longer until the Count arrives, until then, pleas help yourself to the food and beverages. If you require anything else, don't hesitate to ask.''

Welter, Fuller, and Murdoch sat down at the table, with the two JSFs standing behind them. Welter turned to his colleagues.

"Any ideas?"

Fuller cleared his throat. "Given the high tax rates in Orbath, I'm not sure how much we can do here today. However, it would be good to establish some sort of trade agreement."

Murdoch nodded. "Whether or not people deem it profitable to deal with businesses in Orbath is another matter."

Welter looked around. Not many men had arrived yet.

"We'll see. I don't approve of governments which tax their citizens this much."

OOC: I have 100% tax rate lol, I'm trying to bring it down...
IC:

''Greetings to you all, I am indeed President Andrews. My friend here just raised an important question. I would prefer that only two security personnel accompany your parties, to prevent a crowded conference room. They are permitted to bring whatever weaponry they so require.''


''I would like to introduce you to the Right Honorable Arnold Robertson, Viscount of Throppe. This is the man who heads up my colony and rightfully so, he is quite qualified. If nobody objects, he will lead you to the conference room, while I wait for the others.''


''It shouldn't be much longer until the Count arrives, until then, please help yourself to the food and beverages. If you require anything else, don't hesitate to ask.''

Raul and Martin sat down at the table, their guards took positions away from the table but close enough to prevent anything from happening.

"Raul, what do you think?" asked Martin to Raul

"They seem fine. Orbath is a trade opportunity for us." said Raul

"True true, and I agree."

Premier Gaétan-Jean Sébastien Lefebvre Pépin of the Republic of Corbournne arrived via limousine to the Orbathian Diplomatic Building. Escorted into the Great Hall by his two guards, he glanced at the array of regional leaders in front of him, and then prepared to be welcomed by the Orbathian President.

OOC: I feel like someone is missing, so if I accidentally went ahead without you, I apologize. If I missed you, just assume you were already seated in the room.

With everyone now in the conference room and hopefully comfortable, perhaps having eaten some snacks or had a drink, President Andrews swung open the door and entered, walking around the table and taking a seat.

''I would first like to thank you all for attending. I believe strongly in the strengthening of international relations but especially inter- regional relations. I am not just here to make money, I am also here to make friends. So, if you would either plug in your own laptop, there is a port beside the laptop that is already present or use the laptop already there, we can begin.''

Andrews sent each person a file containing the agenda for the meeting. He then continued.

''Please note the agenda is only a rough outline and is subject to change. Ok, then, the first topic I would like to discuss would be political systems. Every nation has it's own political system and I think it helps us to better understand each other by understanding the political systems.

Orbath is a democratic state. Its head of state is the President. Terms consist of five years, however, a President can remain in power for an unlimited number of terms, provided he is elected each five years. Under the President are the various Ministries which are President appointed to carry out specific duties. For example, the Ministry of Defense looks after the military and also national defense. Orbath is divided into a north and south province which each are governed by a council which is elected by the people. The councils have some abilities to make decisions in their respective provinces and, through vote, will sometimes out voice the President.

I am also the Count and de facto head of state of our colony, Throppe. I was not elected, but rather gained this position through the purchase of the colony. I will allow the Viscount to explain more, since he is here to represent Throppe.''

Robertson took a sip of his water and began.

''The Count of Throppe appointed me as Viscount and under me, several Barons which govern respective counties. Myself, The Count and the Barons serve life terms. Upon our deaths, our oldest successor, male or female takes our position. There is some controversy on what will happen if the Count is not reelected as President. This is because the colony was purchased with government funds, and therefore, the property of Orbath and not the Count, which means it should be transferred to the next President. Thankfully we haven't reached that stage yet.''

The President continued.

''Thank you Viscount. So what about the rest of you?''

Edward Welter eyed the man warily.

"Gesford does not have a government in the normal sense. We have an administration, a minarchy. Gesford technically has no territory; it is a collection of individually-owned pieces of property. My office, the office of Volunteer Controller, is the only elected position and we are elected to seven-year terms, as many times as we care to run. I am the liaison between the citizens of Gesford and other nations, and that is the extent of our diplomacy. More of my duties are taken up with these gentlemen," He gestured towards Robert Fuller and Warren Murdoch "as it has been the long standing policy of Gesford to contract all normally government-run services to the two corporation states. I act as the representative of the people when dealing with Venner Incorporated and The Kane Corporation, ensuring their tailor their actions to the needs of their shareholders. All major actions or policies implemented by the corporation states are put to shareholder vote, in effect a national referendum, as all citizens of Gesford own stock in the two corporation states."

Andrews listened intently, for this explanation could decide whether Orbath would even be willing to recognize Gesford as a nation. As soon as the man finished, Andrews began.

''I'm an honest man, so I'm going to be blunt. I wasn't entirely sure that I would even be able to recognize you as a legitimate nation. Don't take it as a personal attack, we have seen what corporations do for ''nations'' and how most of their concern is their earnings, not the people.''

Andrews took a dramatic pause, watching the faces of the men of Gesford. He expected them to turn sour.

''However, your nation has its differences. Not only does it appear the people have some say in what is going on, I assume you also have the people in mind. By the looks of things, the nation isn't controlled by power or money hungry corporations, you seem genuinely ''good'', do I have this right?''

Welter smiled at the man.

"The Corporations are controlled by their owners, their shareholders. Every citizen in Gesford owns shares of the two corporation states, thus they are in direct control of the companies. When a corporation in Gesford maximizes its earnings, it is fulfilling its duty to its owners, to the people of Gesford. The main goal of all private business is to maximize the wealth of its owners (not to gain power), and we have simply made the people the owners. Money is an ultimate good in Gesford, as it represents in our system the efficient creation of pure value. "

Andrews could tell by the man's smile that he was not angry, nor did he seem to have any hard feelings.

''While a strange system, it makes perfect sense and of course, money being the ultimate good isn't so bad, provided it doesn't corrupt those who seek to obtain it.''

Andrews could tell by the man's smile that he was angry, nor did he seem to have any hard feelings.


OOC: Angry?

OOC: Angry?
Hehe..my bad. Fixed.

Welter again smiled at President Andrews.

"We seem to have found a way to tie a fast-paced money-obsessed economy to the needs of the individuals. It has worked for the past 60 years or so."

President Watson stood up.

"Greal is a democratic nation. Presidents are elected by the popular vote, and have terms lasting 4 years. Once elected, presidents have supreme authority over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. Under the president are ministries from defense to transportation to health.

We have several well known corporations such as Look Incorporated and GRANT Inc. that have shown interest in doing business in Orbath and other nations in the region."

Andrews now turned his attention to President Watson. Once Watson had finished speaking, Andrews began,

''Nothing confusing there, your typical democracy but the looks of it. Its good to know that some corporations have already showed some interest, perhaps we can speak more about this later on.''

Premier Gaétan-Jean Sébastien Lefebvre Pépin rose to speak. "The Republic of Corbournne is a Unitary Republic. Therefore, there are no regional governments, and various local governments run the everyday life of people. There is no separation of powers, and thus no branches of government. I, as the Premier, am fairly and democratically elected for life by all free citizens eighteen or older. Le Conseil, which essentially serves as my cabinet, is elected at will by the people. If one is thought to not be accomplishing one's job, a national referendum can be called by a majority of the local governments, and can be passed by a simple majority. For whatever reason, a vacancy in the Council is immediately filled by the winner of a free public election. While most power is invested in me, Le Conseil and I have to agree for important decisions, such as a declaration of war."

President Andrews listened to the man from Corbournne with intent.

''Ah, so another fair system. I must ask, what if the Premier does not do his job, can his position be overturned?''

Premier Lefebvre spoke again in his thick French accent. "Ah, it seems I overlooked that facet of our government. Yes, a Premier can be declared unfit to rule by a referendum that can be called by a majority of local governments or a majority of Le Conseil. To be passed, a majority of the population as well as a majority of the Council must approve it."

Andrews had to focus a bit more, slightly struggling to make out what the man was saying through his accent.

''So a very efficient and fair system then, that is good to know, political freedom is quite important.''

OOC: Bump.

OOC: Bump

OOC: Final bump before I let this die.