NO.

1 — OCTOBER 14, 2018

The Drama Llama Herald The South Pacific’s Lighthouse

CABINET ELECTION OCTOBER 2018

SERRES WINS PRIME MINISTERSHIP

Interview with Prime
Minister-elect
ELECTION CENTRAL — The Drama Llama Herald
spoke with Prime Minister-elect, The Serres Republic
(Serres), about his plans for the incoming Cabinet and his
own personal aspirations. The following are excerpts of
that conversation, transcribed by the Herald. They have
been lightly edited for readability.
DLH: Congratulations on your election, Prime Minister-
elect.
SERRES: Thank you! Im really excited to move into the
next term. I really think we are posed to succeed as a
region right now and I'm super grateful that voters have
given me the opportunity to lead them!
DLH: In your campaign, you argued for a consistent and
reliable position in the gameplay community. Given that
the Coalition has, in the past, made blunders in this area,
with Cabinet Ministers contradicting the official policy,
how might you handle a similar situation? Will you be
barring, as has been proposed in the previous incidents,
government officials from speaking in gameplay - so as
to not risk contradiction?
SERRES: This has always been a hard issue for us, with
our Cabinet never really having a solution to the issue
due to the independence of each Minister. I do not wish
to restrict that independence either because the right to
manage their ministries is a huge deal for me, something
I will always aim to protect. This however has the
devil's advocate argument of 'Well Minister's with too
much independence put us at risk of repeat our past
mistakes.'
I truly believe I have found a solution to this issue
and that is respectful cabinet unity and a clear, defined
process. I will be pushing for intensive private
discussion to be conducted before any public posts are
released. This will ensure that we can all be on the same
page and not contradict each other unintentionally when
posting in public areas.
Furthermore I will not allow disrespect between
cabinet members. We can disagree without flaming each
other and it is my primary goal during inter cabinet
discussions to enforce this mindset with a heavy hand. It
is my intention to build respect between cabinet
members by forcing them to respect each other's voices
Supporters of Prime Minister-elect The Serres Republic (Fig. 1)
and opinions. No such thing as stupid questions. No
such thing as an incorrect approach. We will hear
everyone out and then settle on a policy we can all agree
on before moving into the realm of the public forum.
DLH: Former Prime Minister, Mr. Roavin, controversially
proposed a Motion of No Confidence in himself and the
Cabinet. Should you find yourself unable to effectively
lead with what may be an uncooperative Cabinet, do
you envision taking a similar route as the former Prime
Minister took.
SERRES: A Motion of No Confidence is a necessary tool
to ensure that the region can be protect by toxic, non
productive, or dangerous leadership. It should be treated
as a necessary last resort which I personally to this day
believe was prematurely used in that case by Roavin as
a PM. Not only was the Cabinet term closing out,
allowing for potential new leadership, but after
officially investigating the incident I can confidently say
that the issues were a matter of respect between Cabinet
Members. Something that could have been overcome
with proper approach and policy. However to answer
your question, as a last resort I would definitely use that
tool to protect the region as TSP is my top priority.
DLH: Transparency and communication has been a major
issue of the current administration. How do you intend
on improving in these area?
SERRES: I agree! Which is why the first step is just
posting updates the top priority for me will be official
statements immediately after policy has been decided
via the previously described method. This alone will do
a huge part in beating that issue.
DLH: You have raised the issue of under-staffing as one
of the most important problems facing the Coalition.
Could you expound on what you mean by this?
SERRES: To give a few examples of the problem. 1:
Roavin who is a General and a Forum Administrator
running for Minister of Military Affairs. 2: Glenn who is
a member of the Council on Regional Security,
Associate Justice of the High Court, and a Forum
Administrator, running for Minister of Foreign Affairs
3: Vietnam holding both General and LegComm. 4: Us
[The South Pacific] only having one Legislator
Committee member (when we should have 3).
I can keep going, the fact is that we don't have
enough hands to run the region efficiently. I plan to
change that by actively scouting out and including
members that have established themselves and are on
the cusp of being ready for leadership. A few examples
would be IoU, Yourself [Amerion], and Prarie. I then,
with the help of the cabinet, push right forward with
getting these types of people into the different ministries
and directly assisting the Ministers while being educated
on how to hold the positions and run them.
Additionally I will be continuing and strengthening
our recruitment telegrams to bring in more new faces to
train for this purpose as well.
DLH: What is your opinion of the Southern World
Assembly Initiative?
SERRES: I plan on continuing to work on SWAI in the
coming term. I am really excited to see where this
Initiative goes!
DLH: The South Pacific recently saw the involuntary exit
of two of its most prominent members, Tim and Escade.
What do you make of those events?
SERRES: I have been in TSP for 4 years almost now (The
entirety of my NS career) I am close friends with a
ridiculous amount of people in the region and that event
really struck home. Not only do Tim and Escade no
longer consider me a friend for choosing to stay with
TSP. It was an emotional and difficult event for me and
it was compounded by Resentine my closest friend on
NS leaving as well. However; in his and their honor,
regardless of what has happened or will happen, I am
moving forward with the goal of repairing my home. It
is my hope that one day TSP will be even better than it
was before. That is going to take work and proper
leadership however and that is why I am here. I’m
standing because my friends cannot and I see it as my
duty to lead in their absence.
DLH: Is there anything you would like to say to your
opponent in the election, Mr. Islands of Unity?
SERRES: I want him to know that with the proper
training and adjustment of mindset he could really be fit
to lead TSP. He is on my shortlist of candidates to train
for that after all. He seems to approach this in a way that
is too much like RL politics. We are building a
community, not a country, we need to get along and
respect each other in order to do that, fighting with
longstanding members is not the way to build an active
and close knit community! In the coming term I'm
inviting him to join me in helping find great new
members to train while also teaching him about all of
the stuff he doesn't know himself. Like who our
important allies our, what our regional history entails,
and the way our community functions on the minute and
massive!
DLH: Thank you very much Prime Minister-elect for
taking the time to talk with us.

Election Result The Race has Begun! MoMA Candidate

Questioned about his
ELECTION CENTRAL — In the start of of the South Pacific this decision
Islands of Unity The Serres Republic
what may prove to be a decisive election, undermines the integrity of our elections Past Service
Election Commissioner Belschaft and the democratic freedoms of our
RON PRIME MINISTER officially called the October 2018 Cabinet region.’
Elections into being, with the nominations The complaint received support by the
Vote breakdown period immediately beginning. Minister of Regional Affairs, Island of
In an unprecedented move, the Election Unity, who noted that ‘people should
Candidate Vote % Commissioner announced that contrary to ought to have the right to cast a ballot in
past elections, private ballots would not be private and without the pressure of public
counted. The surprising development was knowledge.’
43% Serres 12 57
met with opposition by Cabinet Ministers. The Election Commissioner noted that
Prime Minister Farengeto lodged an present legislation does not mandate a
57% Islands 9 43 official protest with the Electoral private ballot. However, he was amenable
Commission. to their concerns and later revised his
RON 0 0 ‘The secret ballot has long been a announcement to make allowance for such Chair Roavin at Maxterrian Retirement Village (Fig. 3)
critical component in defending the ability ballots.
Winner: for one to vote freely,’ the Prime Minister ELECTION CENTRAL — In a meet and
argued, ‘and in the often divisive politics October 1 greet at a retirement home south of the
SERRES Lampshade District, Minister of Military
Affairs, Somyrion, queried the Chair of
the Assembly, Roavin, on his platform
and his most recent service to The South
Pencil Sharpeners RON Pacific.
REGIONAL AFFAIRS Addressing a crowd of 53 elderly
Islanders and their pet llamas, the
Vote breakdown Minister provided new details on the
current Cabinet’s internal discussions
Candidate Vote % about Mr. Ever-Wandering Souls’
proscription. The Cabinet’s actions with
Pencil respect to the Field Marshal and Overseer
21 100 of Terra Corps of The Black Hawks
Sharperners garnered controversy in the Gameplay
community and caused considerable
RON 0 0 consternation within the Coalition’s
diplomatic corps. Mr. Somyrion accused
Winner:
the Chair of stalling the Cabinet on a
100%
PENCIL SHARPENERS response to amend the proscriptions amid
a High Court ruling calling for further
clarification.
In a remarkable attack on the
candidate, the Minister accused the Chair
Glen-Rhodes Somyrion RON of having acted improperly in his
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Candidates at a recent gathering hosted by the Islanders for a Brighter Tomorrow (Fig. 2) capacity as the Cabinet’s representative
on the proscription cases and
Vote breakdown mishandling the lines of communication

Candidate Vote %
Sparks fly as Candidates Seek to Score Political between the Cabinet and himself.
Specifically, Mr. Somyrion alleges an
32% Points intentional exclusion of current Minister
Glen-Rhodes 7 32 of Regional Affairs, Islands of Unity,
from Cabinet discussions.
ELECTION CENTRAL — With under 24 will give ‘the benefit of the doubt and ‘You went against the unity of the
Somyrion 15 68 cabinet to specifically exclude a member
hours to go until polls open, candidates address the concerns [Roavin] brought up
68% across the political spectrum spent their here, instead of assuming that … the intent you didn't like from communication,’ Mr
Winner:
last few hours making their pitches to their of these questions [was] to delegitimize Somyrion asserts, ‘and you took such
SOMYRION supporters and questioning the campaigns [himself] or [his] campaign.’ The unilateral action based on suspicions you
of others. candidate proceeded to provide a series of had never shared with anyone, even
At a rally in the South Pacific island of answers which was intended to when they were relevant to regional
Tawaii, Chair of the Assembly and demonstrate his train of thought which had security.’
candidate for Minister of Military Affairs, led up to these alleged inconsistencies. Mr. Islands of Unity is running for
Roavin, attacked Prime Ministerial In response to why he diverged from his Prime Minister and has faced criticism
Roavin RON candidate, Islands of Unity, for all but earlier promise of activity, Mr. Islands for a lack of consistency in his campaign
MILITARY AFFAIRS lying to the electorate. The Chair stated, ‘[there] was a difference in what I from the Chair.
questioned why the current Minister of expected the office to be like and how it is. Mr. Somyrion questioned how the
Vote breakdown Regional Affairs referred to his service as I admit that I over estimated how fast I Chair planned to ‘reconcile the fact
‘just filling the remainder of [former could get the ball rolling on the projects I that [he had] been highly inactive in the
Candidate Vote % Minister] Nakari’s term’ when he had wanted to come to fruition.’ past month with [his] current bid for a
previously committed to an active and The fierce discourse between the term in the cabinet?’
engaging term. candidates underscored the importance of Notably, Mr. Somyrion has himself
Roavin 11 52
48% In a scathing review of Mr. Islands the position being debate. A long-time faced similar questioning in his own
52% campaign, Mr. Roavin highlighted a government official, Mr. Rebeltopia, campaign for Minister of Foreign Affairs.
RON 10 48 number of inconsistencies in the responses observed in a statement, ‘[if] you’re The campaign office of Mr. Roavin
provided by the candidate to constituents’ looking for a cushy leadership job, TSP is has yet to issue a statement in response to
Winner: questions, and sought to cast doubt as to not your best bet. In fact, its probably one these latest questions.
ROAVIN the Minister’s credibility. of your worst options …’
Mr. Islands’ campaign office called October 10 October 10
these attacks ‘hostile’ and wrote that he

Chair Roavin Islands of Unity mounts Strong Showing at the

Polling Opens across The South Pacific
Responds to Criticism Polls

Chair Roavin at his campaign office (Fig. 4)
ELECTION CENTRAL — With just
hours to go before the Coalition heads to
the polls, Chair of the Assembly, Mr.
Roavin, gave a speech before reporters at
his campaign office, strongly defending
his record as a Cabinet representative to
Mr. Ever-Wandering Souls’ proscription
case.
Minister of Military Affairs Somyrion
had previously attacked the Chair for
inactivity during internal Cabinet
discussions and stalling the Cabinet’s
response to what gameplay pundits have
characterised as a damaging foreign
affairs blunder.
In late August, Prime Minister
Farengeto announced that Cabinet would
be enacting proscriptions previously
drafted the previous administration. Mr.
Roavin was Prime Minister at that time.
The proscriptions included members
of Hydra, Lone Wolves United, and Mr.
Ever-Wandering Souls, the Field Marshal
Overseer of Terra Corps of The Black
Hawks. The proscriptions were poorly
received in the Gameplay community,
with Mr. Souls mounting a strong public
relations campaign against The South
Pacific, with significant support from
other members of the community.
The High Court sought clarification
from Cabinet on the proscriptions and
Mr. Roavin was assigned by the Cabinet
to advise on a reissuing of the
proscriptions. In his address, Mr. Roavin
admitted to having failed to do so in a
timely manner.
‘On not getting the proscription
reissue done: Yep. That's on me … I
could (and should) have finished this up
for the Cabinet already.’
Mr. Roavin also provided details on
internal discussions within the Cabinet
and the lines of communication between
Cabinet Ministers. Mr. Somyrion
accused the Chair of purposely excluding
Minister of Regional Affairs, Islands of
Unity, from Cabinet meetings held in
confidential Discord channels.
‘On not inviting IoU to the group DM:
We already talked this over on Discord,’
Mr. Roavin said, ‘There was a credible
suspicion that IoU's Cabinet bid during
the special election wasn't in good faith,
but rather intended to steal logs and other
confidential materials for espionage
purposes.’
Mr. Roavin is currently contesting the
election for Minister of Military Affairs.
He was elected Chair of the Assembly in
July. His term of 4 months is scheduled
to conclude in November. Should he be
elected, the Chair will be vacated and the
Coalition will once again head to the
polls as early as the end of October.
October 10
Islanders making their way to Saint Drugged Monkeys Primary School, which is operating as a polling station (Fig. 5)
ELECTION CENTRAL — The voting period
officially commenced today. At polling stations on
islands across The South Pacific, queues of
Islanders could be seen lining up with their pet
llamas at dedicated public buildings temporarily
repurposed for the occasion.
The October Cabinet Elections saw tensions
flare in the last few days of the campaigning period
with candidates attempting to raise concerns about
others’ character and fitness for office.
Minister of Regional Affairs, Islands of Unity,
and The Serres Republic are contesting the election
to become Prime Minister. The incumbent, Mr.
Farengeto, was widely expected to re-contest his
seat but in a shock announcement, said he was
dropping out of the race to spend more time
focusing on his mental wellbeing. The
announcement was met with approval from
members of the public who thanked the Prime
Minister for shedding light on the often neglected
Drama Llama strikes High Court and Polling Booth
FUDGETOPIA GOVERNMENT CENTRAL —
In a shocking attack, the Fudgetopia Government
Centre and four polling booths were rocked by
several explosions.
Reports are flooding in but it appears Prime
Ministerial candidate and Minister of Regional
Affairs Islands of Unity as well as the current
Chair of the Assembly and Minister of Military
Affairs candidate Roavin were injured in the
separate blasts.
Chair Roavin had just come down from the
steps of the High Court after submitting a
surprising charge which alleged crimes of
espionage on both his and Minister Unity’s part.
Minister Unity had been at the Mount Violet
community center, giving a speech to his
supporters gathered outside the recently opened
polling station.
Both have been airlifted to Treasure Island
General Hospital.
A statement was delivered to the Southern
Journal newspaper by an unsuspecting courier.
Allegedly written the Drama Llama Farm
ELECTION CENTRAL — Minister of many DMs have you sent? Mind posting
Regional Affairs and Prime Ministerial what you sent them?’
candidate Islands of Unity has staged a There is nothing illegal about private
comeback from early polling to run neck campaigning in direct messages.
and neck with The Serres Republic. At The Minister responded to these
the time of writing, the vote was a 6-6 charges; ‘Im not deflecting, im choosing
tie. what i foucus my energy on [sic]’.
This comes amid accusations by Chair The heated discourse between the two
Roavin who issued a stinging rebuke of candidates follows an admission by
the Minister’s electoral practices. Chair Roavin’s campaign that he had
‘You don't have any record to run on, sought to block Minister Unity’s entry
you have no experience, when you did into confidential Cabinet discussion
have a position you didn't do anything channels due to alleged security
with it, BUT what you did do is motivate concerns.
peeps to sign up and tell those that don't
know better to vote for you.(edited) How October 11
Councillor Glen-Rhodes calls for Renewed
Focus on Secuirty
issue. Former Delegate Seraph applauded the
Prime Minister, observing that in his experience, LEGISLATOR’S LOUNGE — Amid past, such efforts were watered down due
‘Opening up about these things may only help a heightened tensions stemming from the to consensus among legislators that
little, but it does help.’ election, member of the Council on moderation was the most appropriate
Candidates for positions of Minister of Regional Regional Security (CRS) and candidate direction to proceed with.
Affairs and Minister of Military Affairs, Pencil for Minister of Foreign Affairs, Glen- ‘If we lock our region down, become
Sharpeners and Roavin, respectively, are thought to Rhodes, lambasts the current state of a closed community with strict
stand strong chances of being elected given the affairs and calls for reform of the membership requirements, and kick
lack of any viable competition. region’s security apparatus. people out more easily, then maybe we
Barring a surprise upset in those elections by In a speech to those gathered in the wouldn't need those hard and cold
long-time nominee RON (Re-Open-Nominations), Legislators Lounge, the Mr. Glen- security players. But we don't want a
all eyes are on the elections for Prime Minister and Rhodes derided the Cabinet’s recent region like that. We want the rainbows
Minister of Foreign Affairs. efforts to proscribe threats to regional and sunshine because it's fun, and just
Minister of Military Affairs Somyrion and security. take our security for granted. Europeia
Associate Justice Glen-Rhodes (Sandaoguo) are ‘We can't even agree that we should and Balder don't care about how much
locked in a tight race for Minister of Foreign proscribe people who literally messed we want to have fun.’
Affairs. Both candidates stayed clear of attacking with our Delegate transition, and have So as to meet this challenge, Mr.
the other and largely ran positive campaigns. said over and over again that they want Glen-Rhodes advocated for a greater
to destroy us’, the Councillor lamented, strategic focus and a more concerted
October 11 ‘I’m not sure if there are more than 2 effort to defend the Coalition and its
people who take threats to us seriously.’ ideals, with proposed reform as the ‘CRS
Mr. Glen-Rhodes underscored a needs to be allowed to protect the region,
growing security challenge to the so that the PM and MoFA can focus on
Coalition, noting that the Independent more fun things.’
Joint Command Coalition (IJCC) was The candidate for Minister of Foreign
comprised of regions traditionally Affairs argued that ‘there needs to be
antagonistic towards The South Pacific, people in government who are hard,
Collective, the statement casts blame on the two
including Balder, Europeia, and The experienced in the dirty fighting the rest
candidates for their conduct and concluded with a
Land of Kings and Emperors, and which of the game does, and who don't shut
vow to permanently remove them from South
could seek to destabilise the Coalition. down when things get tough.’
Pacific politics.
The Councillor defended the need for
The Collective formed in 2011 as a guerrilla
more stringent security protocols. In the October 11
unit operating in The South Pacific’s southern
most tropical island and agitated for an overthrow
of democratic governance and the installation of a
Balderian regime. In recent years, the Collective IMAGE CREDITS
has increased the scale of their campaign to (Figure. 1) “Obama Election Night Party: Chicago Celebrates President’s Reelection
involve attacks on prominent persons. (photos),” Huffington Post, last modified November 7, 2012, https://
In September, the Drama Llama Farm www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/obama-election-night-party_n_2086044.html.
Collective claimed credited for the assassinations (Figure. 2) “2016 presidential debate schedule: Dates, times, moderators and topics,” Politico,
of Minister Tim and Former Delegate Escade. The last modified September 15, 2015, https://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/2016-
public nature of the attacks on two of The South presidential-debate-schedule-dates-times-moderators-channel-and-topics-213637.
Pacific’s most high profile politicians left the (Figure. 3) “In his first run, Paul Ryan made lasting mark,” Matt Viser, Boston Globe, last
Coalition reeling. modified August 29, 2012, https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/08/28/paul-ryan-
first-race-wisconsin-offers-clues-his-campaign-style/xig06Hc5Wf9UtQeRCr5dIJ/story.html.
October 11 (Figure. 4) “Paul Ryan: Debate was what he expected,” Catalina Camia, USA Today, last
modified October 12, 2012, https://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/10/12/paul-
ryan-debate-biden-reaction/1629863/.
(Figure. 5) “Catanger Llama Trekking,” Day Out With The Kids, last accessed October 10,
2018, https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/catanger-llama-trekking.

VOTING RECORD
PRIME MINISTER REGIONAL AFFAIRS FOREIGN AFFAIRS MILITARY AFFAIRS
VOTER
1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2

Americatress Islands Serres R.O.N. Pencil Somyrion R.O.N.

Atlantica Pencil R.O.N. Glen Somyrion R.O.N.

Beepee Serres Pencil Somyrion Roavin

Dilguy9 Islands Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Roavin R.O.N.

Divine Owl Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil Somyrion Roavin

FosterKicks Islands Serres R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N. Roavin R.O.N.

Freewanda Islands Serres Pencil Glen Somyrion Roavin

Gordon Freeman Islands Serres R.O.N. Pencil Roavin

Islands of Unity Islands Serres Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N.

Malashaan Pencil Somyrion Glen

Midand Islands Serres Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N. R.O.N. Roavin

New Haudenosaunee Islands Serres Pencil Somyrion Glen Roavin

Confederacy
palaisbellevuebz Islands Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion R.O.N. R.O.N.

Pax Dracon Islands Serres R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion R.O.N.

Pencil Sharpeners Serres R.O.N. Glen Somyrion R.O.N.

QuietDad Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Glen Somyrion R.O.N. R.O.N.

Qwert Serres R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N. Roavin R.O.N.

Rebeltopia Serres R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N. Roavin

Roavin Serres R.O.N. Islands Pencil R.O.N. Glen Somyrion R.O.N. Roavin R.O.N.

Ryccia Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil Somyrion R.O.N. Roavin

Sepia Island Islands Serres R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N. R.O.N.

Seraph Serres R.O.N. Pencil Glen Somyrion Roavin

Somyrion Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion R.O.N.

The Sakhalinsk Islands R.O.N. Serres Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N.
Empire
The Serres Republic Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil R.O.N. Glen Somyrion R.O.N. Roavin R.O.N.

The Solar System Serres Islands R.O.N. Pencil Somyrion Glen R.O.N.
Scope

Tsunamy Pencil R.O.N. Roavin R.O.N.

USoVietnam Serres R.O.N. Islands Pencil R.O.N. Somyrion Glen R.O.N.