NON-PREREQUISITES
In my intro, I listed four items which, though one might think would be important qualifications to have, are proven by history to be largely unnecessary as even informally enforced prerequisites to being elected as Delegate. Unlike with the prerequisites themselves, I do not intend to devote entire sections to each of these, but will make one section discussing each of them. As such, I intend for a shorter overview of each – I don’t have to prove them or defend my claims, just point out enough examples to prove they’re not overly important and then explain why that might be.
First of all is military leadership experience. While it is true that the Delegate is the highest ranking military officer of the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army, and oversees its leadership, rarely is military experience mentioned in campaigns or brought up in elections. In fact, of all the post-coup delegates, only Marrabuk, The Atlae Isles, and Altys were military commanders. That’s only 3/9 (33.3%). Even if you expand the field to military experience in general, only Zukchiva, Eastern Alksearia, and I participated in regular updates and held rank. This means 6/9 (66.7%) were soldiers. It’s somewhat suggestive of a trend, but not a prerequisite. Given the strong demand for FA experience, why is there none for EPSA experience?
The causes of this are somewhat simple to predict. TEP, notably, is an unaligned region with a relatively small military. Unlike regions like 10000 Islands, the Constitution of which requires their Delegate to have military experience, our identity is not tied to our military operations or alignment. We field small numbers of updaters more often than not, and, ultimately, big operations don’t define our government’s success. We don’t project power. We don’t enforce ideology. Military is not as important to our regional culture or governance. It’s an important service to fill, and we are never without EPSA leadership, but, in a reversal of the FA section, even the most hands-on of Delegates can be very hands-off in matters of EPSA.
Second of all is legislative experience. Although some Delegates, such as Zukchiva, have been prolific legislators, this hasn’t proven a very important factor. In the October 2023 elections, Merlovich won the election over Dremaur, when the former had never held Magister status and the latter was a member of our legislature from 2015-2017 and more recently from 2021 to the present day. However, looking more closely at statistics, we can see that 6/9 (66.7%) were Magisters, but only 3/9 (33.3%) were Provosts or Deputy Provosts. Even so, legislation submitted by most of the members of this group is generally lacking. In this respect, the separation of powers between Executive and Legislative seem culturally effective.
In a post-coup political society, one might think that Vizier status, membership in our regional security branch, would be a significant determinant in the selection of a Delegate. Security in the Delegacy after a Delegate attempted to overthrow our regional government would seem desirable. However, only 4/9 (44.4%) of Delegates were elected from Vizierdom or after Vizierdom. Even so, only 1/9 (11.1%) returned to their Vizierdom after the end of their term. Furthermore, an extra Delegate, Marrabuk, was confirmed as a Vizier not before, but after their term. Ergo, it held no bearing on their election. If you think about it, these low numbers aren’t too surprising. Fedele was a Vizier before he was elected, and he still attempted a coup. The same vigor we apply to Viziers could also easily apply to Delegates. Foreign connections may be questioned, for example. Vizierdom is not the sole determinant of trust, and thus it’s not a salient “prerequisite.”
Those same foreign connections, however, may not sink a delegacy as, by my count, only 3/9 (33.3%) of elected Delegates held only one citizenship – within The East Pacific. Libertanny maintained Pacifican citizenship through his Delegacy. Zukchiva stepped back from the Union of Democratic States, but had those connections, and stepped towards them again afterwards. Albrook and Altys were foreigners – in the Alstroemerian Commonwealths and Thaecia, respectively – far before their East Pacifican citizenship. Eastern Alksearia held Thaecian citizenship as well. I, Aivintis, remained a Presidential Advisor and Chief Justice in The Free Nations Region during my Delegacy. Before it, I held citizenship in 10000 Islands, the South Pacific, The Union of Democratic States, Warzone Africa, The Social Technocratic Union, and more.
Why are foreign connections not a dealbreaker when it comes to The East Pacific’s election of Delegates? Fedele and all his cabalists were foreigners before they were East Pacificans, especially in Lone Wolves United, yet, when their crasher ideology sought to bring down our government, TEP didn’t begin to turn away foreigners. Many foreigners indeed are elevated to Ministers immediately, from Altys in the Libertanny administration to Gemeinschaftsland in the Merlovich administration and probably a dozen appointments in between. Shouldn’t an existential threat against our region spike anti-cosmopolitan regionalism? Why didn’t it?
There may be a couple answers to this – without a survey or further data, I do not present myself as an expert on this, but I hope my personal experience and some common sense could add some valuable discourse on this matter.
For one, the coup d’etat was only defeated with the overwhelming support of our allies. 10000 Islands, the South Pacific, The North Pacific, and more immediately deployed their military units in support of our legitimate government. Following the coup, these relations and more were strengthened in a veritable renaissance of foreign affairs. Following the coup, more of the world was our friend than our enemy. Many of these relations were practical and security-minded, something being challenged in modern times, but the camaraderie is certainly there, and the cultural ties are undeniable. Of course we’ll accept friends into our region. Of course we’ll accept our regionmates joining our friends.
Another factor which might contribute to this is TEP’s unalignment. In regions like The League & Concord or The Brotherhood of Malice, there’s a pretty solid line separating most of NSGP. There’s “raiders” and “defenders”. Crossing the lines, if it happens, is an event of note. Twobagger. East Chimore. In TEP, within our in-between of blurred lines and relations with both sides, there is no wall. We’re more willing to accept other regional connections, because we’re not locked in an eternal war between ourselves and a faction encompassing many other regions. Eastern Alksearia is active in raider regions. Zukchiva and I, in defender regions.
Finally, TEP is a region which prides itself as a community of second chances. Even following the Empire coup, DFD, an invader who stayed, was elected to the Delegacy. Lone Wolves United has an embassy with us. Fedele even participated in a tag raid with the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army following the coup d’etat, which led to more controversy outside of the region than within it. A mean old man was the bane of many GCRs in his day, but TEP accepted him into our regional security branch anyway. That is not to say we forgive easily, but we do forgive, and we easily extend olive branches.