Question the Power: Ask the Governor anything (Mideast Edition)

[ZuWo]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=151526.0

According to the "Questioning the Power Act", the Governor is required to open a thread every month in which citizens of the Mideast can ask questions. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.

Let's see how this turns out!

[ZuWo]

Thanks for the question! You saved me from a major embarrassment, TJ.

I have personally contacted a couple of Atlas Forum users and invited them to join the game. I am glad to see that some of them have actually registered as citizens of the Mideast. However, the work doesn't stop here. The real challenge is to encourage these new users to get involved in the game. It remains to be seen whether this is possible - I'm trying my best.

[ZuWo]

Do you think it would help to get more people involved if we repealed the amendment that reduced the number of assembly seats to three? We have a lot of new residents who cannot do anything on the Regional level for two more months, and even then would have to run against an incumbent assemblyman. It seemed to me at least like the Mideast had more activity back in the days when we had 5 assemblymen even if one or two were inactive.

The number of assembly seats is not permanently reduced to three. In fact, if there are six or more candidates running for Assembly at the next election the Assembly will consist of five members. With the recent influx of new citizens this may actually be possible.

The problem I see with repealing this amendment is that it is very difficult to get competitive elections if the number of Assembly seats is five regardless of the number of people who are running for a seat. During the last election with the new constitutional amendment in place we had four candidates running for three seats, which made for a competitive election and led to higher turnout. Thus, I think the amendment can be considered a success so far but it's too early to make a definite judgment.

Furthermore, we could discuss the re-establishment of the office of Lt. Governor. This would create another office Mideast citizens could run for. However, if we create the Lt. Governor's office again we have to give the future Lt. Governor more responsibilities so that there is a real motivation for our citizens to run for this seat.

[ZuWo]

Question Time (July edition)

In accordance to the "Questioning the Power Act", I hereby open the second question time session. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[ZuWo]

Do you feel that the "right" people were elected in the recent Assembly election? In other words, do you believe that the next legislative session will be one of activity?

Absolutely. I think that the five people who have been elected deserve it because they have demonstrated that they want to serve as Assemblymembers. They all opened campaign offices where they outlined some of their convictions or participated in the debate. While this doesn't guarantee that the next legislative session will be one of activity, it is certainly a positive start.

[ZuWo]

What do you view as an appropriate running distance?

For lazy people like myself: About 200 meters, 300 at best. For decent runners like yourself: I guess 3 miles. For professionals such as TJ: 10 miles at least.

[ZuWo]

As many have expected, the "Questioning the Power Act" is not a resounding success. I will give this question time format one more chance in August and if there are not a couple more questions I will introduce a bill to repeal the "Questioning the Power Act".
Nevertheless, I would like to thank those people who have asked questions so far.

[ZuWo]

Do you have a child and if not, why do you hate children?

This is a brilliant question. You should apply for a job at FoxNews or a similarly biased media outlet of the left.

No, I don't have a child and there are moments I'm not particularly fond of having one (for example when I see how terribly a child can behave in public) but I like children in general.

This past Assembly session was not an active one, one of the slowest in recent memory. What do you plan on doing next session to help boost activity?

I agree with A-Bob that we have seen far worse ("worse" in terms of activity and the number of bills that were debated) legislative sessions in the past. However, you are right, more could have been achieved during the last two months.

As the representative of the executive branch of the regional government my influence on the Assembly, the legislative branch, is limited, which I think is sensible. What I did in the last legislative session and what I will continue to do in the next one to help boost activity is introduce bills on my own and comment on bills that are introduced by other people. Additionally, I will reach out to individual members of the Assembly in order to work with them on particular pieces of legislation, as in the previous session. That's what I can guarantee, and there's not much more I can or should do with regards to the work of the Assembly. For example, due to the separation of powers I don't think I could or should have any say in procedural matters that only concern the Assembly. That's the job of the newly elected members of this body, and I have no doubt that they are capable of doing this in a wise way.

[ZuWo]

Opinion of the quote:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

**Ahem**

Sorry for not having noticed your "question" earlier.

Well, I never liked analysing lyrics from poems or songs but here's my take on the sentence you cited (though I am not going to be able to say more than a platitude): "power" and "money" are often closely related and it's nice to have both of these but "power" and "money" cannot guarantee happiness in your life, which is more worth striving for.

[ZuWo]

Hello Governor ZoWu,

As a recent arrival to the Mideast and new member of the Whig Party, I would like to ask you if there are any governing principles/views you believe all members of your party should have? Do you believe moderates would thrive as Whigs?

I look forward to hearing your answer.

Thanks,
TexasDemocrat

Thanks for this interesting question.

I consider the Whig Party a center right party (the summary of the Whig Party which Simfan wrote a while ago expands on this idea). It is a party which, in real-life terms, is probably most suitable for American Republicans, conservative-leaning independents or Blue Dog Dems, so moderates who feel comofortable in such a setting are certainly welcome and can thrive in this party. While I can't say that there is a certain number of views that you must have in order to qualify as a member of the Whig Party, abortion could be regarded as one of the key issues. Since the Whig Party emerged from the so-called "Right to Life Caucus", one of the most important elements of the party is its pro-life stance (most party members also oppose the death penalty).

Also, if you look at the elected officials who are members of the Whig Party you can see that, when in office, we are usually quite moderate and willing to compromise with all political groups. This is probably what distinguishes us most visibly from many representatives of the US Republican Party.

[ZuWo]

Governor ZoWu,

As a new member of the Labor Party in the Mideast region I thought it would be proper to introduce myself.

I do have one question. I've noticed that the Mideast wiki hasn't been updated since 2008. Were would I be able to see a list of laws that have been passed and repealed since then?

Thanks and I look forward to becoming active in here in the Mideast,

Gass3268

Thanks for the important question since other people who had a look at the Wiki may have got the same impression.

As A-Bob said, the wiki has been updated up to the previous legislation and will continue to be updated as soon as the current legislative progresses. If you have a look at chapter 31 "Legislation considered in the 24th Assembly" you can see that. I admit that the formatting of the "Statute" page is not ideal or even confusing to newbies, but I've decided to leave things as they were before I took office.

On an unrelated note, you or any other leftist could seriously consider a run for Governor in September. That would make for an exciting election.  

[ZuWo]

Question Time (August edition)

In accordance to the "Questioning the Power Act", I hereby open the third question time session of my tenure. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[ZuWo]

Not everyone at once, please!

[ZuWo]

I have sent out PMs to many people and encouraged them to join Atlasia. Some of them actually joined the game and are now members of the Whig Party and the MCPR.

Additionally, the public work I and other elected regional officials have done in the recent months has made our region more attractive. Indeed, the more active and vibrant a region appears, the more people are tempted to register in this region.

[ZuWo]

Building a party base for personal gain doesn't necessarily benefit the region, does it Governor?

The region benefits from new players, regardless of their party affiliation. And as I said, not all of the people I have PMed and have subsequently registered in the Mideast are now members of the Whig Party.

And to be clear, it sounds a bit hypocritical and even slightly humorous to hear such an implicit reproach from you, Mr. President. After all, you were the one who was at least partly responsible for the registration of numerous leftist players in the Northeast, which led to the surge of the JCP/Liberal Party in that region - a development which could certainly be described as "building a party base for personal gain".

[ZuWo]

No, I didn't refer to NiK. I referred to Vosem, who first registered as an independent before he joined the MCPR. Before and during my time as Governor I have reached out to numerous Atlas forum users and, if they were conservatives, made them aware of the Whig Party and if they were, for example, libertarians, I told them the Popular Liberty Party was a good fit for them or that they could register as independents.

I would also like to point to the fact that this is a "question time" thread. If anyone has questions, I will answer them with pleasure. However, for general comments there may be more suitable threads.

[ZuWo]

I encourage people to ask questions if they have any. As the text of the "Question the Power Act" explicitly states, this thread is for questions to the Governor, not for attacks:

"Once every month, the Governor of the Mideast shall be required to dedicate a part of his time to provide answers to questions which citizens may ask in a special thread."

For attacks or any utterances made with the intention to campaign for or against a particular candidate, please use the respective campaign threads. I will still answer questions as I did before, but I will not engage in mud-slinging in this thread and I urge other people to respect that.

[ZuWo]

Do you prefer currency over women?

You mean "currency" such as in "money"? If yes, I don't see why the two are mutually exclusive. In fact, both of them are quite nice to have.

[ZuWo]

Governor, why did you sign the driving politeness legislation?  It seems like a pointless infringement on our rights as motorists.

Mainly because of safety concerns. The atmosphere on the roads is often very heated and the actions that are mentioned in the bill can cause disorderly conduct and lead to conflicts between drivers, which has a detrimental impact on road safety.

[ZuWo]

How will this bill achieve that?  I've never seen a study advocating this type of legislation as a solution.

Why do we have traffic safety regulations in the first place? Because we want to make our roads safer. By sanctioning certain excessive activities which lead to conflict or put other road-users at risk we can try to make these activities occur less frequently. I believe that when the actions mentioned in the bill are sanctioned, they will be made less frequently and our roads will be safer.

[ZuWo]

This is a helpful link in my opinion. The information that can be found here has been compiled by the traffic department of the government of New South Wales.

Some snippets from the text:

"‘Road rage’ can refer to verbal abuse, rude gestures, aggressive driving (like tailgating or braking suddenly), threats and physical assaults."

"Drivers are increasingly worried about the aggression of other motorists on the road, according to recent research released by the Australian Automobile Association."

"For a first offence, the penalty can be up to $3,300 or imprisonment for 18 months, or both. You can also be disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence permanently."

"For a second offence, the penalty can increase to $5,500 and/or imprisonment for 2 years - again with the possibility to be disqualified permanently!" - Now that's a severe punishment. Our regional bill is much more lenient.

"There is a lot of research underway in Australia and overseas to find out what causes road rage, whether it is increasing, what impact it has on road safety and what can be done to stop it."

So, first of all, this bill deals with a problem that car drivers are increasingly aware of. Secondly, there is still scientific debate on the causes and the effects of 'road rage' and what can be done to prevent it. I am convinced that the legal framework we have set with this bill helps to contribute to make people aware of the problem of 'road rage' and is therefore a tool to make our roads safer.