As Abeldanes head to the polls for the second time in three days to vote for Vorsitzender and Stellvertreter (head and vice-head of government), The SiV Phonograph sat down with the candidates to get an overview of their thoughts and proposals.
Horatio Eden, Rhinoceros Party
What makes Abelden important to you?
Abelden is one of the few micronations that has maintained a level of activity throughout its life – the Democratic Union of British States has died something of a death, which I half-expected to occur going in, but not only is Abelden run by the Emperor, someone I consider to be a friend of mine, but it also actually has sessions and does things, it’s something I enjoy coming back to.
How are you planning to deal with division issues in the GUM/Micronational community?
I don’t really see that there are that many issues on which the community is that divided – the left-right debate is one that has been debated forever, and isn’t something I can personally resolve on a unilateral basis, but what’s important is that Abelden strives to be a model of debate and of respect so that we can send a message to the other members of our community to show them how political discourse should be done.
Where do you stand on the proposals to reduce the number of states?
I think the current number of states should be maintained. On the one hand, they aren’t doing a huge amount activity-wise, but on the other they have every right at any time to set up state legislatures and do things unilaterally, and the fact that they aren’t does nothing to affect the national government’s ability to govern effectively, so the way I see it, there’s no harm nor foul in keeping them as they are. Culture is an important matter in Abeldane politics.
What is your personal stance on citizensharing (the simultaneous participation of individuals in multiple micronational projects)?
I think it’s an inevitability. I wrote a Daily Micronational op-ed about Paravia a few months back r.e. the Paravian federalisation treaty, wherein I pointed out that people will always want an outlet for themselves to express power in a legal sense. With that being said, I think there can be workarounds, and one of those workarounds, which I imagine I will touch on multiple times, is the implementation of legislative agendas in political manifestos. That way, when we actually convene sessions of the RVL, we actually have things ready and waiting to debate, and we can head off any issues of activity at the pass.
Would you be willing, should you be elected, to dedicate more of your time to Abelden, even if it means neglecting your other micronations?
I don’t think I would necessarily have to neglect anything. I have run the Republic of Silofais as President effectively for some time, and it has taken very little of my actual time; the Democratic Union has been stagnating for some time with the effective resignation-by-election of the entire House of Representatives, and I am not truly a member of any other micronation in a substantive respect as far as I can recall, so ultimately I feel I have the time resources to spare to make the Abeldane administration a success.
If elected, where would you take Abeldane’s foreign policy?
Foreign policy in micronationalism is a tricky beast insofar as it’s difficult to see what micronations can do across national lines when all business is transacted online. I think the best thing we can do is continue to use our position as a well-known member of the community to remind people that decorum in debate is important and that people of different political creeds and ideologies are deserving of respect.
What is your stance in cross-community integration? If Abelden is to become part of other micronational communities, which would they be and how would you lead the integration effort?
I’m not sure there are that many communities outside of MicroWiki that have either the manpower or the resources to effectively match the activity of MicroWiki – /r/micronations has always struggled to match up to us, and people have always had reservations about Facebook and the risk of releasing private information (or, at least, I have), and so I’m more inclined towards consolidating what we do have and expanding our influence into the real world by sharing the news of Abelden by word of mouth to bring more people into the MicroWiki fold.
In what way will you maintain the confidence of the Emperor in your government, if you’re elected?
A mandate from the public, if I am lucky enough to receive one, should be more than enough evidence that the Emperor should be confident in any potential Rhino administration.
You’re one of the two Vorsitzender candidates who have previously held the office, in your case, from October to November 2016. During your term, the Empire sunk into inactivity until you were ousted from office. Can you assure the Abeldane people this time around will be different?*
I have learned from my previous time in office that a detailed plan to ensure I don’t fall into the inactivity that has plagued other micronational projects from across the community – one of those is the legislative agenda I published. I intend for the first batch of legislation detailed there to be passed over the first few weeks and months of a potential Rhino administration, after which time enough time will have passed that an updated agenda with new and bold legislative ideas for the country will have been created and which can be acted upon. This cycle will be repeated as many times as necessary or as many times as the Abeldane population does or continues to have confidence in me.
Your party has presented an extensive and detailed legislative agenda, which you plan to implement once the new Reichsversammlung is elected. However, polls and projections show the Rhinoceros won’t get a majority of the RVS’s seats. How do you plan to pass your bill proposals?
As Leader of the Opposition in Mercia, I was fortunate enough to pass the lion’s share of my party’s agenda despite lacking the majority of seats. I think on a fundamental level the left-right divide which harshens macronational politics does not apply, and so I think that when the members of the House see the merits of our party’s work, they will be inclined to vote for it despite our difference in party membership.
You were a member of the Independence Party up until not too long ago. Why did you leave?
The Independence Party proclaims to be the party of activity; however, a message I left for the party leadership took over a week to receive a response, and for a few days after I left the party no one noticed I was still in their party chat despite no longer being a member. I didn’t want to be chained to a party which seemed to be in a death spiral toward stagnation.
Newton von Uberquie, Social Ecology
What makes Abelden important to you?
To me, Abelden is a micronation with a vibrant political culture and this, I find, is the most important aspect of our nation to protect. I believe Abelden should be a haven for free, cultured debate, whereby any citizen should have the right to speak their view and the duty to defend it.
How are you planning to deal with division issues in the GUM/Micronational community
As a incumbent member of the GUM leadership, I am already at the forefront of leadership for the greater community. I will ensure that Abelden, as the highly regarded and experienced nation it is, becomes a community leader and a beacon of maturity. We shall expand relations with trusted nations and, alongside GUM nations, help to improve less experienced nations through diplomatic avenues. However, Abelden will still remain a noble nation and I will ensure it is defended from diplomatic slights, as it has been in the past. Abelden, under my leadership, will only work with nations willing to comply.
Where do you stand on the proposals to reduce the number of states?
There are a couple of conditions that need be met if states are to be dissolved. Firstly, there must be a valid reason on a car by case basis, I.e due to a complete lack of citizens. It must also require the consent of any active citizens, if active citizenry a state still has, and the Federal Monarch in question. Furthermore, we need to actively seek a more local purpose for states, so to introduce, for example, citizen assemblies, we must require that states have a reasonably active population which make require some dissolutions.
What is your personal stance on citizensharing (the simultaneous participation of individuals in multiple micronational projects)?
I am myself an active citizen of only a few nations. Unfortunately, citizen sharing in this tight community is inevitable but it can be regulated to a few nations. However, I am personally not phased by citizen sharing though to find unique citizens would be positive. Abelden should promote hard work towards the nation from any citizens, rather than simply a unique few.
Would you be willing, should you be elected, to dedicate more of your time to Abelden, even if it means neglecting your other micronations?
I currently dedicate most of, if not all, my micronational time towards Abelden outside of GUM duties. I find this to be an extremely important reason for my electability already.
If elected, where would you take Abeldane’s foreign policy?
As stated before, Abelden should be a micronational leader which can only be achieved through a large catalogue of foreign relations. We should guide new nations within an institution such as the GUM, but we should remain vigilant in the face of our rivals.
What is your stance in cross-community integration? If Abelden is to become part of other micronational communities, which would they be and how would you lead the integration effort?
If Abelden is welcome, we should seek relations in all areas whether they be unique or within separate communities.
In what way will you maintain the confidence of the Emperor in your government, if you’re elected?
I am a close personal friend of the Emperor and I believe this enables him to trust my opinions on matters. Any government ought to work within the interests of the nation, but an ASE lead government will ensure to adopt policy options that close the gap between the direction of the Emperor and our own primarily.
Every poll so far (as of August 19, 2017) shows ASE’s candidacies in the lead. To what do you attribute this apparent success?
I believe that Abelden trusts experience, which a party like the ASE presents in droves. We have shown to be dedicated to Abelden, through constant campaigning as well as our most notable effect on the incumbent government even as a small party. ASE presents an effective alternative, positive leadership and Abelden recognises that.
Your manifesto promises the introduction of “areas reserved for communal ownership”. Can you give specifics of how, exactly, you plan on articulating this project?
The basis of ASE is to present a positive future outlook. It is difficult for a micronation to explicitly have an effect in certain areas, such as macronationally, however it would be fruitless to ignore these areas. As such, my leadership, during its reevaluation of Abelden’s claimed territorial borders, will set aside geographical and populated areas which would serve as communal societies in future times. We will uses this as a basis for localised democracy and eventually an Agrarian future for Abelden under the leadership of the people.
Brandon Wu, Independence Party
What makes Abelden important to you?
Abelden has always been a micronation in which I’ve been graciously welcomed into, and I truly believe the activity of the citizen body makes it a place where people can achieve things (i.e. pass legislation and have talks about policies). I invest my time in micronations specifically when I see there’s strong activity, which is why I became a citizen of Abelden in the first place.
How are you planning to deal with division issues in the GUM/Micronational community
I believe we need to unite and encourage more activities in which we can all band together as one community. After the incident involving Ned, Emiel and others leaving to form their own community, the GUM community really didn’t seek to analyze why they left in the first place (although the proposal was never really executed properly). I plan on making Abelden a leader in the community that will unite, not separate.
Where do you stand on the proposals to reduce the number of states?
I wholeheartedly support any proposal that would encourage activity in Abelden, and I believe reducing the number of states would help do that.
What is your personal stance on citizensharing (the simultaneous participation of individuals in multiple micronational projects)?
I think citizensharing is what causes people to spread themselves thin, and even I at one point was in 10+ micronations at once. The IPA believes that we need to work on finding citizens willing to devote their time to mostly (or only) Abelden, which will only continue to help advance the micronation.
To the candidates who are members of other micronational projects, would you be willing, should you be elected, to dedicate more of your time to Abelden, even at the expense of neglecting your other micronations?
Yes, I would be 100% willing to dedicate more of my time to Abelden.
If elected, where would you take Abeldane’s foreign policy?
I would make our foreign policy more towards helping newer micronations. Currently, we only really cooperate with ‘bigger’ micronations (like Paravia for example), but smaller micronations do need help – and the IPA would help encourage fostering growth in newer, mature micronations.
What is your stance in cross-community integration? If Abelden is to become part of other micronational communities, which would they be and how would you lead the integration effort?
I think cross-community integration is not necessarily needed at least in the status quo, but if the majority of Abeldanes were to support it, I would encourage bonding with the new community (and ensuring that we don’t also neglect the MicroWiki community at the same time). This would ease any kind of tensions that would hypothetically occur if we were to become a part of other micronational communities.
In what way will you maintain the confidence of the Emperor in your government, if you’re elected?
I will maintain the confidence of the Emperor in my government by ensuring that we have an active citizen body (and Reichsversammlung). This will ensure an Abelden that the Emperor can be proud of, one that’s advancing the micronation even further.
Your manifesto says IPA will ensure that Abelden will not lose its populist ideals, monarchy, and national conservatism. How do you intend to do this?
We intend on making sure Abelden won’t lose its core beliefs by having the micronation become revitalized again under a government I would run. Specifically, we will work towards having citizen input on legislation, take many polls of how the government is doing, and really embracing the monarchy. National conservatism has always been the forefront of the IPA, and we will take that into government if elected.
Your manifesto says the IPA will strive to create an environment that embraces a strong Abeldane culture that people will embrace, including celebrations of history and national holidays and events that will foster unity across Abelden. Can you elaborate?
We will work towards creating activities that will celebrate history/national holidays. Currently, we only have maybe an announcement in the Skype lounge that ‘X’ day is a holiday or a certain event in history, but a government in which I’m elected would have unique celebrations each time (such as a YouTube video or even a livestream).
*: At the time the questions were made, Michael Thomas Brazeau of the Federalist Party, who served a short term as Vorsitzender, was still a candidate in the race.
The SiV Phonograph 
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