Failed Feeder Coup
Fedele Thwarted in The East Pacific
Written by Maowi, Kuramia, and Darcness
Just over one year ago, Fedele - also known as Scardino, the original founder of raider region Lone Wolves United - was democratically elected World Assembly delegate of The East Pacific (TEP). Fedele's reign as Delegate included a few small bumps in the form of the statement on Wonder Woman's departure by Tim Stark and a Miniluv Messenger article posted by Cormac Skollvaldr in June titled Powder Keg: Slow Burning Crisis in The East Pacific Threatens to Explode. Most noticeable, however, was a program to eject so-called 'marsupials' (defined as nations which were not members of the World Assembly, had not applied for citizenship, and had the default flag on their in-game nation). These 'purges' were not just undertaken by regional officers, but included a program to involve the general citizenry of The East Pacific. This caused severe criticism from two of TEP's allies, Osiris and The South Pacific; nonetheless, Fedele managed to retain power almost to the very end of his term.
TEP's latest delegate elections began three weeks ago and were marred by questions about their legitimacy. Fedele was not running for reelection, but Davelands, a fellow member of the Rahl family, was a contender in the race. Bachtendekuppen, then a vizier (an officer in charge of internal security), brought a formal complaint against Davelands, with evidence that he had campaigned outside of the relevant threads on the TEP forum (which is strictly forbidden). Davelands countered by filing a complaint alleging that Todd McCloud's brief ejection of him from TEP for breaching the endorsement cap and Bachtendekuppen's complaint put him in unfair stead for the election and that this qualified as illegal election interference.
On October 5, 2019, TEP woke up to find that Fedele had unlawfully and without explanation dismissed the region's viziers and ministers with six days to go in the election vote, leaving only Minister of Foreign Affairs Marrabuk as "keeper of the flame". At this point, the frontrunner and obvious favourite was Marrabuk rather than Davelands, Fedele's preferred candidate. There was speculation by gameplay at large that the purpose of such an act was to ensure a smooth delegacy transition, although there were attempts within TEP to determine whether this contravened regional law. Following this, Fedele appointed fellow TEP citizens Davelands, Aleister, and Funkadelia as regional officers.
Over a week later, on October 13, Fedele and his appointed regional officers ejected Viziers Todd McCloud and Aelitia and banjected Vizier Bachtendekuppen and Delegate-elect Marrabuk from the region. The insurrectionists were struggling to retain power, so when TEP Citizen Cthulhu telegrammed Fedele out of the blue offering to help maintain control, Fedele immediately granted them border control of the region. Little did he know that Cthulhu had no intention of helping Fedele and his allies - in fact, Cthulhu proceeded to eject Fedele from the region, although he was able to return before the subsequent World Assembly update and retain his endorsements, and, crucially, clear the regional ban list.
The ejections of the viziers and ministers brought inter-regional attention to the crisis in TEP and opened the region up to an influx of troops from allied regions including The North Pacific and Europeia to restore the rightful Delegate. In the end, the lawfully elected government gained control of TEP, although the delegacy has yet to be transferred to Marrabuk.
Fedele has been banjected from TEP and what is now known to have been a coup attempt long in the works has been thwarted. Fedele, Tim Stark, Davelands, Funkadelia, and Aleister have been caught planning the coup in screenshots of their Discord chat leaked by Tim Stark. More damning screenshots show the cadre bringing in allies, fellow members of the Rahl family, to vote for Fedele in TEP's delegate election of June this year, a process commonly known as 'voter importing'. These screenshots suggest that the group had relied on Davelands' election to consolidate their grip on power before openly making a move; Marrabuk's success forced their hand and they had to make a hasty and poorly thought out attempt at seizing control.
In an official statement, the government of The South Pacific displayed the aforementioned screenshots along with evidence of the faction's interference in their own elections, trying to install a delegate who would be more likely to support their candidates for delegacy. The feeder proscribed the Rahl family and all members of its "inner circle." The failed coup has meanwhile prompted speculation about the Rahl family's gradual shift over time from a politically motivated group to a raiding and couping organisation.
Europeia had a key role in restoring power to the rightful government of The East Pacific. Not only did the Europeian Republican Navy (ERN)'s active and reserve forces participate militarily, but the involvement of many civilian nations as well helped secure this vital victory. None may question that Europeia is an influential actor on the gameplay stage. Every gameplay forum update sent out; every foreign update distributed to an embassy region; every military operation: these all contribute to a firm establishment of Europeia's international presence, allowing us to make a difference not just within our region, but all across NationStates.
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