Breaking News: Controversy Over Councillor Nominee
A Controversial Councillor Conundrum
Co-Written by Astrellan and Unmighty Hezekon
(September 16, Europeia) - The past few days mark a very tumultuous time in our region, with tensions between the Legislative and the Executive sparking over a nomination of Maowi to the position of Councillor of World Assembly Affairs.
Firstly, on August 11, Chief of State Prim formally made the nomination of newcomer Maowi to fill the position that had been left empty with the sudden inactivity of Deputy Chief of State UnitedPeoplesOfCentrism. However, this sparked controversy within the Senate as Maowi also currently serves on the Cabinet as minister of communications, meaning she would be the region's first-ever minister-councillor.
This drew negative reactions from the senators the day after, with Senate Speaker GraVandius saying he could not be "less hyped" about such a proposition, and claiming this "represents an evidently complete paucity in talent pipelines in two ministries." Senator Rand replied soon after, with a more reserved statement saying he "recognize(s) the work Maowi has done for the CoWAA" but also states that "the nominee should be subject to significant scrutiny" for the confirmation, following up with a self-described "battery of questions" for Maowi.
Prim, who was also subject to questions by Rand, replied stating that "Maowi was the only consistent and active contributor in the department" and stating that while World Assembly Delegate Aexnidaral (Aex) could be relied on to fill the position, he didn't want another councillor to be there simply to "cover the position" and instead wanted to choose "someone who is eager to serve and has a passion for the department."
Maowi also replied, stating that she believes she could "run both MinComm and the CoWAA in a meaningful manner" before detailing her activity outlook for the rest of the term, her priorities in such roles - which would focus on "publishing timely and informative IFVs" and "bringing the department into the limelight" - and any sacrifices she would have to make if her activity were to change.
Following this, Senator DictatorAnna10 said that, while she understood "the reasons the nominee was chosen for the position," she feared the "effects of Maowi being a Minister and Counselor [sic]." She further clarifies this, saying that the nominee may "prematurely burn out." Senator Astrellan also followed a similar thought process, as he claims that "there is no question in my mind of the nominee's qualifications in such roles." He, however, followed this up by saying the "idea of Minister-Councillor" has been "rightly" met with "rough suspicion and push back" in the past. He finished the post by indicating he would ask further questions at a later time.
However such a time never passed, and as the day wore on, Prim pulled the nomination with the support of Maowi. This caused members of the public following this controversy to post in a concurrent FM Nominations Thread about the situation.
Previously in the thread, First Minister Pichtonia commented that "while this isn't my nomination, I can't say I share the views of the Senators so far. In fact, I think some of them are outrageous." He then proceeded to critique a statement of GraVandius' in the Senate, saying Maowi stood out for her "diligence and dedication." He also responded harshly to one of Rand's questions, saying it was "disrespectful and unnecessary" to ask what other possible nominees were qualified for the position and why they weren't nominated in Maowi's stead.
Now with Maowi's confirmation hearing over, Founder HEM added his thoughts to the issue. He said that people were "wringing their hands over the fact that one member needs to serve in two roles," but pointed out that "Dual Senate-Cabinet roles are notoriously common." He then stated his favourite approach would be to "confirm [the nominee] then perform oversight" and further noted that he felt "that the Senate misfired on this one" in referral to the perceived positions of the individual Senators.
Senator Astrellan further replied to the thread, stating that he was "originally against the idea" but reconsidered, saying that it was "hardly the first time someone had dual responsibilities" and further repeating his belief that she possessed "the experience and energy needed for both roles." He then indicated he was going to vote "aye" on the proposal.
Prim nominated Aexnidaral to take councillor of world assembly affairs instead, a natural decision considering Aex's multiple term experience in the role.
After some time had passed, HEM made an article explaining the situation. Within the article, he claimed that Maowi's withdrawal was done, ultimately, "[f]or no real reason," and, with his title, that it was the Senate that forced her to do it. He seemed to implicate Speaker GraVandius and Senator Rand as being the primary objectors of this nomination.
"Without asking a single question of the nominee, Speaker GraVandius slammed the door on her immediately," he said of the former; and of the latter: "Senator Rand, also critical of the nomination, responded on the opposite end of the spectrum: by firing off a battery of half-a-dozen questions."
He also connected Prim and Maowi's decision to withdraw the nomination on a building negative consensus within the Senate, claiming that the "nomination was consigned to failure." He finished the article by saying "this would've been an opportunity to introduce a qualified, trained, promising new member to the FA side of the government. The Senate, sadly, decided to go a different way."
While there was a notable agreement with the article, the former nominee herself believed Senator Rand "was being sincere and that his questioning was appropriate," and that the portrayal of his questions toward her "as a way of attacking me is unfair." Moreover, GraVandius defended his viewpoint, stating that the Senate "did not force the withdrawal of the nominee" but also ended on a positive note, saying that "the door for Maowi to serve as CoWAA is not closed forever, and I would welcome her nomination to the position in the future."
However, it was Aexnidaral's comment, which claimed he was told Maowi's busy schedule would be a problem for this term, that began a new course of conversation. After Prim stated that "was not what you [Aex] were told," Aex responded with a screencap of the direct messages (DMs) between himself and Prim, which seemed to suggest that Maowi, indeed, would have been too busy. However, Prim responded explaining that the period of time mentioned would have been the following term, as it directly states "next term", not the current one, and so it was a non-issue. He did take umbrage with the inclusion of private messages in a public forum: "I would appreciate it if you did not publicly share DMs."
The disagreement then moved briefly to Discord, with Prim pinging Aex with a message: "I would like to state here -- If you publicly share any DMs that we have together, I will no longer speak with you in DM. DMs are private communication." What followed was a controlled, yet heated, back-and-forth between the two government officials, on the nature of the particular message in question and on its use as evidence against prior statements. Ultimately, Aex withdrew his nomination for councillor of world assembly affairs, citing his belief that Prim no longer felt comfortable with him. He further clarified his reasoning on the HEM article.
"A Chief of State needs to be able to trust their Councilors and work with them, especially privately as they discuss their positions and strategize on WA issues. . . . I'm sorry I broke that trust, but it's better to have a nominee who does, and that clearly isn't me."
The two officials have since seemed to mend their relationship, but the consequence has been cemented: Aexnidaral will not be a councillor this term, and the position still remains empty.
