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HEM Tiberius
Managing Editor
“Earlier this evening I asked the Minister of Radio for his resignation. I want to thank him for his work in the executive over the past few months, but there have been a number of irreconcilable differences over the course of this term. Radio has fallen far behind where it should be and there can no longer be any more excuses.”
The above terse statement was released by President Aexnidaral Seymour on March 1st, 2017 after days of mounting pressure from a restless electorate.
This unenviable Radio Minister who was dumped to public acclaim in 2017 is the same official being credited with spearheading a restoration of Europeia in 2019: Pichtonia.
Then-Minister Pichtonia had a reputation for being in a clique of officials very close to President Seymour. So when he took steps that were seen to limit public discussion of issues, it reinforced an already-existing and negative perception people had about him.
“The Minister of Radio has to strike a delicate balance between serving the Administration and providing a valuable service to the region,” Mixlr and EBC Radio pioneer and media mogul PhDre said in a public criticism to the entire region. “While the Minister says he ‘[didn't] want [Radio] to get too ahead of [itself] in an arguably stressful situation for those involved,’ Europeians also have the right to participate in political discussion, and Radio serves a greater cause than the comfort of an Administration.”
After the resignation of Vice President Brunhilde (long before their administrative ban), PhDre and others wanted to host a show to speculate on who the replacement should be. After Pichtonia vetoed the show, the band of radio rabble-rousers went public.
Only days later, the same coalition of citizens would criticize Pichtonia for failing to advertise a Q&A townhall where citizens could ask questions of government officials, claiming he was shielding the government from potential criticism.
“A lot of the drama surrounding Pichto's replacement as Radio wasn't fair to him. He wasn't trying to protect anyone so much as he felt that because Radio was a government Ministry there should be a wait time on speculation and discussion about Brunhilde's (VP) replacement. I get it, and to be honest, I didn't want to fire him but he told me that if I didn't fire him he'd quit,” then-President Aexnidaral Seymour told ENN for this story.
A figure who served, rightly or wrongly, as a symbol for cliquism and cronyism is now lauded for leading the team that’s actively rebuilding the bridge back to Europeia’s greatness.
“Pichto has to be given a ton of credit, as I mentioned in a post somewhere else yesterday. If there is strong, enthusiastic leadership encouraging ministerial engagement, it is a tremendous boon. Pichto had a vision and has lived it, and the results are inarguable,” Former First Minister Lloenflys has stated publicly.
We spoke to other recent executive leaders, many of whom squirmed when asked what they suspected the secret sauce was for Pichtonia’s success, the implicit suggestion being, of course, that they lacked this “sauce”.
“Summer's a hard time to be successful in, and we've seen a lot of activity from the government this term, so that's something to be proud of,” Former First Minister Rand told ENN.
“Well, I would credit that to the fact that he comes off as energized […] the fact that he can present an optimistic front to the region is commendable,” Former President Ervald said.
But that doesn’t mean everything is perfect.
With back to school and back to campus in full swing, the second half of August has been markedly less active than the first half. This period also mirrored a LOA period for the First Minister himself, perhaps suggesting that improvements in regional life have been driven solely by force of will from Pichtonia, and may prove to be fleeting.
Pichtonia also attracted some momentary criticism for his termination of Deputy First Minister and Minister of Recruitment Whitmark. An opaque announcement quickly gave away to a more transparent statement about why Whitmark was asked to step away from the role.
Still, a source close to the former Deputy First Minister insists that whatever Pichtonia may say in public, the firing still “came out of the blue” to Whitmark. Another concern surrounded the dynamic of one elected official unilaterally ousting another:
“Whitmark had a mandate just like Pichtonia,” the source said.
Still, Pichtonia’s instinct to lean into the criticism and give a fully transparent statement suggests he’s learned from the past, and he appears to be on the cusp of claiming a Lexian place in Europeian history.
