An Interview with Lloenflys
Life as the Second First Minister
Written by Hezekon and Maowi
In the second part of this series for Inside Government, the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) interviewed none other than second-ever First Minister (FM) and current Senator and Justice Lloenflys about his experiences as FM. Despite only being in Europeia since December 2018, Lloenflys' career in regional government has been phenomenal: he boasts - or rather, could theoretically boast if he wanted to, given his great modesty - three terms as a senator, one term as minister of culture, and one term as FM in addition to his current roles, as well as having been awarded the Order of Enlightenment and the first Community Betterment award. Lloenflys held the first ministership between May and July 2019 with Sopo as his deputy; his term saw the start of the revival of the Ministry of Communications and the EBC, while the Ministry of Culture suffered due to a lack of a minister. The EBC is hugely grateful to Lloenflys for taking part in this interview and sharing his illuminating thoughts on the executive split, the highlights of his term, and executive oversight, among other topics.
This interview took place on October 22 2019.
H: So, how do you think your term as FM went, overall?
L: I would give it a B-. I think it started off with a good deal of promise, and some positive things happened, but I think it largely finished with a whimper.
H: What would you attribute to that whimper?
L: Me getting busy at work - as a result I conducted virtually no oversight over my ministers. Now partly that's on purpose. I'm a hands off kind of guy and if I think you're moving in the right direction I probably wouldn't push or prod too much. But I wasn't even doing the minimal. I sadly did not have the time to.
H: What do you see as positives and negatives of your term?
L: I think one of the biggest positives that the term provided was just a breather. Things were getting fairly on edge in the region because of a variety disagreements and perceived challenges. A lot of that was manifesting itself as a need for a new FM, and obviously I felt there was enough of that run, but I don't by any means think that was entirely Rand's fault. It's just something that built up on multiple fronts, and that election served as the safety release on all that steam that built up. So I think that's the biggest positive - after the election there could be a reset. Secondarily, I think the work that you and Siph did in communications was great and helped reset the foundation for that ministry - and I think now several terms later that ministry is in excellent shape, but it wouldn't have been without the groundwork you all laid. Again, that happened during my term but other than empowering you with the position and an occasional pep talk that was your work, not mine.
The biggest negative was culture. We went without a minister for most of the term, which maybe would have been ok if I had been able to step up and do something with the ministry myself, but I didn't. Weekend Games stayed moribund, and other than the weekly roleplays you put out it was a pretty desolate ministry.
H: The executive split: what do you think of it now, as someone who's worked as FM and minister and justice? How did its recent nature at the time of your term affect you and the region?
L: I like the idea of the split, and while I would have liked to see direct election of the chief of state (CoS), I voted to approve the measure in the Senate when it passed. I think since I had Rand as a guinea pig it didn't affect my term too much. At this point, I do think the split was a good idea - the task of the president seems daunting when I look at it now, in terms of trying to keep all the balls in the air. Splitting that work amongst two people makes sense. I remain passionately committed to direct election of the CoS however, but recognize my minority status on that view. I will continue advocating for it where and when appropriate, however.
H: So you aren't against the split on the whole, but just as it was specifically enacted, viz., with the decision to have chief of state selected by the Senate?
L: Correct. I'm fully in favor of the idea of the split itself, especially as relates to taking some pressure off the one singular head of government.
M: What would you say was the single most important skill you had to make use of during your term as FM?
L: I would say that the most important skill for a first minister is time management. You need to recognize how many things you'd like to do, and how much time there actually is to do things in, and so it becomes a matter of prioritizing what you can get done. As a result, if your time management skills are good you can sneak in some extra stuff that you otherwise couldn't. When I felt my FM term was going well, I was usually ahead of the game with time management. When I felt it wasn't going well, it was often because I wasn't getting through my day as easily or with as much of a plan.
M: Linking in from that, how much of what you had to do felt like it was delegation of tasks and planning and organising a team and how much was doing the work directly?
L: When done right, the job should mostly be about delegation. I did not do the job right - I got discouraged with some resignations and tried to handle culture by myself, and it did not work well and never really happened. But ideally, I think it should be more like 80-20 in terms of delegation to direct work, and then the direct work you do can be spread around to encompass different portfolios.
M: What was the most difficult decision, or what were some of the most difficult decisions you had to take during your term?
L: Well it ended up being a decision I never made, much to my discredit. I really didn't know what to do with culture. It was struggling a bit with participation on Weekend Games and that's something I hadn't helped with during my tenure as minister of culture - in fact it got worse! Why that is can be discussed another time, but what mattered is that when I took over as first minister, the cupboard was fairly bare in culture, very few people were participating, and there wasn't a lot of interest in jumping in. Thankfully, Shufordbrian was interested in becoming minister - but relatively quickly (as happens), real life caught up with him and took away his ability to fill the role. At that point, with little interest coming from outside and few ideas on my part on how to proceed, I decided to try to handle it myself and that was a bit of a disaster - I would have been better off actually MAKING a decision, but I was worried that no one was going to pass muster with the Senate (or that it would be a big political fight to get someone approved) since it would necessarily be someone who just hadn't expressed much interest previously. If I had found someone interested it would have been worth it, but if it was someone I had to really talk into it, that could have been a disastrous nomination that hurt everyone. So, it was a tricky situation.
M: Yeah, inactivity can throw a huge spanner in the works in a region like this.
So what was your relationship with the Senate, then? Was there ever any tension there? How involved were you in Senate business?
L: Having been a creature of the Senate, I had a pretty good relationship with the Senate. I was always consciously aware, however, that there was the possibility that I could get into a beef with the Senate over something. I also think it's important to always consider whether there's likely to be pushback from the Senate on any given action, not to allow the Senate more power than it should have but just strategically know how things might proceed. I did not really participate much in Senate business until or unless a bill came my way, though. In fact as I've said before I wish there had been more tension, because I felt zero oversight happening and there was need for it.
M: Obviously you're now a senator so you have been involved in the oversight discussions, pushing for more extensive oversight than what we have at the moment. You supported having a formal question time, and also giving a designated senator access to secret information ... so are these the kind of thing you felt would have benefitted you in your term in terms of motivation to be ... more decisive perhaps?
L: I am neutral or uncertain about the "designated Senator" provision. I think in reality I am more in line with providing an element of oversight in closed channels if necessary. I'm not 100 percent sure the best way to provide oversight of the sensitive/secretive side of things. I am 100 percent in favor of a formal question time, and yes I believe it would have held my feet to the fire and forced movement where I chose a path that allowed things to just float to a conclusion.
M: Do you think there was an additional pressure or difficulty for you taking on what was a fairly new role, with only one previous term to set you an example?
L: Not especially - while it's true there had only been one previous first minister, the ministries themselves were all in place, and there wasn't anything especially new that I needed to adjust to since I was new myself. I just needed to find a way to make what was there, work. I think it would have been harder, actually, if I had more experience and had previous time as president because of those prior expectations of how things are done.
M: Would you see yourself running for first minister again in the future?
L: I think it's a mistake to say "no" to anything, but it isn't something I especially aspire to right now.
M: Fair enough. Is there any advice you would give to anyone who is considering running, though?
L: Yes - I think first off, don't run just to run. Make sure you have a reason and something you want to accomplish in the goal. Two, expect the unexpected and be prepared to adjust your plans accordingly, because stuff will go wrong. And three, keep your sense of humor and be able to laugh at yourself or you're going to be on edge the whole term.
M: What would you say has been or would be your favourite government role to take on?
L: Senate! I love the Senate, I like the collaborative nature of it.
M: How about your proudest moment so far in Europeia?
L: The totally unexpected one where I was awarded the Community Betterment Award. I was blindsided by it and genuinely touched by it, so unquestionably that is my proudest moment in Europeia.
M: I think everyone agreed you deserved it! And finally: what bird would you give Europeia as a whole?
L: Europeia as a region is the Wandering Albatross. It is one of the largest birds in the world, and travels so, so far. It soars way way way above the oceans, and is a symbol of freedom. Europeia and her citizens spread our influence throughout NS, and we geographically are located all over, like the Wandering Albatross. We are majestic, and free, and magnificent!
M: As it is decreed by the chief ornithologist of Europeia, so it shall be. A well thought-out decision.
Is there anything you would like to add, or any general comment you would like to make?
L: Just that I appreciate the opportunity to serve in every position I've been given the opportunity to serve in. No matter how much I would want to be in that position, without people voting for me or offering it to me I wouldn't have had the chance, so I'm appreciative of the trust people have given me!
M: Thank you for speaking with me and Hezekon and sharing your thoughts with us!
L: Any time
Europeia in flight
