[Inside Government] Maowi Sacks Izzy as Deputy Councilor for World Assembly Affairs






Maowi Sacks Izzy as Deputy Councilor for World Assembly Affairs

Written by Deepest House




(Europeia – June 30, 2020) – Councilor of World Assembly Affairs Maowi announced that Izzy agreed to leave his post as deputy councilor in the aftermath of the Standards on Police Accountability resolution vote held by the World Assembly.

The Europeian News Network published a story in the very early hours June 30 titled WA Deputy Burning Bridges in World Assembly. The article lambasted Izzy for this behavior in responding to criticisms to his resolution proposal.

“We have been trying to address the matter internally but were unable to make progress in that way,” Maowi said. “I have talked to Izzy and we agreed that he would step down from the position of deputy councilor.”

When the news broke in the region, several citizens commented on how the behavior reflects on the former incumbent deputy and the region as a whole.

“This was brought to my attention a couple days ago,” said former president and honored citizen Common-Sense Politics. “Shame it went the way it did. Bad look for Izzy and a bad look for us.”

Particular criticism was levied against Izzy for language used in direct messages and his subsequent blocking of veteran World Assembly member Araraukar. Izzy, for his part, took exception to being called-out for blocking Araruakar.

“I have the right to block unwanted communications and attempting to weaponize that against me is frankly a disturbing thing to do,” Izzy said.

While Izzy received criticism for this actions, others were also willing to offer some defense of him, even if not too spirited.

“I agree that this doesn’t look the best for Izzy and truthfully he probably should’ve handled it better. However, I think it is also important to remember that this was a topic Izzy was clearly very passionate about … ,” said Lime in response to the ENN article. “This isn’t to say Izzy’s reaction was appropriate, however I’d be more than prepared to give him some leeway based on those factors.”

The thread in the World Assembly General Assembly derailed quickly, with Izzy and opponents of the resolution engaging in heated debate almost from the jump. For nearly a week, the former deputy councilor engaged in debate without any apparent oversight or intervention from Councilor of World Assembly Affairs when the discussion became heated.

The EBC reached out to Councilor of World Assembly Affairs Maowi for comment on this potential lack of oversight that allowed the situation to balloon out of control.

"I'd say the posts on that thread started getting past the point of usual General Assembly debate around June 21; the next day I DM-ed Izzy to ask him to change his attitude to the criticism he was receiving," Maowi said. "Obviously he'd put a lot of effort into the draft and it had considerable merit, and I didn't want to just cut him loose there and then. ... We continued the discussion on and off after that, and I tried again to tell him in very clear language to change his attitude a few days later ... ." the councilor of World Assembly Affairs said.

As noted in the ENN piece, the resolution ultimately failed to pass.





NOTE: This story is breaking and may be updated with additional information.
 
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The EBC reached out to Councilor of World Assembly Affairs Maowi for comment on this potential lack of oversight that allowed the situation to balloon out of control.

"I'd say the posts on that thread started getting past the point of usual General Assembly debate around June 21; the next day I DM-ed Izzy to ask him to change his attitude to the criticism he was receiving," Maowi said. "Obviously he'd put a lot of effort into the draft and it had considerable merit, and I didn't want to just cut him loose there and then. ... We continued the discussion on and off after that, and I tried again to tell him in very clear language to change his attitude a few days later ... ." the councilor of World Assembly Affairs said.
Without attempting to be overly critical, I find myself a little confused on the timeline here. Having read the original ENN reporting, the account here, and the Senate accountability thread, my confusion remains. A problem started occurring around June 21, and today is the first public action or acknowledgement in response? I hope we will hear more on this delayed response and intermediate steps that were taken. Nine days represents a significant delay.
 
Without attempting to be overly critical, I find myself a little confused on the timeline here. Having read the original ENN reporting, the account here, and the Senate accountability thread, my confusion remains. A problem started occurring around June 21, and today is the first public action or acknowledgement in response? I hope we will hear more on this delayed response and intermediate steps that were taken. Nine days represents a significant delay.
The initial problem that started growing around June 21 was that posts on the GA thread started getting hostile in tone, which is what prompted me to send Izzy that first DM asking him to change his attitude. I acknowledge my response in the next few days after that, when Izzy didn't in fact change his attitude and Araraukar mentioned Izzy's telegram to him, was not quick and decisive enough. I tried to keep talking to him to get him to drop the attitude, and then on June 26 Malashaan and I discussed what to do about it given that Izzy kept on behaving in that way. That's when I told him as plainly as I could that he just needed to stop that behaviour. After his response to that, and our discussion following it, I told him I wasn't happy with him continuing as a deputy, and we tried to discuss what the future of the Pokemon program would be.

I apologise for my lack of communication on the issue. I didn't want to stop supporting and helping Izzy through the process of his proposal, which is what meant I didn't take the visible steps I should have taken soon enough. I could and should have handled this better.
 
Ultimately, you can't control someone else's behavior, but you can remove them from positions of representation, so you did what you needed to do, you removed Izzy from the Deputy WAA Councillor position.

I think you attempted to guide Izzy's behavior back into professional territory, and he did not listen. Should you have removed him from his Dep. WAA Councillor position before these articles came out? Maybe, but honestly, I think that argument becomes mostly academic at that point. You shouldn't criticize yourself for this situation too much.
 
Prim,

Those are fair points, but I also I think it is a fair question to ask if Maowi would’ve taken any action at all without media oversight (and really, that credit goes to ENN and not the EBC as much).

I kind of think nothing would’ve happened, and that is something worth pondering.
 
Well, we won't know the answer to that question. So, you'd be criticizing Maowi for something you think she would not have done. And Maowi is probably humble/self-deprecating enough to say she might not have removed him, even if she ultimately would have, just to try to take some blame here because the situation looks bad. I'm not sure that's productive at that point. Articles were written, Izzy was removed, the situation has ended, we learn from this.

Ministers and Executives, don't hesitate to remove deputies or staff if their conduct becomes unprofessional.
 
I don’t mean ask it to open Maowi up for criticism. I probably could’ve worded it better. It was more of an internalized question for us to ask ourselves. It is a fair thing to consider if we are being honest. Is it a huge thing? No. Is it a legitimate question? Yes.
 
Ah, that's understandable then. Yes, I think Europeia does have an interesting relationship with the "Op-Ed". We elicit such strong reactions to Op-Eds, sometimes I wonder if people don't think a situation becomes "bad" until an Op-Ed is written about it. :unsure:
 
Prim,

Those are fair points, but I also I think it is a fair question to ask if Maowi would’ve taken any action at all without media oversight (and really, that credit goes to ENN and not the EBC as much).

I kind of think nothing would’ve happened, and that is something worth pondering.
Yeah, I don't know. I think when reading the thread alarm bells certainly go off, but when getting into the nitty-gritty of actually taking disciplinary action there's actually quite a bit to dig through. You have to read the entire thread from start to finish, then get Izzy's full take -- which based on my conversations with him, he has considerable disagreements with most people's general takeaway of the thread, so I imagine that'd be time-consuming.

Ten days is getting a little long, but if you layer conversations between the Councilor and Chief or Deputy Chief onto that...it's understandable I think? I'll definitely maintain that private media is a critical piece of accountability, and I hope my article played its part, but ultimately we're unlikely to ever know how an alternative universe where I didn't publish my piece would play out.
 
Unrelated to the preceding conversation, and not to divert from it, but what's going to happen to the Pokemon program in terms of who will be in charge of keeping it up to date, etc.? Izzy was really the motivating force behind the project, which seemed to take an annoying amount of time and energy. I assume a Deputy will be put in a position to solely keep track of it, but I hope the program doesn't fall by the wayside.
 
For the record - Mal and I decided I would ask Izzy to step down if one last attempt at discussing the matter with him didn't work three days before the ENN article and my forum statement were posted, for what it's worth. Although again my public communication was subpar, so HEM's article definitely had value.

Unrelated to the preceding conversation, and not to divert from it, but what's going to happen to the Pokemon program in terms of who will be in charge of keeping it up to date, etc.? Izzy was really the motivating force behind the project, which seemed to take an annoying amount of time and energy. I assume a Deputy will be put in a position to solely keep track of it, but I hope the program doesn't fall by the wayside.
So, I've now found someone willing and indeed enthusiastic to serve as a deputy to run the program and I'll definitely be making sure it is kept fully running - I need to briefly discuss with Izzy what his role might be in transitioning it over and I'll make an announcement soon.
 
For the record, I had registered my thoughts on what happened in that thread way before any article was written. I made the choice to go directly to Mal, who was very responsive on the issue and promised he would look into it with Maowi, which did end up happening. Looking back, I probably should've gone to Maowi first, but I thought it would help her in such a situation to have the backing and confidence of Mal and the "anonymous" Europeian public. Though I did check in with you later Maowi, I'm sorry for going over your head a little, but I'm glad you ended up reaching a resolution.

EDIT - This also hasn't shaken my confidence in the CoWAA at all. It was a little worrying when the thread was playing out, but with the effective response here, I look forward to future Euro resolution drafts.
 
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