Meet the Candidates
An Interview with United Vietussia
During this election season, Euro Weekly has sat down with each of the three candidates running for First Minister in an attempt to learn more about each candidate. In this series, we want to give readers a look at the candidates themselves. Not their platforms or campaigns but who they are as a candidate. We will look at their background and history within the region and why they may have taken the decision to run for First Minister. In the first of this series, we will introduce you to United Vietussia and what he told us during our interview with him. An Interview with United Vietussia
United Vietussia (UV) was the first to announce his candidacy for First Minister, a decision that likely surprised many. UV joined the region back in 2016 and almost immediately became a familiar face in the now defunct Citizens’ Assembly, not at all an uncommon move made by ambitious newcomers. What is slightly more uncommon, however, was for a newcomer to start their own newspaper early on in their Europeian career. Asking UV about why he took on this more unusual route into Europeian politics, UV plainly admitted to me, that when he first joined the region he felt overwhelmed. Writing he said, was a skill he knew he was capable of and therefore he naturally gravitated towards that area. Owning his own newspaper, he explained, allowed him to learn more about the different areas of Europeia while also establishing himself as a player within the region. More unusual still was that UV’s paper was not run solely by himself, UV actively hired people to join his paper, subtly reminding me that I myself was once an employee of his paper. Running his own paper and having staff to manage is something that UV believes has helped build his skills in administration and management – two skills some would argue that UV lacks due to his limited experience in running a Ministry. At its height, his paper had writers, editors and even some working in radio. As the owner and manager of his paper, UV believes that he took on a “guiding hand” role towards his staff to ensure that the articles produced by his writers were “authentic.” Never wanting a “uniform style” to his paper, UV allowed his staff more creative freedom than might be allowed in the EBC. Despite this, UV told me that he still ensured his staff stuck to deadlines and would always act as a second pair of eyes on his writer’s work.
While UV strayed upon the less traditional path at the start of his career, he would still follow in some more traditional forms of advancement. As a frequent voice within the Citizens’ Assembly (CA) it seemed only natural that he would one day lead the body. UV would serve two terms as CA Chair focusing on the Legislative Training Centre and would help in the creation of the Order of the Assembly Award. UV would continue his legislative career within the Senate, serving a total of four terms. When asked about his legislative experience, UV was quick to mention his work on the Information Act, describing it as “one of my more notable achievements.” UV would also serve one term in Cabinet as Culture Minister, and under his leadership, the Ministry would launch Jeopardy as part of the Weekend Games programme. The planning and running of a fairly large project such as Jeopardy required the work of himself and other staff members and while he admitted that at times the process could be “tedious”, he found the work rewarding and liked seeing the region engaged and interested in the game.
If there’s one issue that’s most likely to prevent UV’s arrival at Pope Lexus Lane, it is likely his limited experience within the Executive branch. When I asked him how he would alleviate the concerns of those who believed he did not have the executive experience to be First Minister, he began by saying “I don't need executive leadership to know how to lead” arguing that his experience outside of his leadership role within Culture, helped to provide him with a “wide view” for his vision and campaign. He highlighted his numerous terms as a Deputy Minister in multiple ministries and argued that he is known as being a hard worker in the region. He told me that he’s “not afraid to think big” and that his “work has always reflected that” highlighting Euro Jeopardy, the Haxball League and his election tracker within the private media. He told me that he had enough leadership experience within Europeia from across his work. When I pushed him further on this issue, asking why he didn’t wait a little longer to run for First Minister and instead attempt to re-enter the Cabinet, he grinned at me and joked “I told you that I like to think big.” He then gave me a more serious answer saying that the role of First Minister was a “visionary role” while the job of a Minister was to “execute another’s vision.” After working in the region for many years now, he told me that he had developed his own vision for what the region can be and was now willing to “take the plunge” and stand for First Minister himself.
Nearing the end of our interview, I wanted to ask UV a far deeper question, what was it that drove him in Europeia? Why was it, that he wanted to be First Minister? He had a simple answer. It was people. He told me that he “firmly believes it's the relationships that we hold in this region with each other that make it so strong and tight-knit” and that “we can only be as strong as the weakest relationship between two people in the region.” That was why his vision for Europeia was based around building competition, to both produce results and to help grow relationships between the citizens of the region. Perhaps it was because of his belief in friendly competition and “camaraderie” that he refused to comment on what he thought his chances of winning the election were, saying only that there was a competitive field and that he hoped voters would make an informed choice. He told me that, even if he did not win the election, he would contribute to the next administration in any way he could.
Having watched UV’s career throughout my own time in Europeia, as well as interviewing him for this article, I get the sense that he is someone who is interested in the small details. Why else would he name the Information Act, a mostly administrative and rather dull piece of legislation, as one of his most notable achievements? UV is widely regarded as being an extremely hard worker as well as being very intelligent. All three of these traits would be welcome in any First Minister. I still believe that his biggest challenge in this election will be convincing voters that he has the experience to lead the Executive branch and to lead it well. His selection of Kuramia as a running mate will no doubt help him alleviate some of these concerns but he will still have to show that he himself is capable of leading the region.
