Rising Star or Humble Worker?
An Interview With Comrade Prim
Written by Punchwood
One of the newest yet already one of the most recognizable faces in Europeia is Comrade Prim. He joined Europeia at the start of the year, but has already been appointed the Minister of Culture. While the reasoning for his sudden rise may be down to unique circumstances, it’s no stretch of the imagination to believe he would have appointed Minister come the next Presidential term regardless. As well as his work in Culture, Prim has already written four articles for the European Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), assisted in two Navy raids and has become an active face in Interior. He was also responsible for starting discussions looking at large changes to Europeia's structure. In his short two months in Europeia Prim has made a headway and has naturally got a lot of eyes watching him and speculating on his future moves. We at the EBC wanted to know more about this rising star and so I sat down with him and had a lengthy conversation.
Starting our conversation with the basics I noted that a name like Comrade Prim is bound to raise some eyebrows. Laughing while explaining his name to me he said that his nation’s name Primorye Oblast translates almost as Seaside Region in Russian (Primorye in Russian means Seaside, or Coastal. Oblast is the word for "region".) This was shorted to Prim and Comrade added for the fun of it. Prim told me that after joining NS he rather unsurprisingly moved to the Communist Bloc but soon left to join Europeia after discovering the former region was quite slow. It was weekend games that attracted Prim to Europeia and so naturally it was the Ministry of Culture that Prim took a liking to the most. Upon Writtinglegend's assent to the Vice Presidency it was Prim who took up the job of filling Writtinglegend's extremely large boots, a task he knows will be tricky. When I asked him about how it felt to take on the role of Minister he said it was “daunting, nerve-wracking and exciting.” His plans for the remainder of the term are to finish the goal of introducing Discord-based game that his predecessor began and finish planning and then run the upcoming festival with Osiris, to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Anubis. He said he would like to return to the Ministry as the Minister at some point but would like to remain active in a number of Ministries as well. When pushed he did say that if a prospective Presidential candidate were to approach him now, asking him to serve as their Culture Minister he would say yes.
While Prim has already achieved a great deal in the region, such as being made Culture Minister, like everyone else in Europeia started out knowing very little to nothing about the region. When I asked him what he'd learned about the region, he grinned before saying he's learned that larger regions “breed intransigence” and that “Euro's bureaucratic inertia is a tough nut to crack” He was quick to add however that he recognizes Europeia has a large number of very dedicated and devoted people who keep the region “one of the best in NS.” Being a very well received newcomer I asked him what he thought Europeia's expectations of newcomers were like. He paused for a moment before replaying “one of responsibility and great expectations. It can seem like Euro has newcomers run a gauntlet to become a "name" in the region. Once you're here for a while and get to know people, though, that pressure eases a bit.” His advice to newcomers would be to find a Ministry they like and remain active there, saying it’s not that hard if they stick with it. He then added reassuringly that nobody will test them on their knowledge of Europeian law.
The subject of politics and his future goals would inevitably come up at some point during the conversation. Many consider Prim to be a rising star but I wanted to know who he viewed as Europeia’s up and coming. He said he would have see Airbus as the biggest for most of his two strong terms as CA Chair but that is no longer the case. Instead he said United Vietussia for his work ethic, election to the Senate and his instrumental role in Rach’s resignation from the Presidency as well as Festavo due to a successful term in Communications and his youth in Europeia. Following up on that I asked him if who he thought his next boss could be if he returned to the Cabinet. Prim offered some names including Writinglegend, Festavo, Sopo, Drexlore, HEM, GraVandius and the likely addition of a joke candidate. Prim like most in the region clearly believes that the upcoming election will be a wide open race with no obvious frontrunner now that President Malashaan isn't running for re-election. But he believes that field could be shortened down as some of the names he suggested may be willing to run as a VP candidate instead. Drexlore and Festavo were the two names he thought were most likely to throw their hats into the ring. At this point I had no other option but to ask him if he would one day seek the Presidency as so many must imagine he one day will. His reply was surprisingly straightforward. "I'd like to hit a few more positions first - but sure, I can see myself running someday." I asked him then what Ministries, would attract him. He said he enjoyed Interior, found the Communications Ministry surprisingly enjoyable, the Navy was good for doing something a bit more active and that, while so far he has only listened to Radio broadcasts he thought Radio could also be a fun Ministry to get involved in.
While Prim’s success has mostly been in the executive so far, he has dipped his foot into the legislative process once or twice. Because of this I wondered out loud if he would ever consider running for the position of Citizens’ Assembly Chair. He recognized that while the job was often used as a stepping stone for higher office, he doubted that he would run. He commended the work CA Chairs do in helping newcomers propose legislation but he wasn’t sure if “that's the best use of [his] efforts.” The only thing left to ask about his future plans was if he would run for the Senate. He was once again straightforward in answering, yes, but he’d want more time to propose legislation in the CA before any serious run. When asked if that could mean as soon as the next General Election he said "that remained to be seen” but if he felt confident in any draft bills he proposed to the CA it could very well be that soon. He then winks at me while grinning, saying "a lot of things can happen in Europeia in 70 days."
Interviewing Prim made it clear to me that he already has a deep passion for Europeia. Some may interpret this passion as nothing more than personal ambition, but I don't. My sense of Prim is that he is a modest, intelligent person who has worked monumentally hard and this has resulted in his steep rise, not his own personal ambitions. His upfront frankness in saying that he is interested in running for the Senate or for President rather than pretending he isn't highlights his passion for the region and the work he puts in. Prim is undoubtedly a rising star in the region and I think his rise to the top may be quicker than most think.
