- Pronouns
- he / him / his
HEM Tiberius
Managing Editor
Rand has been a Europeian for over five years. On May 3rd, voters decisively evicted him out of Pope Lexus Place in favor of fresh face Lloenflys.
Izzy just passed his three-year mark in the region. On May 5th, he failed to secure a majority of votes in the first round of voting in a Senate by-election and then tied in a run-off against extremely green UnitedPeoplesOfCentrism. The Senate declined to break the tie for any candidate, and the election for that seat remains ongoing.
On May 8th, only by the slimmest of margins in a run-off election, Rand beat back rising star Astrellan to claim his chance to rejoin government in the Senate.
All across the region, newcomers are seeing a surge in political fortunes, and it's not just at the ballot box either.
Up-and-comer Hezekon took the reigns in the Communications department, and Whitmark received his second consecutive Cabinet Ministry in the Interior Department.
What exactly is going on? We decided to ask the so-called rising newcomers themselves.
"Oh, I definitely think there's new blood wanted in the government," Astrellan told ENN. "I think the fact that old heavyweights, as I like to call them, are underperforming or even losing is also very telling. The citizenry has an amazing eye and has found many newcomers with great potential. They want that potential tapped and they want to see Europeia move forward. These elections are just proving that being new is not a bad thing and you can always learn and develop yourself, whether you joined this month or have been here for years and years."
Minister Whitmark agrees: "I do believe there is a thirst for new blood in the government among the citizenry, but I also believe that the same thirst is also for results, work and activity."
But across the board, it can also be tricky to untangle whether recent political changes mean a desire for fresh blood, or just the individual circumstances at play in each particular case. First Minister Rand wasn't exceptionally popular going into the election (though his administration was much more popular), and each Senate by-election had its own quirks at play. Indeed, Recombis who had been nominated as Minister of Communications late in Rand's term was rejected, this despite him being a new member. It's very possible that nothing is quite as simple as it seems. Minister Hezekon even suggests that because new members aren't exactly running the table politically, there could be some reticence to see them over the finish line.
"I think, yes, there is some thirst for new blood. But I think there is a little skepticism in actually putting them in place, too. We do seem to have a lot of old faces doubling up. I'm not sure if that's only due to circumstance, so I wouldn't necessarily rule out a hesitation for new blood, either."
Upward mobility in Europeia has historically been challenging because as a chief executive, why take a chance on someone new if you can have a steady hand at the wheel?
"It can be very intimidating for people, First Minister Lloenflys tells ENN. "That is a huge hurdle, but I think it's also a good hurdle - there should be something of an intimidation factor at the start because it should feel like people are taking on a challenge. I think encouragement from veterans - both in terms of actual 'you're doing great' commentary and specific comments about well-run ministries - is crucial to what kind of success those newcomers have once gaining a position."
But in 2019 Europeia, there are fewer hands to go around, and their so-called veteran work at the wheel has been far less steady.
President Sopo remains active in Europeia, and in extremely high esteem despite his burdensome age (nearly a decade in the region). But the past term saw the resignation of myself as Minister of Employment, Common-Sense Politics as Speaker and Grand Admiral, Vinage as Minister of Communications, and an end of term "sorry I didn't do much kthxbai" from Deputy First Minister GraVandius who did not resign.
In this new age, how should we be balancing qualifications and longevity with new ideas and fresh perspective? Each rising star we interviewed suggested some kind of nuanced approach.
"It's great to have experience and knowledge running things. That helps some stability. But that doesn't necessarily bring novelty. Really, I'm not sure I know. Since there are no term limits, I think it's nice to try out new things," Hezekon answers.
"If I were to evaluate a candidate, experience would be a tick in their favour. However, new and ambitious ideas coupled with the enthusiasm to pull them off is a much larger tick," Astrellan suggests. "[...] But to continue, some positions require smart choices. I would venture that the Chief of State, for example, requires hard experience because they represent the entire region to other regions who's representatives are also much likely hardened veterans."
"For me, ideas in a platform are great but I do ask myself whether I've seen anything from the candidate to suggest they can accomplish what they're promising. I don't care how great a platform is, if I don't think the person who put it out can accomplish it then it isn't going to attract my support," Lloenflys says.
"I think the Lloenflys - Sopo ticket is a perfect representation of that scenario. Lloenflys the newcomer and Sopo the experienced player. We need more fresh ideas and faces balancing the ticket with experience or inversely," Whitmark sums up.
##
