Scott Booth (host): Good evening and welcome to Question Time which tonight comes from Foxton. On our panel tonight Senator for Foxton Lake and Minister of Culture
Bonnie Harper, the Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nick Lewis, Leader of the Liberal Party
Ajax Semantar, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Emperor and former Premier of Rokkenjima
Nettie Taylor and the student project supervisor at the University of Artaxia
Luke Ayanami.
ApplauseScott Booth: We've got a lot to get through tonight so we'd better crack right on and get straight to it with our first question which tonight comes from Vallis Daily journalist Maria Quentinos who asks "do Cultists need extra protection following the scenes in Royal Seleucid and the Terror Attacks in Saburi?" Bonnie Harper?
Bonnie Harper: Well I think firstly we should say that the thoughts of Achkaerin are with the families of those affected by those incidents and of course by association of the Saburi situation to the family of King Leonard, it's utterly tragic. Do Cultists need extra protection? Well I certainly hope they don't, in terms of Royal Seleucid this is part of the Midaranye perfect storm, we have a food shortage brought about by a locust storm, that's the primary concern and with the Joint Emergency Team now going into action we have to see what happens when we satisfy that hunger. You've also got Tim Carpenter heading back to the Celtic Protectorate so there's every reason to be hopeful that the situation will not escalate to the state of a couple of years ago and the Cult of Helus genocide. Looking at Saburi you have a terrorist group running around bombing the place and causing trouble. Now let's be clear this is the same terrorist group that has claimed to have assassinated King Leonard, there's no question of extra protection for Cultists as far as they're concerned you find the people responsible for the act and you make sure they feel the full weight of the law.
Scott Booth: Nick Lewis
Nick Lewis: Religion's a big fault line for dispute isn't it? The answer isn't clear cut Bonnie's said she hopes they don't, I think they possibly do because we've been down this road before we've seen mass murder of Cultists in Royal Seleucid and we've seen that the WMRA is at most only mildly inconveineced by the Vaguzian authorities. If what's being done isn't working then you need to change what you're doing to try and remedy the problem.
Bonnie Harper: But you also need to be mindful of fuelling extremism
Nick Lewis: And that's a fair point but it's far better to look silly than it is to see something happen and not be able to do something about it.
Scott Booth: Ajax Semantar
Ajax Semantar: I'm originally from Zimalia, I escaped from the current regime when my tribe was targeted, so I know a little of what it's like to be on the receiving end of this sort of thing. What you want is for someone to come and help you especially when it's the government or an authority in a position of trust being the aggressor. What should be done about it? We must be prepared to do whatever we must, whether it be sending humanitarian aid, assisting in protecting Cultists or repeating the military feat of the last time there was a genocide in Royal Seleucid. We've always said 'Never again' and that has to be held to or they're just empty words.
Scott Booth: Luke Ayanami
Luke Ayanami: It's a tricky one, do Cultists need extra protection? At this point my answer would be no they don't because if something does happen to make that necessary then there is a virtually guaranteed reaction, the assassination of King Leonard is going to bring a reaction in fact it already has with King David's statement and subsequently that of the new Vaguzian regent. As far as Royal Seleucid goes we need to be watchful and helpful, if things escalate then yes take extra steps but let's be sensible and not blindly use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Scott Booth: Nettie Taylor
Nettie Taylor: The Marble Palace has been in close consultation with the cabinet and agrees with the position that Bonnie's laid out. Why? Well you can only act based on what you know and can prove, not what you suspect however you can prepare for what you suspect. Now yes we're mindful that some of the steps being taken by Royal Seleucid could escalate the situation beyond what we would like and I'm sure beyond what other nations would like. Right now however we know that there is a food shortage which JET is looking like it will address, we hope that that's as far as this goes.
Scott Booth: Ok I'm going to take a related question from ah the famed Seaforthian journalist Tara McLeod who asks "With secular Mundus appearing to be on the decline and with the rise of the religious and religion influenced states what are you thoughts on what appears to be the budding Helus Empire? With East Moreland and Bakkermaya of course and Seaforth's continued conversion to the cult, not to mention the recent troubles in Royal Seleucid are we witnessing the beginning of a Cultish Empire stretching from Coft Aranye to the Sea of Alucard? Will the Illumic Channel, Mhorish Sea and the Karifan Ocean become, for all intents, internal waters? How do you see such a power bloc influencing the rest of Mundus?" Luke Ayanami.
Luke Ayanami: Pretty long question but I'll try to be brief, there are a lot of theocracy style nations on the international stage, now Helus Empire? Interesting thought I can certainly see where the idea comes from. It's quite a tricky question or series of questions to answer especially for me because I'm sat here as a Cultist and as a distant relation to the ruling family of East Moreland. Do I think we're seeing the beginning of a Cultist Empire? Possibly it largely depends on what happens in Royal Seleucid but I don't believe that regime change is presently on the cards. But I would suggest that with East Moreland and Seaforth on opposite sides of the Illumic there is the potential for that region to go that way and with Bakkermaya's position to the south possibly the Mhorish as well.
Scott Booth: Ajax Semantar
Ajax Semantar: I'm not so sure that we're looking at a Cultist Empire in the making. East Moreland is the Cult of Helus homeland, Bakkermaya is born out of that and then Seaforth converts, these aren't new events I'm not seeing a domino effect across Mundus of other nations converting to the Cult of Helus. Now let's deal with the other part of the question - how does such a bloc potentially influence Mundus? Well in much the same way it presently does just look at the strength of the East Moreland and Seaforth relationship.
Scott Booth: Bonnie Harper
Bonnie Harper: Interesting question, are we looking at a Cult of Helus Empire? I don't know we'll have to see what happens but like Ajax said there's no present suggestion of a domino effect. Perhaps there will be at some point and if that happens then maybe we'll see that Empire come into being, how would that influence Mundus? Well theoretically considering how close the relationships between the countries that have major Cultist populations presently stand which is to say quite close and only likely to get closer we could see in that event a shift towards a more integrated group of nations and a balance of power in their favour. Especially considering that we're talking about the nations that tend to step up when it comes to it.
Scott Booth: Nettie Taylor
Nettie Taylor: Tough question, I would say we don't yet know if we're seeing an Empire or not. But I would certainly agree that we're seeing secular Mundus decline. If there was such an Empire how would it affect Mundus? It would certainly have an effect but I can't say what that effect would be.
Scott Booth: Nick Lewis
Nick Lewis: I'd say it's possible you'd see that Empire develop if it isn't already happening, the concentration of the Cult around the Illumic and the Mhorish is fairly obvious to see, and it's got a global spread with enclaves in Achkaerin, Gowu, Royal Seleucid and others. What's the influence of this religion going to be if this develops? Well we could have a future where there are more Cultists on Mundus than there are Catholics, and that's an interesting thought.
Scott Booth: Our next question comes from Masaki Satsuki, the Chief International Affairs Correspondent at the RBC who asks "As Rokkenjimans prepare to head to the polls to decide whether or not to abolish the Office of Premier what are your thoughts of this apparent retreat of elected power in the First Empire? Does the Holy Empire have plans on hand to work with a yet greater empowered Chrysanthemum Throne should the referendum return that result?" I think we need to point out that in the time since the question was received that Rokkenjima has indeed voted to abolish the office of Premier, so I think we're better off answering the second half of the question. Nettie Taylor.
Nettie Taylor: Yeah let's ask the former Rokkenjiman Premier this one. Ok then is this referendum result a good thing? No it isn't, why? Well you've got as a consequence of this referendum all executive power being rolled up and handed over to Empress Beatrice, a few years ago this might not have been such a bad thing especially considering how restricted the Premier's of Rokkenjima were but now it's just about the worst idea imaginable. The Empress is a woman who has a conviction for perjury to her name, her international credibility is shot, her popularity with the international community is low, her trustworthiness with the international community is low I mean King David labelled her lackblade a great dishonour. Yet despite all of that when it came to negotiations or talking to Rokkenjima everyone had options other than the Empress, it was possible to differentiate between the Empress and the state now the Empress
is the state that's got the potential to cause problems internationally. But what will be interesting is what does the Viceregent think about this?
Scott Booth: Bonnie Harper
Bonnie Harper: I think Nettie's provided quite a detailed illustration of the situation, but this demonstrates the fundamental flaw of referenda it's what people want, not what's in their best interests, the potential for self harm goes up a notch or two. It may work domestically to streamline their system especially as most Rokkenjiman Premiers have always been dogged by Pyrena oversight but internationally now? I don't think the implications are going to go down well, what will the Achkaerinese government do? Well we've got bigger things to worry about right now than this but I can imagine there's going to be a lot of thought about what happens next.
Scott Booth: Luke Ayanami
Luke Ayanami: Well it depends whether we agree that this is a time to abolish the office of Premier. Looking at all the circumstances that Nettie's outlined it's possible to argue that the position of Premier has never been more important than it is now. To suddenly remove it is pointless and likely to hinder Rokkenjima more than benefit it. But end of the day we'll just have to see what happens next I'm sure the Senate has an eye on it and will respond appropriately as things unfold.
Scott Booth: Nick Lewis
Nick Lewis: I imagine that Achkaerin and Rokkenjima will continue to work together on some level but first the Government, the Crown and the Senate have to judge how to react to the result and determine how if at all such an event affects the relationship between Achkaerin and Rokkenjima, I imagine that there will be a flurry of phone calls going on about this across Mundus so we'll have to wait and see.
Scott Booth: Ajax Semantar
Ajax Semantar: One of the things with democracy is that it can return a result that is unhelpful or wrong. When Achkaerin voted on its CTO membership it wouldn't have mattered what the result was because there was no real risk to leaving the organisation. Is that the case here? Well there's a lot of risk in putting all that power in the hands of one person with no check and balance, we've not yet seen the reaction to the result so while on the face of it it appears to be a bad one we need more information before we can accurately judge this.
Scott Booth: Our next question comes from Jo Barnes at the Straits Times who asks "Pertaining to the ongoing crisis in regards to the Gungnir terrorists, Emperor Peter has mentioned in one of the recent measures to include "Proposals for a globalized Inter Faith Forum, modelled on a pilot scheme within Achkaerinese territory shall be drawn up", in order to combat terrorism on extremist religious grounds. What does this IFF exactly entail in terms of funtions and what it should accomplish? Also, is its location permanent or shall it rotate on an annual basis to different countries represented in this forum?" Nick Lewis.
Nick Lewis: That's not really a question we can answer yet, it's relying on information that's I believe still being worked out. Bonnie is the architect of the pilot scheme mentioned by the Emperor so perhaps she can explain more.
Bonnie Harper: I guess I'd better then. If Nick will forgive the interruption.
Nick Lewis: Please.
Bonnie Harper: The Inter Faith Forum is modelled as a travelling roadshow sort of thing, we contacted the leaders of the various faiths within Achkaerin so the High Priestess of the Cult of Namis, the Achkaerinese leader of the Cult of Helus, the senior Christian leaders across denominations, the Rosari leader and so on. Basically once a month these leaders, in a different location rotating between the various faiths, participate in a panel session in an agreed format consisting of an act of worship led by the hosts and then the panel answer questions and on occasion lead activities to explain what the similarities and differences between religions are with the aim of increasing the level of understanding and decreasing any lingering tensions. Applying that model on a global scale isn't going to be easy but I think it's doable.
Scott Booth: Ajax Semantar
Ajax Semantar: I can't really add anything to that because this as Nick has explained is a government matter and obviously being the leader of an opposition party makes this very difficult at this point we don't see the proposals until there is one so until there's a draft I can't actually comment.
Scott Booth: Nettie Taylor
Nettie Taylor: The Emperor's advisors and the cabinet are in the early stages of drawing up the proposal, our focus so far has been on the expansion of the domestic model to the international community. Right now our plan is to formulate a draft, consult with the Senate parties and then present it to the international community. But there's not an awful lot anyone can add at this point.
Scott Booth: We're running out of time so we'll take one final question and we'll have to be quick around the panel on this one. Our last question comes from Valentino Yanone of the Vaguzia News Centre who asks "Does the CTO have any use right now?" Bonnie Harper
Bonnie Harper: It could but the damage is severe and more damage is done the longer it stays inactive and lets things slide, no resolution on slavery, no resolution on the execution of Dilara, no resolution on the Royal Seleucid situation. Doesn't seem like a useful organisation to me right now.
Scott Booth: Nick Lewis
Nick Lewis: No it doesn't and Andrew Richmond should now do his job and table a motion to dissolve the CTO.
Scott Booth: Luke Ayanami
Luke Ayanami: Hard to argue it does, it has after all stood silent for a long time. That said if the issues with it are addressed which is to say the speed at which it works and the lack of commitment then it could have a future.
Scott Booth: Ajax Semantar
Ajax Semantar: Too many crises have passed the CTO by for it to be salvageable, especially if the Rokkenjiman roadmap is the one being followed here because it must address the problems if it is going to survive and the roadmap doesn't.
Scott Booth: Nettie Taylor
Nettie Taylor: It's not useful if it's not being used and it's certainly not being used, it's stood by on too many crises and failed to address too many issues. Now that does not mean that the notion of the CTO is a bad one the idea of a global forum for nations to constructively talk to each other is one that would likely have traction across Mundus but considering all the baggage the CTO brings with it it isn't that forum, the failings are known, if people want a global forum then rather than try to revive an organisation that won't work, start from scratch with a replacement and let every nation have the opportunity to voice how such a thing can work.
Scott Booth: And that's our time up for tonight, next week we're in Leonaise I hope you can join us then...Goodnight.