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That seems a bit odd. You want the entirity of the GRA's People's Assembly to assemble via IRC to meet with you about this?

No.  Just joe bobs

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I don't understand your reasoning here though.
Would you attempt to do so if another region registered a formal complaint?
Is this just a bias to the GRA? If it is I find you quite wanting to be a Jarl of Foreign Affairs. Or a Thane for that matter. If you are wanting to prove you have diplomatic skittles, why not use them here? This is an issue addressed by the entirety of a region and you can not discuss it here? After you had said previously that you would? What's changed here Bob.

Part of diplomacy is discretion.   He should have brought it up with me privately.   This is what tact is.  That's why I want it resolved privately.   

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It was not his decision to "bring it up", it was the decision of the GRA's People's Assembly. This is a call from a region to answer for things you have said. I don't understand why you are wanting to back peddle here. You previously said you would answer later but then you didn't until receiving a bit of "encouragement" to do so. You even bought a vote for it.

We can speak privately.  That is all.

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Gov, you posted your initial comments in a public area. If you had said them in private, I agree it would be wrong of me to post them publicly, but you didn't. I'm happy to discuss via PM or IRC or however you wish, bit you should know I won't be treating it as confidential and will share everything said with any concerned party, including the GRA's People's Assembly, and as the above comments suggest the desire is the same for Wintreath, I'll share anything said here also.

Bearing that in mind, why not just discuss here?

Response to "Statement of the People's Assembly of the Global Right Alliance Regarding commentary by Citizen Govindia of Wintreath"

Greetings and salutations to our friends and partners in the Global Right Alliance, and particularly to the People's Assembly.

Having read the Statement entitled above, I regret that our friends in the Global Right Alliance have been engrieved by the comments made during our recent election campaign by one of the candidates, Govindia. As in the Global Right Alliance, Wintreath does not restrict the freedom of speech of our Citizens. It too can lead to comments that some may find abrasive or distasteful, but must nonetheless remain protected. These comments do not reflect the opinions of or represent the Government of Wintreath, and we hope to continue to have warm relations with the Global Right Alliance. In spite of only recently establishing relations, the Global Right Alliance already has the most active embassy in Wintreath, and I'm happy that we now have several dual-Citizens between our regions.

However, recognizing that the Global Right Alliance may have a legitimate grievance, I must also note the concern I have regarding the method that was utilized to raise this particular grievance. In my experience, it's highly irregular for one region to direct an official public statement to another region concerning events surrounding their elections, as it could easily be seen as attempting to intervene in a foreign election. Given the warm and promising relations between our regions thus far, I'm sure this wasn't the intent of the People's Assembly of the Global Right Alliance, and I don't mean to imply that it was. It just seems to me that the issue would have been better raised by Citizens who didn't agree with the comments made and have a right to participate in Wintreath's electoral and political processes.

Additionally, I'm extremely concerned about recent comments in the Global Right Alliance embassy in Wintreath that imply that a vote was 'sold' to Govindia in exchange for him responding to this issue, or for retracting the comments at the heart of this issue. Even if this did not alter the final outcome of the election, I can't begin to overstate how the principle alone is a chilling violation of the sovereignty of Wintreath and the integrity of the elections which it holds. As a sovereign region, I hope the Global Right Alliance understands and would feel the same way if, for example, votes were offered to politicians in the GRA in exchange for supporting pro-Wintreath stances. While I'm certain that this was not sponsored or endorsed by the Government of the Global Right Alliance, I hope that individuals will take more care to respect the integrity of elections in the future.

Personally, I have very much enjoyed the activity of the Global Right Alliance embassy, the contributions of our dual-Citizens, and the development of a fledgling but warm relationship between our regions. I believe that this entire situation is probably the result of a lack of tact on one individual's part, followed by misunderstandings between our regions. Having mutually aired our honest concerns, I hope that we can move on from this incident and continue to build on that relationship going into the future.

Inric Nordrim Kestar (Wintermoot of Wintreath)
Acting Jarl of Foreign Affairs of Wintreath
Monarch of Wintreath

We don't have an ambassador to the GRA, but I'll try to post in our embassy tomorrow if I can. 4:30am now though...need sleep...

As a Wintreath citizen I respect this official declaration and response by our Monarch, Founder, and Acting Jarl of Foreign Affairs, the most awesome Wintermoot.

As a GRA citizen I do find it wanting as it was not the region of Wintreath that made these comments, I believe everyone understands this. It is appreciated but I feel like Govindia, as he has said numerous times this is a "personal" issue should speak for himself. While speaking in tact and in recognition that these comments were made in a government election forum, I find the comment dishonorable and out of order. Especially with recognition that at the time there was at least one GRA-Wintreath Dual Citizen at the time. That is like being an American, and also being a British citizen,  in a British Parliament and them condemning the acts of America in your presence. It is uncalled for and without position. I respect freedom of speech and in no way do I believe Govindia should face a censure, or censorship of what was said. I just believe the point of this, and this is my unofficial citizenship view, is to make it know the comments were made in strife, perhaps even bias, that could have directly impacted the relations between two great regions. I believe both regions can benefit from the other, and we are not so pity as a region that we would forgo our relations here. I do appreciate your response Wintermoot, though I think it still a general consensus in the People's Assembly that a response from Govindia made publicly would be much appreciated.

Thankyou for the response Wintermoot.

Firstly, I would like to say that I did have qualms about posting this grievance during the active election, as of course the GRA does not wish to impact on another region's democratic process, and this was not the intention. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been best to wait until the election had closed, however, at the time it seemed best to post the response straight away.

Secondly, I'm unaware of the statements made about the 'selling' of votes. Where is the post? Was it in this thread and has since been edited? I can assure you such a statement does not reflect the opinion of the GRA and I apologise if a GRA member made this statement.

Finally, I would like to confirm that I, and the region in general, are very pleased with the blossoming of relations between the GRA and Wintreath, and also hope it continues to develop as it has. I feel confident this incident will not cause any problems between us. On a personal note, I enjoy visiting Wintreath and have felt welcomed here, and of course the GRA will greet any visitors from Wintreath in the same manner.

As a GRA Citizen who voted for the issuing of the Statement, I viewed it more as just that: a statement of the position of the People's Assembly.  I just wanted to make it known that I found those comments objectionable and I wanted to state my objection.

But that is just my viewpoint.

*nods at Moot's statement*

Hmph.

As a GRA citizen I do find it wanting as it was not the region of Wintreath that made these comments, I believe everyone understands this. It is appreciated but I feel like Govindia, as he has said numerous times this is a "personal" issue should speak for himself. While speaking in tact and in recognition that these comments were made in a government election forum, I find the comment dishonorable and out of order. Especially with recognition that at the time there was at least one GRA-Wintreath Dual Citizen at the time. That is like being an American, and also being a British citizen,  in a British Parliament and them condemning the acts of America in your presence. It is uncalled for and without position. I respect freedom of speech and in no way do I believe Govindia should face a censure, or censorship of what was said. I just believe the point of this, and this is my unofficial citizenship view, is to make it know the comments were made in strife, perhaps even bias, that could have directly impacted the relations between two great regions. I believe both regions can benefit from the other, and we are not so pity as a region that we would forgo our relations here. I do appreciate your response Wintermoot, though I think it still a general consensus in the People's Assembly that a response from Govindia made publicly would be much appreciated.

I recognize that, but an official response was requested from Wintreath, and obviously I can't speak for any individual that isn't speaking on behalf of the Government of Wintreath. It may be wanting, but from where I stand it's the best that I can provide without infringing on Govindia's right to free speech. I'm sure you already know this, but I wanted to confirm it explicitly.

Secondly, I'm unaware of the statements made about the 'selling' of votes. Where is the post? Was it in this thread and has since been edited? I can assure you such a statement does not reflect the opinion of the GRA and I apologise if a GRA member made this statement.

Thanks for your response to my response.

The statement about Govindia buying a vote is in one of Jonewest's previous posts in this topic, and I noticed that an individual who is a dual-Citizen did change their vote to Govindia at about the same time he retracted the statements made toward Global Right Alliance. Again, it did not alter the outcome of the election, but it's very...unsettling. It does give the impression that another region is bartering votes for candidates to adopt or change stances involving that region in an election to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Again, I'm sure it wasn't government sanctioned, but I hope individuals will be more careful in future elections not to give this impression.