Derek Harland for President

On December 5th, I, Derek Harland will be running for President. It may seem only 11 days since the last presidential elections have passed but it is never too early to start campaigning as many other candidates have shown. To start off, I want to introduce myself to anyone who doesn't know me or even know me very well. I am the current eCanadian Vice-President in my second term. I came to this time from a google ad whether you can believe it or not. When I first joined the game, I imagined that I would be the President of Canada one day and help to guide the country I love. I then snapped back to reality and thought that the possibility of that was like winning the lottery ticket. Yet on December 5th, I have the chance to make the dream become reality. In my early stages of my eLife, I took to the route of journalism. I wrote many well-acclaimed articles that was really the start of my career in the game. I won Article of the Month in April I believe and thought I would remain an avid journalist my whole time spent in the game. However, soon after I joined the Democratic Action League when it was 30 members strong and got involved in politics. I ran for congress and after failing to get elected my first run, I came back with a new sense of purpose and got elected into congress, happy to serve my country.

I spent much of my early months in congress, learning more and more about the game and getting involved with the Canadian community, which is really the most important and funnest part of the game. In August, I was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs by the Jacobi administration and that is where I got my first real taste of being in the cabinet and learning more about not only eCanada, but also the world, establishing many different relations and contacts from multiple foreign countries from around the world. I owe a lot of what I know today to this role and I had a lot of fun with the job where I also really develop the ambassador system we now use frequently in our government. After a term of being the MoFA, I was promoted to Minister of State where my job was to keep the government in order. The job continued to gain me experience and helped me get more of a feel for what it was like to be actively involved in government decision making and planning.

And finally, I met William Duncan. I had been planning on running for Country President in September and I had a chat with William as I heard he wanted to run too. After we got to talking for a bit I realized that I should run as his VP while he runs in-game. This was still in the middle of World War III and my military experience and knowledge of how to co-ordinate an army like the CAF was minimal. So I decided that the best way for me to grow as a player would be to get some experience as VP. We lost the September election to the incumbent, Jacobi but we came back with the same spirit in the October election and we won the election. Then in November, William Duncan ran again and he was re-elected. So now I have had 1 1/2 months of experience of being a VP. It has been a great pleasure working with William Duncan these two terms and I will enjoy working with him for his 3 weeks left in office. He is one of my closest friends in eRepublik and I have a ton of respect for him.

And this is where I leave off today. In the past two months as Vice-President I have been involved very closely in decision making, planning and directing programs. When in September I knew deep-down I was not ready to be a President of a strong country like eCanada, I say today with utmost confidence that I am ready to lead this country and I know I could do an excellent job. The invaluable experience I have gained is what I am most honoured to bring to the table. It is hard to imagine the efforts of being a President entails and there is a lot of effort and time put into stepping into office. I have learned the different challenges and roadblocks that being a President includes, and also the proper way to respond to different situations. To step into the President's office, it takes confidence and know-how, two things I know I will bring.

The past few months in eRepublik have been game changing and inspriring. We have gone through the worst war in eHistory where we saw the fall of ATLANTIS, the complete destruction of Canada, the almost complete destruction of USA and also many other countries hurt by the war led by PEACE GC. Today, we are a part of a new alliance called EDEN as we watch the fall of PEACE. With the two PEACE superpowers in Indonesia and Hungary leaving the alliance as well as Italy, one of the founding fathers, the alliance is collapsing and can't last much longer. The New World is in a transition-phase at the moment and the next month will be crucial in deciding where the course of power will take us. Whoever is President in December will undoubtedly be called upon to help decide this. The departing PEACE countries will need to find somewhere else to be apart of and it is possible we will see new alliances formed. As a man who has worked with foreign countries and knows many different representatives for other countries, I believe I can be the right President to lead us into this time of transition and move us forward with a better country.

Another thing that inspires me to be the President is the fact that we will very likely be facing a peacetime state, one we haven't seen since the beginning of July. It is astonishing how long ago this war started and the fact that only now it is close to coming to a complete stop. When a country is heavily involved in a war, all the citizens of the country band together and put aside petty differences such as party alliegances or attempts at power. The country is united under one common goal, to win the war. Unfortunately, while peacetime should be something we rejoice in and enjoy our country, people get bored and there is often a lot of internal fighting. However unrealistic, I have a dream of a country where there is only friendly competition instead of constant hatred and slander being tossed back and forth. The only thing internal fighting does is weaken our country and strength our enemies. I have been a citizen who many people can attest to, that always respects another person and never picks a fight but instead tries to work things out. Our country is blessed with so many caring and friendly citizens and that is what makes it great. As President, I want to bring our country together and prevent the fighting that is seen so often between citizens. Friendly competitions like the congressional elections are healthy for our country and I love watching the parties fight it out for top representation. That is what our country should want to represent, instead of insults and hate messages being tossed around. Whether it is unrealistic or not, it is a dream I often have and if elected President, want to try my best to make it happen.

This article doesn't include a platform or cabinet as that is not finished yet and there is still much to be decided. I only wanted to give people a better view of myself and what I want to accomplish. I still have a couple weeks left with William Duncan and I will enjoy the last moments of them to the very last second but I will make sure I get a platform and cabinet released as soon as possible. It is important to give the voters a proper view of the candidates they will be voting for and make sure they can make an informed decision so I hope to get these out as soon as possible.

For now, I return to my country that I will continue to serve with the passion it deserves. On December 5th, I ask that you vote Derek Harland for a more unified and continually improving country.

Sincerely,
Derek Harland

Thanks for the post, welcome to the forum, and good luck with your Presidential campaign.

Good luck!

Good luck DH.

Here is the link to my platform: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/derek-harland-s-presidential-platform-1057940/1/20

Cabinet: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/derek-harland-s-presidential-cabinet-1058470/1/20