Background to the World Presidency

by **Marion** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:27 pm

I was wondering if anyone knows any more about the office of World President?
I have looked on Chris's website, which tells me that :
President Nikita Bandranaik takes office, 2045-2066, in which he serves 3 terms of 7 years each.
Scarlet's World President is James Younger - and we know (from somewhere) that he is followed by President Roberts - the US President who appears in 'The Launching'. The website says he took over in 2069 - so that Younger only served 3 years? - It might be that Younger had had enough after 3 years... :wink:

but presumably the normal term of office was 7 years?

by **Scarlet Lady** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 10:14 am

Captain Tourmaline thinks.... He was SHOTTED! :grin:

I think it had to do with a member of Spectrum kidnapping him - maybe he thought it was time he retired...

by **Marion** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:58 pm

Yeah, I did wonder if, perhaps, his experience on the Car-Vu had cooled his enthusiasm for the job....

I also can't help thinking that 3 terms of 7 years is an awfully long time for a top politician to be in power... even the Americans only give their guys two goes of 4 years max. (Not sure about the French - but then they have always done things their own way

)
Perhaps it suggests the WP started out as an 'honorific' and became a 'proper' job over time?
As discussed elsewhere on this forum - it has the potential for turning into a right nightmare

by **Clya Brown** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:12 pm

I can't help feeling that getting a majority of most of the countries in the world to agree upon a single individual to act as an elected president would be an almost impossible task - especially if that individual possessed any real executive power. Putting aside the logistic problems of organising an election whose outcome would be universally accepted, you'd think that there would be at least one important pressure group (and probably several) within such a confederation of participating nation states that would reject instantly any individual favoured by another such group or combination of groups outright: there would surely be too many vested interests to get an agreement.

I wouldn't think it could work as an elected post at all: more likely that it would be squabbled and bargained over in smoke-filled backrooms in Unity/Futura City. If so, maybe Bandranaik emerged as the only candidate who could be agreed upon for over two decades. The post would probably be similar to that of the Secretary-General of the UN* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan), but as we've discussed elsewhere recently, that calls into question the likelihood of the creation of an organisation like Spectrum to act as his personal security force! More likely it would be brought into existence by a powerful group within the World Government like the current UN Security Council, whose permanent members originally constituted the victorious powers of WWII. That's probably a rather more credible scenario - at least that ought to act as a safeguard to prevent it from becoming the President's personal task force.

Maybe President Younger was one such compromise candidate: essentially a bureaucratic Mr. Nice Guy who, as Marion and Scarlet Lady have just suggested, found shortly after accepting it that the post was a little hotter than he'd anticipated!

[* See the second of Kofi Annan's notable quotes close to the bottom of the article at the above link about the creation of a UN Army - highly relevant, especially the question of where to put it!]

by **Marion** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 10:14 pm

Wow - Re: the second Kofi Annan quote - how apt can one guy be?
The more I think about it - the more 7 year terms seem way too long - especially if, as you suggest, Doc, it was a 'done deal'... that means with the shifting ground of international politics they would be more likely to opt for a short term - so they could oust the guys they'd quarrelled with

Holding world-wide elections would be damn near impossible too - differing systems - differing definitions of what constitues 'free and fair' elections : do you count the hanging chads regardless - or is it first past the post whatever - never mind the actual proportion of 'popular vote' each candidate wins. I suspect that way lies even more global conflict....
Maybe what they really need is a 'Zaphod Beeblebrox' type candidate - (see Douglas Adams

) that is: a man with such a monumental ego he doesn't realise the job is just a sham to start with.... :angel)

Fascinating..... ;-$

by **chrisbishop** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 10:27 pm

The suggestion that the World President may be only a figure head is an interesting one. However it rises the following question: if he has so little power then, why is it that Spectrum is only answerable to the World President's authority?

As for the length of time a political leader should stay in power: Canada did have Prime Minister in power for what seemed like an eternity... I will only name Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Jean Chretien for the more recent past. Other countries were/are the same. And I mean democratic countries, of course, where Presidents or Prime Ministers were elected...

by **Marion** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:35 pm

Prime Ministers are NOT Head of States - whereas Presidents are...
Prime Ministers serve Monarchs.... (or elected (and usually) figurehead Presidents)
The World President is therefore - Head of State for The World... which suggest he (or she) might be a figurehead - doesn't it? Maybe Spectrum was a sop to his vanity - that sort of grew????
:wink:

by **Maltray** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:48 pm

President James Younger , hmm I doubt a Mysteron threat to kill him and then being kidnapped by Scarlet would have gave him job security. Maybe the lack of it and seeing if he faded into the background he'd be left alone by the Mysterons.

It was only later that we learn this from Captain Blue 'No, he's safe now, the mysterons will leave him alone, with them it's a war of nerves...'

Colonel White also states the "the Mysteron's will target someone else now" He also informs us that the Mysterons never target the same person or thing twice. This is because it's a part of "The War of Nerves"

by **Marion** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:36 pm

Maltray writes:
It was only later that we learn this from Captain Blue 'No, he's safe now, the Mysterons will leave him alone, with them it's a war of nerves...'

Blue's comment was made about the attempt on the life of the Supreme Commander: Earth Forces - not about the World President.
President Younger is the named target for one threat - in the pilot episode - but he is indirectly involved in the Mysterons' attacks on the Spectrum hunting lodge and - quite possibly - the threat against Futura in 'Treble Cross'.
Colonel White is targeted directly once (White as Snow) but indirectly in the Hunting Lodge and when Cloudbase is threatened in 'Dangerous Rendezvous' and - possibly - 'Attack on Cloudbase'.
This suggests that the Mysterons do not exclude targets that have survived one attempt - if it suits them.
After such exposure to the Mysterons' vindictiveness - maybe Younger was right to retire?

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:52 pm

After such exposure to the Mysterons' vindictiveness - maybe Younger was right to retire?

... in which case, it wouldn't give much credit to the faith those who voted for him had in him in the first place!

I want to believe that a man who got millions of people voting for him has more guts than that...

by **Marion** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:55 pm

To get that many people voting for you - internationally - I doubt you need courage - just a damned good publicity machine and a wodge of money... :wink:

Cynical???? Moi???? :grin:

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:58 pm

I have been known to be an incredibly naive and idealistic person...

Another illusion down the drain...

Oh wait... could the future be any different from today? ;-$

I want a Tardis to check that out!

by **Marion** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:40 pm

Sorry, Chris :oops:

I never meant to shatter anybody's illusions.

by **Maltray** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 2:02 pm

Marion wrote:
Maltray writes:
It was only later that we learn this from Captain Blue 'No, he's safe now, the Mysterons will leave him alone, with them it's a war of nerves...'

Blue's comment was made about the attempt on the life of the Supreme Commander: Earth Forces - not about the World President.
President Younger is the named target for one threat - in the pilot episode - but he is indirectly involved in the Mysterons' attacks on the Spectrum hunting lodge and - quite possibly - the threat against Futura in 'Treble Cross'.
Colonel White is targeted directly once (White as Snow) but indirectly in the Hunting Lodge and when Cloudbase is threatened in 'Dangerous Rendezvous' and - possibly - 'Attack on Cloudbase'.
This suggests that the Mysterons do not exclude targets that have survived one attempt - if it suits them.
After such exposure to the Mysterons' vindictiveness - maybe Younger was right to retire?

Hm yess I was just putting it across that the Mysteron's never DIRECTLY target anything or anyone more than one. Indriectly maybe.

by **Parker Gabriel** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:34 pm

In "The Launching," when the outside of the President's Mansion is shown, it looks remarkably like the White House in the United States. This most likely means that, as Kimberly Murphy once pointed out to me, President Roberts is the President of the United States, not the World Government of Earth. She pointed out to me that confusing James Younger with President Roberts and assigning World Presidency, rather than American Presidency, to President Roberts are both common mistakes.