The fact that it was a bug should be obvious to all but the newest of newbies. Based on the complete description, the actual point of the bug was that the referendum for Lord did not end when it should have. This is not a big surprise to me as a dev, as these are still relatively fresh areas of the transitioned code.
The fact that he abused the bug to his and his realm's significant advantage should also be obvious.
What his other options might have been are irrelevant. When confronted with a bug of this nature, the last thing any honourable player should think to do is turn the bug to his advantage in ways he could not have if the bug had not occurred.
