Quote:T(he) R(epublic, reporter Mark Phillips):  Comrade Khali, welcome.  We are happy to have the chance to finally sit down and speak with you in person.

O(mar) (al-) K(hali):  Sure.  My cabinet keeps saying, Omar, get out and do some interviews, let them get to know you...  I been putting it off, you know...  But, here we are.

TR:  Right.  Would you tell you tell our readers a bit about yourself.

OK:  Sure.  My parents were Koburan...  So I am first generation.  They changed their names when they got here, calling themselves "The Kalis", taught themselves Odufar when they got here, went into business, and opened a tailor shop and had big dreams.  We only spoke Luthori in the house-  they forbid us to speak anything else, they wanted us to learn to live in Kalistan...  We are Brethrenist, they converted as soon as they got here.  My father died a few years back:  he got to see me elected.  My mom is still working in Sulari, proud of her son and all her kids.  As for me, I got elected, mostly by the Port vote.  Real blue collar folks.  While I was in the Assembly, I took the Bar exam, and got my JD.  So I would have went up for judge if I was not a Deputy.  My mom and my family are real proud, and I'm pretty proud too.

TR:  Your first year is marked by increased tensions with Baltusia.  How does the Government of Kalistan intend to resolve these outstanding issues?

OK:  The problems you are referring to are not of Kalistan's creation.  We are accused of escalating things with Baltusia, and of course this is not accurate.  It is the opinion of the government that the ball is in Baltusia's court.  They can talk war, but right now, this is what it is.  War talk.  Kalistan is willing to resolve all outstanding issues, but under no circumstances will we surrender an iota of our sovereignty.  Our law does not allow for extradition.  Our law allows for paramilitaries.  What the Baltusians are demanding of us is impossible for us to surrender without violating our law.  And so, there we have it.  Kalistan is not going to move from this position, because we do not have to.

TR:  But this seems like an unreasonable position.  Surely there is room for Kalistan to give a little in the negotiations.

OK:  Look, Comrade.  The questions on the table are not questions of degree.  Baltusia says "Extradite this guy."  We say "Extradition from Kalistan is illegal."  Where is the wiggle room in that formulation?  Do we have SOME extradition, when ALL extradition is illegal?  How is our negotiation team supposed to "give a little" in that negotiation.  It is impossible for us to comply with their demands and to comply will violate our laws.  Baltusia says "There is a strip of land in your nation that we don't think you should be allowed to move troops through or defend.  We want a DMZ."  and we respond, "Well, then over that stretch of land, we will not have sovereignty, and Baltusia can get the jump on us if they deem fit."  How could we possibly do that?  To abandon a twenty mile strip of land on our southern Border so that Baltusia can invade our country by 20 miles before we can even meet them on the field?  That would be down right criminal.  How could we possibly agree to that.  But our willingness to comply with their demands of our sovereignty as then reported out to their Assembly as escalation.  It seems to be a no-win for Kalistan, when all we seek is a status quo ex ante.  And we will continue to move troops over the entirety of our national territory.  If Baltusia or anyone else is alarmed by that, that's their problem.  Kalistan has never attacked another country who wasn't already in our national territory or in our national waters.  Why would we start now?

TR:  Has there been any effort to deport Mr. Benn?

OK  The answer to this question is there has been nothing that the Government of Kalistan has done.  It is against the law to extradite him.

TR:  Alright.  Let's change topics.

OK:  Please.

TR:  What are some of the initiatives your Government is taking to improve relations with other countries in the world?

OK:  Our foreign Minister has already concluded a new trade treaty with our old friends in Trigunia and a new treaty with Verona. I would like to stress, these arrangements concern trade and cultural exchange-  there is no security provisions in these deals.  I believe my Party would have opposed the Treaties had those been included, because to do so would have strained our relationship with Indrala.  We've explicitly limited the issuance of Letters of Marque to privateers to times of national emergency.  No Letters of Marque have been issued since the end of the Anantese War, so we have simply codified our national policy.  We've also completed a new audit of our Regular military forces, and this year, I will be instructing the Defense Minister to finally begin the building of our Destroyer contingent.  These destroyers have been long in the planning, and it is about time we put them under construction.  We are also looking into restoring some of the lapsed relations with others across the Globe. 

TR:  Domestically, where is the Government?

OK:  We are located in Kaliburg.

TR:  Ahem.

OK:  Indeed.  This term we are looking to continue the work of the Left.  Obviously, as a Party man, my goal is to increase the seats held by the SP.  I think we are moving into a position where we can make a run at the plurality once more, but to do that, we will have to propose some potentially controversial legislation.  But the Conservatives continue to run the Chicken Little angle in their efforts to lock Kalistan down and establish a police state, and we ain't going for it.  We'll continue to oppose the more onerous pieces of their agenda, and will continue to support individual liberty, the Dual Economy, and positive public control over those things which satisfy human need.  The nonsense they are promoting really is just corrosive to our country.

TR:  What's your favorite type of music?

OK:  Wow, that one was from out in left field...

TR:  Our readers want to know something more about you. 

OK:  Your readers want to know what my favorite type of music is?

TR:  I think they do.

OK:  Well, then, to satisfy your curiosity, Comrade, my favorite type of music is underground hiphop.  Lot of politics, hardly any dick measuring...

TR:  Excuse me.

OK:  Yeah, you know... the braggadocio is about how ideological you are.  '  Blah blah blah- I'm more of a Leftist than all you puppets...  You support cops beating people down and kicking out all the foreigners..."  that kind of stuff.  Obviously I'm not a rapper...  I think that stuff promotes a good message to the kids.  The Left has really been helped by our cultural scene and I always wanna give props to those MCs...

TR:  Do you have any plans to get married?

OK:  Yeah.  No. 

TR:  You don't want to get married or you don't have plans to do so at this time?

OK:  Are you asking, Comrade?  I might marry you.

TR:  I'm attached.

OK:  So am I.  I'm the Mother F--king Premier of Kalistan.  It don't get more full time than that!

Quote:"The addition of the Ananto Class destroyers to our fleet ensures Kalistan's continued preeminence in the Anantanese Ocean.  These ships are long overdue, long the dream of the Kalistani Standing Naval force.  This year, we make that dream a reality."

Quote:It had become apparent that Karl Benn, former Baltusian President and founder of the Revolutionary Anarcho-Communist Party, has now departed Kalistan. Clearly, this is a matter which requires a comment from me, on behalf of not only my party but also the government of Kalistan as a whole. With that in mind, I want to make it utterly and irrefutably transparent that my government played no part whatsoever in Mr. Benn's removal from our nation. Precise details of the events leading up to Mr. Benn's departure are difficult to find however I am of the mind that Mr. Benn did not leave of his own accord.

No matter what, the exact circumstances of Mr. Benn's egress require a thorough and rigorous investigation in order to establish who or what facilitated it. If it emerges, as I believe it will, that Mr. Benn was forced to leave Kalistan then those who compelled him to do so shall feel the effect of Kalistani to its full extent. We simply cannot allow these actions to go unpunished. Mark my words, there must be repercussions.

Quote:The CIP is not a far right party, never has been and never will be- however- there are some in our party who are isolationist and against the policies of the CIP's current form.
If we are to succeed in Kalistan, if we are to form a government, then we must not fight each other, we must not change our party. We must suit the party to the needs and wants of Kalistan's citizens. I would also like to make clear that racists are not welcome in the CIP and never will be. To prove this I have expelled 15 party members who have been spreading their poisonous views within the CIP.

On another note, Benn has been returned to Baltusia under unknown cirumstances, we didn't want him returned illegally and we hope he is safe. However, I hope he is being punished for whatever he has done. Thank you.

Quote:Q[uestioner]: Good evening, Mr Curti. It is a pleasure to be able to sit down with such an epoch-making figure in the Labour Party, and in Kalistan as a whole, how do respond to recent reports that the militia is planning to depose you as leader, perhaps even violently?

C[urti]: No straightforward questions, huh? As far as I'm concerned, I don't lend any credence to those reports. I have an efficacious, if not enthusiastic, relationship with the People's Army's figureheads. It's a media machination more than it is a militia one! With paramount respect Comrade, it is your publication, in particular, which is culpable for this despite your wages being decided upon by me! In future, it would serve you well to ensure you do not advance the suggestion there is an eternal coup against me.

Q: Well, if you insist, we'll move on. How about your views on the Baltusian crisis, who do you blame for the continued high tensions with our neighbours?

C: Listen, we both realise it is infinitely more convoluted than you suggest. If I could merely point at one individual and say 'this is of your doing' then I'd have called for their arrest instanter. Evidently it is not. Nonetheless, I must insist that Baltusia and its government have repeatedly advanced the escalation of matters, with their initial demurral of Kalistan's sovereignty and their subsequent commitment to facilitate the conditions for an occupation of Suldanor and Neveras.

Q: With that in mind then, do you think it was the right thing for the President to move troops to the border?

C: Yes.

Q: Care to expand?

C: I don't think so, my initial answer should suffice.

Q: Right. Erm.. OK. Can you tell us any more about the President's decision not to run this term?

C: Presumably, you have been able to decipher that I am not the President of the Republic?

Q: Yes, sir. I thought you might be able to speak on her behalf?

C: It appears your conviction was erroneous on this occasion, my friend.

Q: In that case, what are your thoughts on the emergence of the Neo Nationalist Party and the Conservative's support for them?

C: Questions of far superior quality. I have a longing to address these Fascists both directly and decisively. I have a firmly held belief that in January of next year, when the Kalistan voter wakes from his slumber and turns on his television he shall be met with the joyous face of a news reporter outside of the National Assembly of Kalistan as she informs the nation that the CIP has lost almost all of its seats. In the sixty-eight years that I have spent in this country, never before have I met such abhorrent, such repugnant, such schismatic and such heinous people as the 283 individuals that party unleashed on our legislature. Every day I enter that building I resent being encircled by them. Were it up to me, their party would be shut down never to be seen or heard from again. Alas, that is not democracy and for whatever incongruous reason they seem to have received a substantial amount of support up until now. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic that the rise of this new Fascist party should be the last nail in their coffin.

Q: Those are some strong words, does this mean you would not sit in a cabinet with the CIP in future?

C: Certainly not, it is my most profound regret that I allowed myself to govern with them.

Q: What about your new NEC, if I might change the subject again, what can we expect from these new recruits?

C: Of course you might, my friend, you are conducting this interview after all. The first point to make is that these are not all fresh faces. By retaining her position as Defence Spokesperson, Ella Ferrero endures from the first time we, then as the Kalistani Free People's Movement, entered national government. She isn't alone, Lorella Bonucci is a former Deputy Leader as is the returning Francesca Totti. There are some, shall we say, 'unseasoned' members, though, primarily those who were backed and promoted by the militia, several of whom do not possess the same level of political savoir-faire as their colleagues. No matter, they shall soon learn.

Q: Finally, the party recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. That means you have been leader for over 80% of its existence! How does it feel to have reached this landmark?

C: It is poignant. Thankfully, I am still able to encounter most of the founders of our party, Karen Omobo, James Harrison, Elanora Raneri and the aforementioned Francesca Totti remain Deputies in the Assembly, hopefully, their legacy prevails for generations in Kalistan.

Q: Thank you for meeting with me today, Mr Curti.

C: Farewell, my friend, keep the red flag flying!