Quote:(Izquierda reporter) F(elicity) D(elgado):  Greetings Comrade.  It's great to see you.

R(aymond) R(eiley-Carrangus):  Thanks.  I was wondering when you all were gonna call.  Hit me up once in a while, Girl.

FD:  It's been a slow news month.

RR:  Slow news half decade.

FD:  First question.  Now that the SP has reorganized in Kalistan, what are your plans?

RR:  Bennots has already announced I'll be running for President again, so that's what's up.  Hopefully we can get this early election through, but if not, Its alright.  We don't really have a head of state at the moment, and the government isn't really doing anything, a third of it is gone.  No worries.  Same as it ever was, I suppose.

FD:  What have you been up to since the SP left politics?

RR:  I've been playing a lot of pool.  Dating some.  Catching up on my social life.  The Socialist Party demanded so much time of its officials, there wasn't a lot of time to just live you know.  But I'm ready to get back into it.

FD:  There have been some controversial bills passed by the Assembly in the last few years.  What's your take on these?

RR:  Our comrades in the Workers' Front have done a good job representing for the Left, and I get the feeling that they could use some help pushing back these strange changes.  We have to reverse this borders business.  We have to reverse these anti-union policies passed in 81.  We have to fight to protect the right to access abortions for women.  And everything else the Socialist Party traditionally stands for.

FD:  Is there anything you wish to do in your term if you are elected?

RR:  I support the change that Bennots has proposed to the Presidential Prerogative.  The object is for the Plurality Party to offer a slate to the President and the President name the Government.  I don't think that is tenable, especially when Presidents keep belong to Parties which go defunct.  So I think the SP would like to begin a discussion to change the prerogative, and give the right to the Plurality to name the Government.  We should even go a little further.  Perhaps the President's Party should also be in charge of Foreign Relations.  It might be a decent compensation.

FD:  What is your position on the Kalistani Brethren who moved to Gaduridos as the SP was going on hiatus?

RR:  They did their thing.  That happened in the last few days of my Presidency.  And to be honest, moving to a tropical island to start a religious community seems quite utopian.  I don't know the wisdom of starting a political Party.  Gaduridos seems to be sufficiently weak that the Government probably didn't even know or care that they went.  But like a lot of other Political Brethrenist movements, the one in Gaduridos ran into a brick wall, called Inertia.  If we have another Socialist in FA, maybe we can check in on them from time to time, and do what we can to encourage them.  But I think I understand that they have returned to just being a social movement, so they won't be needing political support.

FD:  Is there any chance of the Brethrenists organizing an independent political movement here in Kalistan?

RR:  Independent of the SP?  That is unlikely.  The Brethren here are so closely tied to the Socialist Party, and those who do not vote Socialist generally reject politics as a whole.  The Brethren in Kalistan have other avenues for political involvement which were not open to the Brethren in Gaduridos, so we see strong Brethrenist influence in Kalistan within the SP even if the Brethren are not organized as an explicitly political force.

FD:  Thanks for letting us catch up with you, Comrade President.

RR:  It's no problem.  I always got time for Izquierda

Quote:K(alistani) R(epublic):  Kanjor's government expropriated a significant amount of Kalistani national assets last year.  What is the Government's position on this?

M(oses) A(llen):  The President's position, and the Policy of the Foreign Affairs Ministry is that the expropriation was well within the rights of the Government of Kanjor, and we do not mean to diminish the rights of a sovereign state to nationalize foreign owned property.  But the model Kalistan has used has been nationalization with compensation.  We seek to ensure that our investors do not make investments which will fail due to the nationalist policies of a foreign Government.  If the contracts that our investors signed will not be protected by a nationalist Government, we have less of an incentive to invest in Kanjor.

KR:  What sort of compensation model did the Foreign Minister have in mind?

MA:  What Kalistan has done when we nationalized, and what we have recently proposed to Kazulia, was that if a country is going to nationalize, they should pay the value of the expropriated assets in the form of 10 year bonds, to the holders of the paper.  In our case, Kalistan can directly compensate Kalistani investors, and then the Kanjor bonds would be issued to the Government of Kalistan.  This scheme would certainly restore faith in the efforts of the Government of Kanjor to regain control of their national economy, and would ensure that our investors won't take a beating.  After all, just as Kanjor's interests lie in developing the Kanjor economy, our interests lie in developing and protecting our economy.

KR:  And if they balk at compensation?

MA:  We will get our money one way or another.  The Socialist Party is going to put forward a resolution to ensure that our investors are made whole, and we will include a provision in the resolution which will ensure that punitive measures against Kanjor's interests are taken if they opt not to compensate us.  We are aware of Kanjori deposits in our bank which can be confiscated to make up a portion of the compensation, and in addition, we sell Kanjor oil.  Cutting off sales of oil and other Kalistani exports to them will allow us to redirect those sales to other nations, and when enough economic damage has been done to Kanjor through an embargo to make up for the loss, we'll talk to them about reopening trade.  One way or another, this will not be a net gain of 65 million Kalistani Rubles to Kanjor.  Our goal is to ensure that it is a net gain of zero to both sides, however we accomplish this.

KR:  Is this how much Kalistani investment has been confiscated?

MA:  One estimate has it at around 65 million, while we have seen figures that put it upwards of 100 million, though we think those estimates are quite liberal.  The value of Kalistani investments in Kanjor is difficult to know for sure, due to the many ways that investments are spread around and broken up and reformed these days.  But we are confident that Kanjor wants to avoid any sort of punitive measures, and we also wish to amicably resolve the matter, while still conceding to their right to expropriate.

KR:  Thank you Comrade Minister.

MA:  Have a good day.