Kalistani Major History

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Socialists find a bit of paradise in the WildernessA brief interview with the Premier of the Republic
Kaliburg, Ananto
October 25, 4518


Widely expected to retain the Premiership, Georgia Van Wyck takes aim at outdated military

We sat down with the Premier of the Republic and Leader of the SP, Georgia Van Wyck for a few moments just before she introduced the Socialist Positions Omnibus 1, designed to scramble positions of the Plurality Party.  During the couple moments we had with her, she described what happened in the election, and what she intends to do with the next term.

(Izquierda Reporter) J(osephine) C(alderon):  Comrade Premier, while we have you here, could you please fill us in on why the Liberals and the Patriots did so well?

G(eorgia) V(an) W(yck): Well, the answer is simple.  We are, at most, a two Party system of government, and we have five Parties which seriously compete.  Three Parties have adopted an institutionalist position, while two Parties have mirrored our positions in everything but one or two areas.  We have basically one Party serving as Opposition and 4 Parties more or less dividing the remaining vote.  So the Opposition, with 40% all to themselves, while the other Parties essentially divide the remaining 60% up between them, ranging anywhere from 22 to 9 percent.  Obviously, one Party wins in that situation.

JC:  What does the Socialist Party intend to do in the coming term, now that they represent such a tiny portion of the Assembly.

GVW:  We intend to push military updates.  We have some promising news from Consortium Partners on aircraft development.  Plus, we are interested in working with some arms suppliers overseas to begin bringing updated weaponry in Kalistan. We would like to purchase the designs, actually, and build them here.  That is the ultimate goal.  Kalistan does not intend to be beholden to other nations for our national defense.

JC:  Members of your Party recently oversaw the launch of the National Defense Consortium.  How do Socialists intend for this to work?

GVW:  Well, there is a contradiction in the law which says that most of the Defense Industries are meant to be owned by the State, but then the State is to be an investor of last resort.  Since the Government refuses to operate the industries to benefit the Republic, the National Defense Consortium will continue to carry out the legitimate work of the State, acting as a quasi public sector set of companies but from the Private Sector.  In the event of Nationalization, then the National Defense Consortium will transfer the property back to the National Government at the same cost that the National Government received (in many cases, 1 KRB) to reform the National Industries.

JC:  What is your position on the possibility of sitting in Government with the Patriots?

GVW:  We asked the President to consider the appointment for the Patriots, given that they are the Plurality.  They immediately insisted on the Pemiership, which I think the President is correct to reject, given that the Patriots ran against the President.  The Patriots want to put very restrictive laws in place.  We think they ought to be given a seat, but ultimately the determination belongs to the President.

JC:  What are your plans for legislation this term?

GVW:  We plan on being more active in naming legislation.  The goal is to scramble positions around.  Once positions are scrambled, we will not see these sort of results in the future.  We are not content to let the Liberals and the Patriots switch off with monopolizing things.  We are going to force them onto the Political Right, where they belong, and then they will get to split up the 37% of rightwing votes between them.  The strategy often works, and has been a winning strategy in the past, and it is time we begin to re-employ it.  I hope you will excuse me, as I am now needed on the floor. 

JC:  Goo luck with the Omnibus.

GVW:  We don't need luck.  We do not expect the bill to pass.  We merely want to force the Right to take their correct positions.

JC:  Indeed.  Thank you Comrade Premier.

GVW:  Thank you, Comrade Reporter.