Kalistani Major History

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Prime Minister Denounces National Conservative Party's Militarism
Calls designs on acquisition of nuclear weapons "criminally shortsighted"
Kaliburg, Ananto District
September 3, 4006


Premier Rahjavi fields questions from Reporters at her Radio Address on National Radio 1

The Prime Minister spoke for the first time about recent statements made by the Leader of the Opposition, Anne Walker, concerning the remilitarization of Kalistan.  Below are her comments, made to reporter on National Radio 1, from Kaliburg, yesterday:

"Listen-  I know you all have questions and we will get to those, but first, there are a few things which I need to address.  Next Month's election will likely mean that my time in office is over and I will be replaced by a new Prime Minister:  We expect that President Carrangus will do well in the elections, and if the National Conservative Party is able to garner seats, I will happily step aside as we reinstitute the provisions for Divided Government which have been a hallmark of Kalistani Politics for centuries before one Party rule.  While I have the Office then, and am not just the Leader of the Majority, I need to address some of the policies proposed by my Conservative counterpart.

"The notion that the Leader of the Opposition may tour a battlefield and use that as an excuse to criticize the handling of the war by our Government is simply beyond the bounds of good taste!  Where was she while my parents were being killed by Indrallan shelling of Dahriel?  Where was she when the Defense Minister, Comrade Grognard was shelled to death as Indrala destroyed our capital?  Where was she while our Comrade and my personal hero growing up, the President of the Republic, Comrade Poppy Smith-Bennots, was killed while defending a bridge over the Zappa River, with the Revolutionary Socialist Militia of Kalistan? 

We don't even have a biography of Comrade Walker.  Was she under arms during that time, or did she enjoy the peace which 4/5ths of our great nation was guaranteed by the suffering of 1/5 of it?  No!  Excuse me...  This is a grievance which is not resolved here in Kalistan.  Ananto bore the pain of that war, while the rest of the nation protested for peace.  Because they had peace.  Yes, they had to deal with homeless Anantanese for the better part of a decade, but it was Anantanese civilians and partisans and Regulars who did the fighting and dying and suffering in that war.  We will bear the scars of that conflict until this generation passes away entirely.  But we are the ones who bear the scars.

"The Opposition Leader says that Kalistan just barely prevailed in the war.  Perhaps.  But We had far fewer forces, and much of our strength on this Island was composed of Irregulars.  And we beat one of the world's great military powers, on our Island.  Prevailed or 'just prevailed' it doesn't matter.  We won against all odds, against a military force twice our size, against an atomic navy and a nuclear power.  We ground them down and wiped out their morale.  And without 2/3rds of our fighting force deployed in the main arena of combat.  But again, I ask:  Where was Comrade Walker during this fight?  Was she under arms?  Because my parents were.  Or was she in 'business', profiteering in the private sector off the misery of Kalistani refugees?

"Kalistan is not 'unprepared', not by any stretch of the imagination.  We may have a small navy, but we have 4 battleships, of Kalistani Design, all armed with guns, of Kalistani Design, along with more than a half dozen other ships of the line, to guard our coast line.  We are working on a program to develop subsurface craft as well.  And we have dozens upon dozens of Light Armored, Fast Attack ships which serve both the Regular Navy and the Militia.  Our shores have never been BETTER protected!  Our defense budget is nearly 2 percent of our GDP.  And much of the burden of defense is born by the Militia and the dues paying members of the Socialist Party of Kalistan.  Nearly all Artillery in Kalistan is under Militia control and is maintained and operated by the experts in our irregular forces.  What more does the Speaker want?!  Kalistan is a nation of peace, a neutral nation, a nation with few enemies, with the possible exception of Vanuku.  How much more military spending does the Speaker propose?  And for what purposes is this to be used?

"On Landmines and nuclear weapons?  Well, this is frankly outlandish.  First off:  We have treaties which outlaw both of those devices within Kalistan.  Secondly:  Nuclear Weapons?  From whom does the Speaker suppose we will procure nuclear technology?  From where does the Speaker suppose we will acquire the material to produce nuclear weaponry?  Which of the world's great powers does the Speaker suppose will allow us to build a nuclear program in this nation without visiting more death and destruction upon us to prevent us from unbalancing the world in this criminally shortsighted way?  We should expect that the world will not provide us the technology to produce nuclear weapons, and we dismantled the infrastructure to create it ourselves centuries ago.  We should expect that the world's nuclear powers will not willingly sell us weapons that they possess, because, given Kalistan's history, they would be nuts to hand our nation nuclear weapons.  And if for some reason we WERE able to begin a nuclear research program, It is a guarantee that the powers of the world would kill that baby in its cradle, even IF we were, for some reason, mad enough to boost our military budget up beyond 2% of our GDP.

"The Socialist Party is a Party of Peace who has had to dabble in militarism to protect our nation when we were solely responsible for the activities of Government.  We are closely aligned with the Society of the Brethren of the Truth, and the bellicose campaign rhetoric of Conservative alternative, the Party of Militarization and Privatization, will weld those bonds ever tighter.  While we welcome the new Party to Kalistani Politics, we hope that Kalistan chooses Peace in the coming elections."

Following her radio Address, the Prime Minister took a few questions from reporters.  She noted that the SP's headquarters in Kaliburg is nearly completed, several years behind schedule due to the unanticipated need to acquire new building materials when the old material was deemed unsound to build with.  She also noted that Kalistan has begun work on its first prototype submersible, which could, theoretically provide the basis of a submarine fleet, but declined to say more about this vessel.  She also addressed the efforts by the NCP to make Party Militias illegal.  She answered that question with a single word:  "Never."