Kalistani Major History

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Socialist Party sweeps Cabinet
Time for new faces and New Energy, says Party Leader Mel Lewis
Kaliburg, Ananto
January 7, 5320


New Party Leader and Acting Premier of the Republic Mel Lewis

As Kalistan begins to awaken once more, the Socialist Party has decided to retire its first generation of law makers, who were responsible for the ending of the Empire, and build a new leadership team. The Shuffle came after a small internal disagreement over the direction the Government of Kalistan should pursue now that the Institutionalist era is over.

"The Institutionalist Party tended to be a bit more pro-growth than we liked. They held in principle to the Zero Growth model that has long guided Kalistan's economy, but in practice, they were often more friendly toward outside investment," said the incoming Party Leader and soon to be new Premier of the Republic. "We would like to let the world know that Kalistan is open to external investment, certainly, but the reality is that investment for investment's sake isn't always the best thing. We will prioritize investment that helps Kalistan reach its goals as a country first and foremost."

And what are those goals? The Speaker elaborated: "We need to focus not only on expanding the standard of living to more people-- though not generally increasing the standard of living for any one group. But after this, we also need to make progress in technology that will put Kalistan back into the conversation of modern nations. Currently Kalistan is subjectively ranked a small power with a weak economy. It should be our goal to raise those rankings through a firm commitment to infrastructural and military renewal, as well as innovation in technology, finance and research. Kalistan has one of the world's only functioning power grids based largely off fusion technology. This is an accomplishment that doesn't run up against our zero-growth strategy, and yet improves not only the lives of Kalistani Citizens, but also helps the environment."

The future Premier also highlighted Kalistan's place in the cultural movements of the world. "As dormant as our nation has been, nobody yet gets close to Kalistan in terms of recorded music. I know, I know this is an old laurel to rest on. But it is a fact. We have far and away more artists, genres, and records produced here than anywhere in the world. We have had more success at FOMAT than any other single country. We have more formal record labels here in Kalistan than the rest of the world combined. It is not a surprise or a lie when we say we are the musical capital of the world. But this is not enough. Kalistan can also compete in film, in art, in literature. We can do as well as any nation can. We can take our experience in the music field and use that to begin to sponsor creativity in other fields as well, to make Kalistan the cultural center of the world."

Lewis then touted his incoming team's abilities. "Combined we have more than 235 years of expertise in our various fields," said Lewis. "This is the most experienced, technically proficient group of people who has been assembled in centuries, and who are prepared to jump into their tasks and develop new ideas for our Republic. I look forward to working with them, as well as our new National Assembly in the coming months and years."

Detractors immediately dismissed Lewis' speech. "The Republican Government hasn't done much of anything for a long time," said one voter in Vrassa. "We have grown accustomed to District Governments picking up the slack for the state's benign neglect." Another voter complained about the way the Royal Family was treated. "Its like these socialists just put them in a home," said Eveari Resident Vera Georgiana "Like they just put our Emperor and Empress out to pasture. And when the Emperor died, nobody mourned, especially not these socialists. That is something I just cannot forget. They were special to us, and these Socialists just let them basically go into exile right here."

Whether voters like, or hate, or are ambivalent toward the Socialists, the Party remains in control of all seats of the Assembly, and the agenda of the Premier is therefore the Agenda of the Nation. So, it would appear Kalistan is headed for modernization.