Kalistani Major History

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The Fall of Gina Garrand
Liberal Protests ends after 33 of 35 Deputies return to Assembly
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
March 15, 5503


Former Deputy Gina Garrand leaves meeting with Empress ending legislative protest

Leader of the Liberal protests against taxation and spending Gina Garrand has stepped down from office, and has released her Deputies to return to work in the National Assembly. "I met with Her Imperial Majesty today, after a significant delay, and she informed me that my protest was over," said Garrand, outside the Imperial Seat this afternoon. "As part of the amnesty the Empress offered for my members, I have agreed to resign from office and retire from public service. I am grateful to the Empress for hearing me out, but this matter is at an end."

The comments strike political observers as unexpected, considering that last week, Garrand vowed to continue this fight until the very end. "We are demanding something so simple as basic human dignity and liberty," said Garrand at a particularly rowdy, but small protest on the National Mall at the time. "I could not hold my head high if I were to surrender this fight with the Premier. When I meet the Empress, I intend to put it in these plain and simple terms: It is either the Chancellor, or I take my members with me and we force an election, and if Liberals win, we will move immediately to establish constitutional limits on both the Chancellor, the Government, and the Monarchy itself."

Nobody considered these threats idle, and the Chancellor even responded, claiming that threats to alter the regime could be construed as treason against the Empress. "Her Imperial Majesty is taking this business very seriously, but I suspect that she is delaying a meeting to give Gina (Deputy Garrand) enough rope to hang herself with. A meeting is set for next week and after that point, we will all know the Empress' mind." As days passed, Garrand's rhetoric was primarily directed at the Chancellor, while the Empress remained publicly silent.

This afternoon's capitulation from the Deputy from Platte/Vrassa City signals a definitive defeat for liberalism in Kalistan. "I spoke with Her Imperial Majesty, and explained our position, but the Empress made it very clear to me that any further protests against the policies of Her Imperial Majesty's Government will not be productive for our Nation. Her Imperial Majesty still retains complete confidence in the Chancellor, and in the interest of peace and progress, I have been given the opportunity to instruct my members to return to work for their constituencies."

The resignation ends more than 40 years of public service for Deputy Garrand who was among the biggest early supporters of Empress Nicolette I, and felt that a strong State in the person of a single monarch was a good thing. Garrand has been careful to not include the Empress Nicolette II in her criticisms of the Government until just recently, when she was clearly frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations and what she called "foot dragging" in addressing her concerns. Her faction Lieutennant, Mike Andrews, of Senvias, will also not be returning to the National Assembly. He is currently under investigation on charges of embezzlement from his own Senvias-based corporation, and is also facing charges of securities fraud and wire fraud. Andrews was counting on the continued protests to shield him from prosecution, but as Garrand announced that she had released her Deputies in the Amnesty, Andrews was arrested and arraigned on the new charges, ensuring that he will not be returning to the National Assembly.

Few can possibly guess what the Empress said to Deputy Garrand to convince her to end the protest so abruptly. Some speculate that the pressure came from the Deputies under Garrand themselves: Several noticeably distanced themselves from Garrand following the statements about constitutional reform. Others argue that the Empress herself may have threatened Garrand in the closed door meeting. There is no way to know for sure, but following Garrand's resignation, liberal deputy after liberal deputy publicly affirmed loyalty to the Empress and declared their intention to support the Chancellor in the Legislature. Several even noted that they felt that they had been misled by Garrand, who promised them Government positions in the event that she was successful in ousting the Chancellor, and all spoke in very personal terms about their intention to continue to support the Empress' policies in the National Assembly.

The liberal protests being at an end, Deputy Garrand stopped short at endorsing the large scale infrastructure. "The Chancellor's spending programs will go through, and I wish her well with those. I still hold that as the Public Sector grows, individual liberty and protection of private property is reduced. You can't have an overreaching government and have individual liberty, those two things are mutually exclusive. But, that being said, The Chancellor enjoys Her Imperial Majesty's complete confidence, and so Lady Newburg's bills shall be the Law of the Land, and I, as a private citizen, will simply petition as I may, because I can only depend on myself to protect my God Given rights." The now former Deputy refused to take questions and left with her staff.