Kalistan

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Lady Ericka Donahue announces her intention to retire in 5701
"28 years is long enough" said long serving Chancellor
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 30, 5697


Lady Erica Donahue, who will turn 50 this year reflects on her tenure in office

"Well, I've been in this office now since 5673," said Chancellor of the Empire, Lady Ericka Donahue, who announced that her retirement is set for February 1 5701, immediately after the next regular elections. "I think I will have given 28 years of service to the Monarchy and to the Empire, and it is time for me to return to Eshar." The news was created a minor earthquake in the Kalistani political press as speculation began immediately around who would replace the Chancellor. Many attribute the Chancellor's desire to retire to the fact that she has been unable to overturn the caucus rule in the Institutional Party, and has decided to step down rather than work with moderates and socialists within the Institutional Party of Kalistan. She, for her part denies that and says she has served long enough. "Retirement age for the working classes is 55 years of age in Kalistan. I think working up until 54 will get me close enough," she said.

"Lady Donahue has certainly made a significant mark on Kalistani Politics," said Dr Jay Marques, of the University of Vrassa's Political Science Department. "Starting out as a political theorist, she is a staunch nationalist, and is certainly more of one now than she was when she became Chancellor. She is certainly more politically reactionary than she was before taking office, and that's saying quite a bit." She was initially appointed by Emperor Fredrick IV Ananto and Empress Jennifer I Ananto as an internationalist, but her nationalist bent quickly emerged and contributed to the Emperor and Empress' abandonment of Internationalism in their foreign policy. She was also a fierce critic of communism, at least as vocal an opponent of Metzism as she is of fascism, and is often quoted as saying they are essentially two sides of the same bad cent coin.

"Well, I have always endeavored to encourage the Sovereigns, be it the Emperor and Empress, or the Lady Regent, of now Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, to take Kalistan's national interests seriously," said Lady Donahue in 5696. "Most nations on this planet would do whatever they possibly can to reduce Kalistan to an invisible state- We know they wish we'd just go away. So it is incumbent on Kalistanis to push our interests to the forefront of every single discussion we are even tangentially related to. Nobody else will, and if we don't keep Kalistan centered in all conversations, nations of this world have demonstrated time and time again that they are more than happy to walk all over us and do whatever they want as if we weren't even there."

This very aggressive promotion of Kalistan's national interests earned Lady Donahue a reputation for unwillingness to compromise on any point relating to Kalistan's interests. "Nobody else is required to compromise, so Kalistan should not be either," she said. "And for us in Kalistan, our nation is the most important nation. Others may not see it that way--I wouldn't expect them to. But they don't live here. The classical realist knows that nobody can be counted on to defend you from others: The strong do as they will and the weak suffer what they must. I have fought my entire career to ensure that Kalistan is not a nation that needs to put up with other countries' disrespect and disregard for our nation's sovereignty."

In many ways, the Chancellor's hard nosed attitude has not won Kalistan many friends, says Professor Marques. She has, in the last few years, stepped back from international affairs to allow more moderate members of the Government to be the international voice and face of Her Imperial Majesty. The people who do so, she has made clear, are occasionally irritating to her. Marques points at Sir Thomas Harney, who, despite his positive work relationship, is known to be personally loathed by Lady Donahue. And yet, Lady Donahue is nothing if she is not a person who does as she is commanded--The Chancellor makes it a point of personal pride that she religiously performs her duty to the Empress and to the Empire.

"Look: People, individuals... they are a dime a dozen," Chancellor of the Empire Donahue said. "We make more people every single day. Humans do it without even trying... But individual dreams, desires, wants, ambitions, etc... First of all, when they run contrary to the needs and benefits of society, you gotta make a choice. I could promote my own interests, or I could fight for what is good for my society. When I fight for my own dreams and win, I may win for myself, while countless others may suffer. When I fight for what's good for our society, even when I have to put my own individualistic goals on the back burner... then everyone, including me, wins. I get something out of it either way, but the question is: do I help or harm society? And harming society is harming the only thing that allows me to pursue my own individual dreams and goals in the first place, so this hyper individualized culture a lot of liberal nations fetishize like a sexual kink at the expense of what is good for the society is like trying to live your life by cutting your own throat."

Lady Donahue has often done things she was commanded to do though she made it clear that she disagreed with the decision herself. An excellent example was the temporary measures to allow cops to effectively fight organized crime in Sulari at the beginning of this decade. She brought a qualified immunity bill to the floor in the National Assembly, and when it was clear that it could pass without her vote, she publicly voted against her own proposal, because she said it was her duty to put the question before the Assembly, and having done so, discharged her duty and was free to vote her conscience. The bill passed, and the Undzer Shtik mob was decapitated by often brutal police tactics that would have, under a number of other circumstances, violated civil liberties and due process, but when the mob war had largely ended, the Chancellor was front and center to roll back the police powers. She has said repeatedly that she was proud of both votes.

Though she still has four years left before retirement, she was asked what she thinks her legacy will be. "I can hold my head up and say I governed with integrity and with a sense of duty," she said as she began writing her own political epitaph. "I did not compromise my own beliefs or morals, I carried out their Imperial Majesty's fiat to the best of my ability, and I was not corrupt. I think this is a reasonable ask from our government. I spent my time making life better for our Empire and Her Imperial Majesty's Citizens."

She also joked a little with reporters, "And I think both I, and Kalistan, can pat ourselves on the back. It would appear that even Trigunia has taken a hint and could soon elect a Tsarina named Carolina if their news sources are to be believed. Maybe in tribute? I am sure the Empress would be very flattered, if that was the case. I think she is about seven years older than Her Imperial Majesty, so there is that. I almost wish that Trigunia would go a step further and actually empower their version even half as much as Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, but they are unfortunately stymied by their regrettable obsession for formal democracy up there, so I don't think the people of Trigunia will ever be so lucky.

"But, far more seriously, we are also seeing the rise of conservative movements in other places in the globe, and this is very promising. I know anything can happen. We live in a world where the most random political things happen on a daily basis. But I am very optimistic about the direction this world is headed. Away from liberalism and its accompanying chaos, which some countries seem to wallow in, and toward more sanity, stability and peace. So I feel confident about handing the Chancellorship off to someone younger who can take Her Imperial Majesty's Government into the next era. Our nation is more peaceful, more stable and more prosperous than when I was appointed Chancellor, and that is a success far greater than any election or string of formal but completely meaningless elections ever could be."

The Chancellor still has four more years left, but will not stand for re-election in 5701, and instead intends to return home to her manor home in rural Vrassa County, just outside of Eshar. "I will be able to be just the Countess of Vrassa then, and spend my days with my husband, and maybe write a book. And that is comparatively a much easier job than being the Chancellor of the Empire," she said. She says she has no opinion on who should replace her. "Hopefully it is a member of the intellectual class in this society, who knows what is at stake when it comes to the promotion and defense of our National Interest, and one who can therefore serve the Empress in the best way possible," she said. "We'll see- Her Imperial Majesty will select the Chancellor she wants, so it is impossible to say who that would, or even if they are in government yet."

@TheNational