Kalistan

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First Audience is tense, but new Chancellor promises cooperation
"Her Imperial Majesty and I will disagree," says Alvarez
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
May 5, 5711


First Photograph of Empress and Chancellor of the Empire at Cliff House

Chancellor of the Empire, Lady Melanie Alvarez-McLinn accepted a summons to an informal audience with Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto at Cliff House in Kaliburg. The two women met for about an hour, and the meeting ended with a photograph. It is now well known and widely discussed that the new Chancellor and Head of Government is ideologically opposed to the direction of Her Imperial Majesty's government over the last ten years and has publicly stated that it is her mission to undo much of it. Alvarez-McLinn has publicly referred to the Empress as the Red Empress, leading the term to hold wider acceptance among Nationalists who suggest that the Empress may sympathize with socialism, and while the Empress herself has not publicly characterized her relationship to Lady Alvarez, House Ananto has publicly called her an "ideologue" and a "pain in the ass."

Today, while the cameras were on, however, the two women were cordial toward one another. The Chancellor was spot on with her observance of Imperial Protocol, even speaking with Her Imperial Majesty in the third person as if she was a commoner, bowing respectfully and never speaking unless asked a direct question. The Empress, for her part was rather taken aback, and was unused to her Chancellor speaking indirectly to her or only speaking when spoken to. She even noted at one point that this was intended to be an informal audience, and the points of protocol could easily be waived so the two could have a frank discussion. The Chancellor responded "If It please her Imperial Majesty, the law says what it says, and I think it would be prudent, given Her Imperial Majesty's immunity from the consequences of the law, that I nonetheless follow it to the letter in her presence, so that I may not violate Her Imperial Majesty's law."

Many saw this behavior by the Chancellor as somewhat disrespectful, as it felt like obstinately sticking to the letter of the law violated the spirit of the law, but the Empress for her part let it slide, by pointing out that it was as the Chancellor wished. Points of protocol aside, the meeting was nominally productive, with the Chancellor taking the opportunity to set out her priorities for her tenure. The Empress listened patiently as the Chancellor said her number one priority was to reform the Institutional Party to eliminate factionalism.

"There is one Institutional Party, we have one job," said Lady Alarez. "Our Party apparatus is not meant to accommodate heterodox viewpoints, nor are we a democratic organization. Our job is literally functional, and those who wish to promote something other than the Party's function within the National Assembly are there simply to promote division. It is my desire to remove politics from the Institutional Party, to restore a unity in voice and action, and to ensure Her Imperial Majesty's fiat majorities as she needs to accomplish what she feels is good for her Nation." The Empress simply responded, "The Chancellor is the head of the Institutional Party. If she feels this is what must be done, we may encourage her to do it openly and transparently."

Other points of the Chancellor's agenda include identifying property and businesses that foreigners have money and economic interest in and turning those to Kalistani ownership, along with revision of the Bank and Investment Adjustment Acts to forbid foreign investment in Kalistan; to put more money into promotion of Kalistani industry and Kalistani exports, to the detriment of the free trading nations who do not place barriers to imports, to denominate all foreign transactions in Imperial Pesos; to take steps to hold onto the vestiges of Empire that Kalistan still possess, including Bentasur and Luncasi; and to promote Vrassan usage across Northern Seleya while downplaying "non-Kalistani Languages in Kalistani schools."

She also said she would like the Empress to reconsider close relationships with communist and liberal nations in Terra, especially those associated with MATO. "Surely Her Imperial Majesty realizes that investment in and importing from nations that have fallen under the persuasive, yet utterly pernicious spell of the MATO alliance assists them to grow stronger at our nation's expense," said Lady Alvarez. "MATO and their neo liberal internationalist agenda directly and indisputably threatens our region, and I would encourage Her Imperial Majesty to fully reconsider association with any MATO nation under any circumstances."

The Chancellor specifically mentioned Kundrati and Luthori as targets for revision. She also noted that the Altea Accords produce problems for Kalistan, given Nadiya's membership in the agreement. "Her Imperial Majesty has never formally recognized that government, so treating with them offers them an informal legitimacy that I do not believe it was Her Imperial Majesty's intention to offer. Renegotiating those agreements to exclude cooperation between Kalistan and Trigunia should be a priority for Her Imperial Majesty's foreign policy." She also included the communist regime in Xsampa as well as continued non-involvement with the totalitarians in Utaristan.

She saved her hottest fire for Athosia, and claimed that Kalistan is owed that territory as compensation for the loss of its political relationship with Gaduridos. "Athosia is historically, by right, part of Her Imperial Majesty's demesne," said the Chancellor. "Those of us with family there wish to be reunited with our loved ones. I want to prevail upon Her Imperial Majesty to fight for Athosia, fight for a reunited Greater Kalistan. Do not let international actors determine what our nation can and cannot do with our own territory. If it please Her Imperial Majesty, I can put a bill on the floor of the National Assembly tomorrow that formally annexes Athosia to the Grand Duchy of Kalistan permanently and forever. I merely need the go ahead and it can be done. Millions of us wait for Her Imperial Majesty to do what is right and give us our country back."

The Empress sat perfectly still and quiet through most of Lady Alvarez' speech and when the Chancellor noted that she looked for the Empress' response to her several points, the Empress simply said, "We shall take our Chancellor's advise under consideration as we formulate our future course. Where the Chancellor sees only opportunities, we have the benefit of a different, possibly equally important perspective which bids us to tread carefully domestically and internationally. We encourage our Chancellor to lead our Government as she is expected to, keeping in mind that conservatism which has led her to this great and terrible responsibility in the first place. We trust that Lady Alvarez will do as we command in a way which benefits and improves our Nation for us, and that we will have the opportunity to speak on these and many other issues in the future, and we thank her for her time to come and visit us and let us know of her opinions."

The response was a bit of cold water on the zealotry of the Chancellor, who expected the Empress to respond in a more pugilistic manner. The Chancellor clearly came to Cliff House prepared for a fight, and the Empress simply sidestepped the opportunity. The Chancellor speechless then took the opportunity to respond "Then Her Imperial Majesty appears to be on the same page as the Nationalists after all," and quickly sipped her tea. The two women posed for a photograph, and then Her Imperial Majesty thanked the Chancellor once again for responding to her call for an audience, and politely wished her a good day.

Upon leaving the Imperial Residence, Lady Alvarez said, "Her Imperial Majesty gave me important pledges in there. We are moving forward with a Nationalist agenda, arm in arm with the Sovereign, and the sooner I get started, the better off we will all be in this country." Additionally, the Chancellor said that the Empress appeared poised, confident, and "surprisingly candid," though the Empress spoke very little during the meeting. "I haven't had the opportunity to meet Her Imperial Majesty before today, but just by talking with her for an hour, I can tell she is serious and intelligent, and feel like even the brightest people can be led astray by bad advice of those whose job it is to advise her well. That won't be this government. Her Imperial Majesty and I will disagree, but I think that disagreement can be healthy and productive to get the best policy for this nation and to ensure that Her Imperial Majesty's fiat goes to the asset side of the sheet rather than the deficit side."

The Empress' office issued no comment on the audience.

The Chancellor, as head of the Institutional Party, is expected to advance a measure internally next week to eliminate factions within both the Institutional Party and within the National Assembly. Both are likely to narrowly pass.

@TheRepublic