Kalistani Major History

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Incoming Lehendakari Joaquin Bennots-Hernandez pledges focus on economy and national revitalization
Pledge disappoints many Nationalists
Kaliburg, Ananto
March 17, 4758


President Joaquin Bennots-Hernandez pledges to focus on economic and national revitalization

Eskalan Estadura stands on the doorstep of massive prosperity and will soon become the financial capital of Seleya.  The leading Eskalan reported that very real potential future 17 years ago.

And then nothing.  The investment which came pouring in following the ERB's massive liberalization and privatization efforts slowly began to trickle out following the adoption of the hands off approach to government which has late been the MO of our "national government" such as it still exists.  Kalistani socialists returned to office after more than a decade of completely absence of a national Government in any real sense of the word.  As policy making devolved to the Districts, who first stepped up to fill a vacuum, and then realized that the National Government would not return soon, national policy was thought to be a thing of the past.  Capital assets of Kalistan were neglected, and then repurposed, sometimes, mothballed, as the case of Kalistan's Standing Military and Navy, or just drydocked and allowed to rust.  What was to be an economic boom never quite sounded, and the aftermath was less than underwhelming.  They were forgettable.

The newly elected President of the National Assembly, socialist Joaquin Bennots-Hernandez has vowed to reverse this trend toward atrophy.  He has made public a draft economic plan to stabilize Kalistan's wildly fluctuating currency, bring rampant inflation under control, and restart Kalistan's National Industrial Sector and National Service Program which for centuries served as a motive engine for Kalistani prosperity and its geopolitical standing in Northern Seleya.

"It is too late to save significant sectors, without heavy foreign investment," said Bennots.  "But with FDI we must also have capital controls to prevent capital from being exported from Ensakl/Kalistan with no benefit to our own people.  We just have so much on our plate.  Triage is the word of the day.  First priority is ODEN, and to that effect we have already begun to bring Kalistan in line with ODEN's provisions.  After we have ODEN set back up, we are looking on modest capital controls, with strong contract protections to encourage FDI.  Revitalization of our industrial base is also high on our priorities list, and restarting the Kalsie is also very important.  First things first though."

Bennots also spoke of National revitalization.  "We are in the process of ending a decades old informal practice known as Enskal-First, which was the primary vehicle that the EDB to promote something like apartheid in our nation.  Once that practice ends, and Enskal are returned to the Kalistani people as equals, we still need to do a lot of work to bring our nation back in line with a more traditional position.  This is not to say that those with the Enskal identity will be forgotten or neglected by our Government.    We hope to revitalize national spirit on all fronts."

Bennots seems very optimistic about the potential success of his program of slow, incremental alteration to accomplish SP overall goals.  But his national and economic plans are at odds with strong Nationalists in the National Assembly, who do not yet have the votes to thwart Bennots' aspirations.Bennots, for his part has vowed to consider some of the Nationalists' proposals over the coming months.  "We have all the time in the world," said Bennots. "But national economic restoration is of immediate importance."  His confidence may be why he won the elections.