Kalistani Major History

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The People's Press
Luca Curti- Back in the Spotlight
As election season looms, the People's Press invites the Labour Party leader to explain his views on key issues
Kaliburg, Ananto
August 19th, 4082


Luca Curti at a protest against CIP attempts to legalise nuclear weaponry and begin development in Kalistan

Having served as President, Premier, Internal Affairs Minister and, most recently, Foreign Affairs Minister, Luca Curti is perhaps the most qualified man in Kalistani politics. Curti has now led the Labour Party for an unprecedented 25 years, in spite of ever-present threats to his leadership from both the left and the right of the party. As he begins campaigning to increase Labour's seats share in a few months time, we asked Curti to share his views on some of the key issues affecting Kalistan.

Q[uestioner]: Good evening, Mr Curti. It is a pleasure to be able to sit down with such an epoch-making figure in the Labour Party, and in Kalistan as a whole, how do respond to recent reports that the militia is planning to depose you as leader, perhaps even violently?

C[urti]: No straightforward questions, huh? As far as I'm concerned, I don't lend any credence to those reports. I have an efficacious, if not enthusiastic, relationship with the People's Army's figureheads. It's a media machination more than it is a militia one! With paramount respect Comrade, it is your publication, in particular, which is culpable for this despite your wages being decided upon by me! In future, it would serve you well to ensure you do not advance the suggestion there is an eternal coup against me.

Q: Well, if you insist, we'll move on. How about your views on the Baltusian crisis, who do you blame for the continued high tensions with our neighbours?

C: Listen, we both realise it is infinitely more convoluted than you suggest. If I could merely point at one individual and say 'this is of your doing' then I'd have called for their arrest instanter. Evidently it is not. Nonetheless, I must insist that Baltusia and its government have repeatedly advanced the escalation of matters, with their initial demurral of Kalistan's sovereignty and their subsequent commitment to facilitate the conditions for an occupation of Suldanor and Neveras.

Q: With that in mind then, do you think it was the right thing for the President to move troops to the border?

C: Yes.

Q: Care to expand?

C: I don't think so, my initial answer should suffice.

Q: Right. Erm.. OK. Can you tell us any more about the President's decision not to run this term?

C: Presumably, you have been able to decipher that I am not the President of the Republic?

Q: Yes, sir. I thought you might be able to speak on her behalf?

C: It appears your conviction was erroneous on this occasion, my friend.

Q: In that case, what are your thoughts on the emergence of the Neo Nationalist Party and the Conservative's support for them?

C: Questions of far superior quality. I have a longing to address these Fascists both directly and decisively. I have a firmly held belief that in January of next year, when the Kalistan voter wakes from his slumber and turns on his television he shall be met with the joyous face of a news reporter outside of the National Assembly of Kalistan as she informs the nation that the CIP has lost almost all of its seats. In the sixty-eight years that I have spent in this country, never before have I met such abhorrent, such repugnant, such schismatic and such heinous people as the 283 individuals that party unleashed on our legislature. Every day I enter that building I resent being encircled by them. Were it up to me, their party would be shut down never to be seen or heard from again. Alas, that is not democracy and for whatever incongruous reason they seem to have received a substantial amount of support up until now. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic that the rise of this new Fascist party should be the last nail in their coffin.

Q: Those are some strong words, does this mean you would not sit in a cabinet with the CIP in future?

C: Certainly not, it is my most profound regret that I allowed myself to govern with them.

Q: What about your new NEC, if I might change the subject again, what can we expect from these new recruits?

C: Of course you might, my friend, you are conducting this interview after all. The first point to make is that these are not all fresh faces. By retaining her position as Defence Spokesperson, Ella Ferrero endures from the first time we, then as the Kalistani Free People's Movement, entered national government. She isn't alone, Lorella Bonucci is a former Deputy Leader as is the returning Francesca Totti. There are some, shall we say, 'unseasoned' members, though, primarily those who were backed and promoted by the militia, several of whom do not possess the same level of political savoir-faire as their colleagues. No matter, they shall soon learn.

Q: Finally, the party recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. That means you have been leader for over 80% of its existence! How does it feel to have reached this landmark?

C: It is poignant. Thankfully, I am still able to encounter most of the founders of our party, Karen Omobo, James Harrison, Elanora Raneri and the aforementioned Francesca Totti remain Deputies in the Assembly, hopefully, their legacy prevails for generations in Kalistan.

Q: Thank you for meeting with me today, Mr Curti.

C: Farewell, my friend, keep the red flag flying!