Kalistan

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Empress offers a rare Q & A period in National Assembly
Patently denies any Imperial Plot to Invade Athosia
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
March 1, 5640


Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Mary I Ananto is "grilled" on the floor of the National Assembly

Usually, when Her Imperial Majesty Empress Mary I Ananto attends a session of the National Assembly of Deputies, the conversation is one way: She usually attends to make a speech to put legitimacy behind a specific government policy. Today she did something that is rare in the annals of Imperial Legislative history: She allowed herself to be questioned by the People's Deputies.

She first appeared during a contentious debate over whether to demand the resignation of Her Imperial Majesty's Minister of Defense over last month's intelligence leak, which included a classified map of invasion routes into Baltusia. She arrived in the Chamber unannounced and the very contentious debate ended instantly as all present rose immediately to their feet. She handed a note to Chancellor of the Empire, who read it and said "Her Imperial Majesty Empress Mary I Ananto would like to answer your questions."

There was immediate objection to the proposed course of action by the Empress, rising mostly from the Orthodox Majority. "This is extremely unusual, Mr. Chancellor!" said Deputy Shell Franklin, representing rural Dah County in Ananto. "There is no way Imperial Protocol can be maintained in this setting. The House Laws dictate under which conditions Kalistani Nationals may speak with the Empress, and we must insist."

The Empress stepped into the Speakers' Podium and said "You may all direct your questions for us to the Chancellor of the Empire. We shall treat this as a formal audience." Protests continued, as Deputy after Deputy demanded the Chancellor ask the Empress to leave so the legislature could finish its debate. Eventually the Empress stepped to her microphone and said "Deputies: We are your Empress, and it is our desire that before you sack one of our Ministers in whom we maintain complete faith, you have the correct information. Now: You will accept our offer to answer your questions, or you will retire, but it is our desire that we shall speak here, and as such, our will is beyond contestation or challenge. What will it be, Gentlemen?"

At this, the Deputies stopped speaking, but remained in silence. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it pleases us that you shall be seated, and stand only when it is your turn to speak," and then to the Chancellor: "Sir Chancellor, please allow this Assembly to conduct its interrogation." The Chancellor nodded and said "So please your Imperial Majesty."

Questions for the Empress came in a far more orderly and timid fashion than they had been directed at the Chancellor.

Q: "Sir Chancellor, please ask Her Imperial Majesty to confirm or deny whether our Empire was formally planning an invasion of Baltusia."

A: "We can formally and fully deny that there were any such plans for an invasion of Athosia. As the Deputies know, it is against our own law for us to seek to take our birthright in Athosia by force. They will be reunited to the Empire willingly or not at all."

Q: "Sir Chancellor, please ask of Her Imperial Majesty if there is any new information regarding the leaked classified documents, especially their source."

A: "We can confirm two things for the Deputies. First: The documents were absolute forgeries. They were most likely posted on the internet in a disinformation campaign. The IBSI and the Regular Forces have assured us that there were no operational planning around the invasion of Athosia or conflict on any level with Baltusia in pursuit of our rightful claims in Athosia. Secondly, as to who is responsible for the dissemination of this information, we are still investigating the matter, but right now signs are pointing toward liberal deadenders who still inhabit this state. A possibly goal of theirs could be to drive a wedge between Kalistan and our Partners, and it seems that they have in some measure been successful. The aim of this action is unclear, but it could be said to be destabilization."

Q: "Sir Chancellor, would you please ask the Empress why Kalistan maintains Southern Army mobilization north of the Lucid River?"

A: "We maintain our presence there both to be ready if their revolution spills across our river into our National Territory. We also wish to remain prepared in the case of seeing human rights, civil rights and political rights being violated in Athosia. Obviously we have not crossed the Lucid River, nor do we intend to, unless it is to rescue our kinsmen. But as we read in the Baltusian papers, tensions seem to be decreasing in Baltusia rather than increasing, so our presence, along our own border, inside our own Nation, may also decrease as the security situation in Baltusia stabilizes."

Q: "Why does Her Imperial Majesty..." at which point the Deputy was cut of by the Chancellor. "Deputy Conrad you will address your question to me rather than to the Empress. Weren't you one of those just complaining five minutes ago about protocol?"

Q: "Excuse us Sir Chancellor. Sir Chancellor, will you ask Her Imperial Majesty why she insists upon blaming Liberals for all of this nation's woes, when we only want economic freedom and more power to be allocated to the people. She makes us out to be villains of the worst order, when in fact our ideology creates perfectly legitimate and stable government the world over. Could you ask her that?

A: "Deputy Conrad, suggesting that Liberals could do that here is akin to sedition, when you boil it down. The Institutional Party is the only party that is legal in Kalistan. And the free market has been almost entirely abolished in favor of the Dual Economy. Perhaps liberals are the problem because we merely need to look at capitalist, liberal democratic states world wide, and we see them virtually paralyzed in fear of their own electorate, while the People are so puppetted by demagogues that the outcomes of elections can only be said to be legitimate comparatively. Similarly, Kalistan's various flirtations with Liberalism have invariably ended with hyper capitalism, hyper inequality and inequity, and gross violations of human rights, as Liberals use state power mercilessly to protect property and to force their preferred political system down everyone's throat. By Contrast, Kalistan has stability and regularity: two traits that allow the people to lead actually fuller lives. Liberalism fills people's heads with a bunch of nonsense that would be irrelevant in the lives of the people if it weren't so pernicious, and all liberal movements in this nation, where they arise, need to be squelched out of existence when they are found, so the people may know true liberty, rather than being distracted by stupid and juvenile political in fighting."

Q: "Sir Chancellor, would Her Imperial Majesty care to list names of liberals who are behind this plot?

A: "We did not say that they were. We are only currently saying that the documents were written by the hand of a a professional agent who utilized contacts in the Kalistani Press to bring embarrassment upon our Government and our Chancellor."

Q: "Sir Chancellor, does her Imperial Majesty have a name for the person or person's behind this so called disinformation."

A: "We will not comment on an ongoing investigation."

Q: "Does Her Imperial Majesty have any information at all for us on this, or did she just seek to waste our time?"

Chancellor of the Empire, Sir Michael Koenig stepped in at this time: "Deputy Hemmit, mind your tone." The Deputy responded, "This is all smoke and mirrors, Sir Chancellor. Her Imperial Majesty was embarrassed by this episode, and she is doing all she can here to protect her friends and sweep this under the rug. I think we've heard enough of this propaganda: I for one am ready to vote, and call the question on the motion to cashier the Defense Minister." The motion to end debate received a quick second by another Internationalist Deputy, and more than three quarters of the Deputies immediately signaled that they wanted debate closed.

While Her Imperial Majesty sat in her stately Assembly Seat, the Chamber conducted its vote to remove the Minister, Colonel Bonaventure. In the end, the motion failed 31 to 48. After the vote, the Chancellor quickly adjourned the session until the following day, rather than to let the debate flair again in the presence of the Empress. Her Imperial Majesty nodded to the Chancellor, and then existed the chamber.

Later, many Deputies very publicly blamed Chancellor Koenig for allowing the Empress' presence to sway their votes. "I was going to vote 'for' showing Bonaventure the door," said a Deputy who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "The Empress' answers did little to sway my mind, but the thing that killed my vote for cashiering was the fact that the Chancellor let her into the Chamber in the first place. I know he couldn't do much against a determined Empress, but still. He might have put up a little fight, and if there was any hint that I wouldn't have been voted against the will of the Empress, I would have voted to force Bonaventure into retirement over this whole thing. She made her will crystal clear to all of us, and how some could still vote for the proposal was beyond me. Their votes are recorded: they now have political targets on their back for defying the Empress' clear preferences."

The Deputy also noted that most of those who voted for removal of the Minister were of the Internationalist faction and have also identified themselves unofficially as liberals.

While the investigation continues, the Chancellor continues to be peppered by a tiny but very vocal minority, which may someday switch from calling for the head of the Defense Minister to looking for Sir Koenig's head instead. But this is not that day. Meanwhile, Her Imperial Majesty, recently returned to Kaliburg from Eveari on a permanent basis, is preparing for her visit to Istalia for the marriage of Crown Prince Tomassio. She will be reportedly looking at real estate when in country close to the ancient but now demolished Casa Di Ananto that was owned by Nicolette I Ananto nearly 200 years ago.

@TheRepublic