Kalistani Major History

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Lady Newburg Expresses Empress' Greetings to New Lourennais King
Prepares for visit of Hutori Crown Princess
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 8, 5493


Prime Minister Kelly Newburg-LaRoc discusses Government activity in the coming year

Lady Kelly Newburg, the long serving Prime Minister and head of Her Imperial Majesty's Government, was interviewed at her home in Kaliburg for the periodical journal "Modern Statecraft". During the interview, Lady Newburg discussed several items on the agenda for the coming session of the National Assembly.

On the Domestic front, Lady Newburg announced new plans to revitalize Kalistan's highway network. "It has been centuries since Kalistan dealt with our highway situation," the Premier said. "A single artery runs north to south in Kalistan Proper, with branches going inland at Eshar and Yoshimi. This highway system has served Kalistan but more or less ensures that almost all economic development occurs within 50 miles of the coastline. We would like to expand our limited access, Duchy, and County highway systems to connect towns to one another rather than to only the Duchy Seat, to allow for more efficient transit and transportation of cargo. This is a growing priority that Her Imperial Majesty's Government is beginning to study and will likely be working on it for at least a generation."

Lady Newburg also addressed four high profile corruption defendants, who were recently arrested and are about to be tried. "The Ministry of Justice is preparing the case against four Deputies, two from Suldanor and two from Ananto, who were found to be accepting bribes will attempting to further pro capitalist legislation through the National Assembly," said Lady Newburg. "When the plot was uncovered, due primarily to the admission of one of the conspirators, the four deputies were immediately arrested. We have also arraigned no less than 12 liberal businessmen, who combined control more than ₭1 billion in investments and deposits, and who have been bribing these four deputies for more than 3 years in an effort to sponsor legislation that would roll back worker rights in favor of the profiteering motivations of these businessmen. Our Government has been cooperating closely with investigators in Her Imperial Majesty's Ministry of Justice, and as of right now, this corruption scandal does not touch any of her Majesty's Ministers in the cabinet." The corruption scandal, which is rare in Kalistan, has the political press rivetted, and there have been suggestions that the corruption rises fairly high in Institutionalist Party leadership.

On the Foreign Affairs front, Lady Newburg expressed Her Imperial majesty's congratulations on the coronation of a new Lourennais King. "Her Imperial Majesty never fully recognized the former King of Lourenne as legitimate," said Lady Newburg. "I don't think I am making any news with that announcement. Her Imperial Majesty has called Maximilien the V a 'usurper' on more than one occasion and has always favored restoring Catherine to the throne. After it became clear that Catherine had expired, the Empress continued to keep Maximilien at arm's length. But now that the previous king has abdicated in favor of his son, the Empress seems to be much warmer toward the new King. She expressed during our recent weekly meeting that she approved of the regular order of succession in Lourenne, and wished me to express a welcome to Leopold to visit Kalistan at his leisure."

Newburg also expressed optimism at the eventual arrival of Hutori's Crown Princess. "Her Imperial Majesty has been informed that the Crown Princess is expected to accompany her father to Kaliburg within the next year on business, and at that time, the Empress hopes to officially receive the Queen-presumptive to renew Kalistani ties to the Northern Kingdom." Newburg also mentioned the likelihood that the Empress will expand the Peerage in the Order of the Grey Smoke to include a foreign Peer for the first time. "Induction into the Order of the Grey Smoke is a tremendous honor for any Kalistani. Peerage is equivalent to honorary nobility in Kalistan, and while we aren't entitled to the same sort of deference or privilege as the Empress herself is, the position comes with a large amount of Prestige and a small pension." Unlike noble titles in titles of nobility in Kalistan, peerage is hereditary, and so the title can be passed down to future Hutorian Monarchs and doubtless Her Imperial Majesty would include a small plot of land and a cottage with any bestowal of peerage to the Crown Princess.

When asked about the Kaliburg Conference for a TMU, Lady Newburg acknowledged that the Conference was for the most part defunct. "The issue is enforcement of a terran monetary unit," said Newburg. "We may have buy in from a handful of countries; Deltria's feedback has been excellent to allow us to clarify the functions of the TMU." But what is lacking, according to Newburg, is a way to 1) enforce the TMU as opposed to some other currency as the single transferrable currency, and 2) an easy mechanism for updating the values in realtime, to accurately reflect financial and monetary developments in each country. "Without this ease of use, the TMU will never be used by anyone. It is a hurdle that we don't know how to get over, so further discussion of the TMU, at this point, will probably remain theoretical."

And at any rate, Newburg acknowledged that more countries have begun adopting the Franc regime. While having the Franc as the international standard is practically easier than developing a whole new market based on a theoretical currency, said Lady Newburg, and, given the current almost hegemonic role of Lourenne in the world system, makes more sense than using the LOD in that role, "adopting the Franc rather than working on the TMU undermines the efforts to establish an international currency that is divorced from any national economy or monetary policy. Unfortunately, and regrettably, this is the path more and more nations are taking, and creates future jeopardy for pegged countries should the Franc ever experience trouble in the future. For now, though, we have to call those discussions on the TMU on indefinite hiatus." Asked about the Empress' feelings on the failure of the TMU conference, Newburg acknowledged the Empress' disappointment, "But," she added, "It's just the status quo really, with the financial markets in Fortress Kalistan still on autarkic lock, and the rest of the world adopting a new version of the LOD, from Lourenne instead of Lodamun. Its no different than before we began work on the TMU."

As the current generation of governors in Kalistan begins to head for the exits and the new generation lines up to take their place, Lady Newburg admits that she is satisfied with the actions of the current Government. "We know that Kalistan is governed best when we have dispensed with the dilatory and wasteful fratricide of highly political contests for control of the Government, and highly politicized public policy. We look for an orderly and continuous transition in the coming years, and are excited about the new opportunities and ideas that this sort of change and evolution create in Kalistan.

"But we are lucky to have done away with the gridlock and backstabbing of liberal democracy," continued Lady Newburg, "hopefully once and for all in Kalistan. Our predecessors in the Socialist Party were far too tolerant of liberals for their own good. But we can see from the vantage point of decades of experience that the centuries wasted in pursuit of the idea that each ridiculous opinion held by some political hobbyist who called himself a voter was exactly as valid as the next stupid less-than-half opinion were actually a worse time for Kalistan, not a better one. Our job is administration of the State, and with the Empress at the head of that State, life is much simpler for everyone if we don't have to fight just for the privilege of doing what makes the most sense in carrying out Her Imperial Majesty's Policy."

Spoken like a true Institutionalist. The full interview with the Prime Minister is on newsstands across the Empire today and is the first major significant policy statement in a long time from Her Imperial Majesty's Government.