Kalistan

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Socialists provide Opposition, but its not enough
Several Socialist Bills die without a vote in National Assembly
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
November 18, 5653


Deputies vote for "National Pizza Day" legislation in National Assembly

The first six months following the first fully contestable election in more than a century have yielded uninspiring results in terms of being a case for democracy within in the Empire of Ananto and Kalistan, as the Institutional Party maintains a firm grip over the National Assembly. Though the Opposition Socialists have been arguing for full nationalization of several important sectors of the Economy, and a more internationalist Stance toward the rest of Terra, many of their proposals have fallen on deaf ears.

"We've tried to push through nationalization of MoCo, AeroKal, SSC-Port Elga, and KalMD this session," said Socialist Party of Kalistan speaker Miguel Fernandez of Sulari. The Socialists argue that nationalization of these industries protect Kalistani jobs and will also put Kalistan in a better position to counter nations like Istalia who, they argue, are dramatically and inexplicably targeting Northern Seleyan markets and infrastructure in an effort to undermine Kalistani influence in the region. "So far we've gotten nowhere. The Government has been polite in listening to us, but then we discover that the Speaker has moved assignment to committee till four months from now. But the Session ends a day and a half after the scheduled assignment. How are we supposed to operate like this?" The Socialists, joined by Social Democratic Party and the unlikely allies in the Liberal Party, have lodged several complaints to the Chancellor about the way bills are scheduled in the National Assembly, all of which were heard, noted and then "sent to be studied," said Fernandez. "Which is code for 'shelved and left to rot'."

"Look," said Chancellor of the Empire, Lady Jennifer Alvarez-Miller. "We operate in this Assembly in a certain way. The Socialists are new to this process, and there is some inexperience there, but the SocDems and the Liberals ought to know better, since many of them defected from the Institutional Party. What the Opposition bloc is doing is trying to ram rod legislation through that will dramatically alter the function of this Assembly and the entire economy, and I can't imagine that Her Imperial Majesty would prefer radical change now. She has found a way to provide people with more representation. But this is not a mandate to put your foot on the accelerator and move forward at mach speed. Reform in Kalistan comes at a glacial pace, and at the end of the day, nothing changes unless Her Imperial Majesty wills it."

"Yes, yes, we've had the opportunity to meet with Her Imperial Majesty," said Speaker Fernandez. "But it's in formal audience, and we have to say what we need to say through the Chancellor. it's kind of weird that the Leader of the Majority is sitting right there while we air our grievances or try to persuade the Empress to our point of view. That doesn't seem like we are able to tell the Empress what this nation really needs, what we were elected to provide. She sits there, listens to what we have to say, and then nothing happens. I don't even know what the point is."

The Socialist-SocDem-Liberal block taken as a whole comprises a minority in the Government. While Institutionalists hold 46 votes, the whole opposition only holds 33 votes. "I'm not sure what they thought was going to happen," said Chancellor Alvarez. "Even in fully democratic, constitutional states, the minority doesn't get to outvote the majority, and Institutional Deputies just don't want what the Radicals are trying to push through. So we vote against it. We vote as a bloc like they do. We have our whips like they do: and in every vote to move something up on the schedule, or to hold a floor debate, they can't even hold all their own members together. We are seeing votes like 57-22 or 60-19. So not even all their own Deputies agree with some of this stuff. I am not sure what they are even thinking."

Some of the other measures the Socialists have attempted to push through are greatly expanding the size of the National Assembly to decrease vote wastage in the elections, arguing that a lower threshold will allow each Party to more adequately represent the will of the people, limit the power of the Chancellor, reallocate Deputies by population (currently, Vrassa, the third largest Duchy holds the most total seats counting the two Free Cities in the Duchy, though Sulari is by far the most populace with Ananto coming in a distant second, though it has the same number of Deputies), and requiring Assembly oversight on all ministry budgets. "This Assembly is so distorted by the Imperial Fiat that so many basic principles of democracy are nowhere to be found in this Legislature," said Fernandez. "People want to have a functioning democracy, and we were elected to try to make that happen. But we can't even get a committee assignment on some of these things. This is a sham."

The Chancellor seemed unbothered by the Opposition Speaker's complaints. "Yes, Deputy Fernandez has been pounding on these issues for months," she said. "With respect to the Socialist Party, the National Assembly does a lot of important business on a day to day basis. A lot of the things he is asking for simply are too big to handle in the small amount of time we do have. And a lot of those requests are functionally impossible as we do not have the infrastructure to accomplish it. This Assembly's primary function is to turn Her Imperial Majesty's word into Policy. Reform is not even really secondary on our agenda. If he wishes that to change, I suggest he go after a majority. Except: in our system, anything outside of statutory reform like some of the things his Party is proposing, requires a super Majority, and I honestly don't see that happening in the near future, unless Her Imperial Majesty wills it. And I will refrain from repeating Her Imperial Majesty's opinion on the matter of reform."

As we interviewed the Chancellor, she was called away to oversee a vote on a resolution naming November 3rd "National Pizza Day" across Kalistan. She returned once the vote was completed, to add a postscript: "See? 68-11 for the resolution. Democracy in action. We apparently can agree on something like naming a day for a fine Kalistani cuisine like Tilapia Pizza. I'd say that verdict speaks for itself."

@TheRepublic