3rd of April
Prague Castle
Silence reigned in the meeting room of the Prague Castle, silence and heads pointed down, at the table. With the exception of heads of Reiserová, Weisser, Dlouhá, who were looking in front of them, and Šín, who was looking at his phone. "Well?" President Reiserová!s voice finally cut through the tense silence.
"Exceptional comrade President, not a moment too soon, not a moment too late, but just at the opportune time. Our economy has fully realized is potential within the primary stage of socialism, and it is time to move forward with realities of today. I of course support your suggestion fully." nodded František Weisser with a smile, finally, his dreams were going to fruition. The President has suggested the re-nationalization of private property, starting with foreign companies, and he could not hide the pride he felt at being vindicated.
The President's focus shifted to her Minister of Foreign Affairs who took a deep breath, "Of course there will be difficulties, but I believe as far as my department goes, we are ready to respond to any,... hostile actions from abroad, our alliances should stand as firm as our Party under your guide. I join comrade Weisser in supporting your suggestion." Dlouhá confirmed and Reiserová acknowledged her response with a simple nod.
"Heřman?" the President asked her Minister of Finance, who raised his head and exhaled, "I realize it might be the right thing to do, but I am not quite sure the budget will be ready for such an abrupt step, we have not managed to meet our saving goals, and the funds we were capable to gain from abroad also did not meet our expectations." his remarks were met with a smirk by Minister Saková, who, despite otherwise agreeing with him, was never able to get enough funding form the Ministry of Finance for her own Ministry, due to the goal to collect a large amount of money, instead of investing over the last half a year.
"And what about our international partners, just a few months ago you have welcomed the Emperor of Inimicus here, and before the Prime Ministers of Reitzmag and Spain, you have called them your friends, you asked them for all those investments and you have promised them..." he was cut off before he could finish.
"I am an actress Heřman, I called them what was necessary and I acted towards them as was necessary to develop our state. The people, the workers and peasants of this country, are my only friends." Reiserová responded, "And as you said, it is the right thing to do. And inevitable if we want to achieve, you know, a highly developed socialist economy, either we do it now or we leave it for later. I realize the risk, and I will not leave the burden to my successors." she continued, with a loud exhale at the end. She got the idea of what a socialist economy should look like from the books, given to her by Minister Weisser, and she has thought, that achieving a fully developed socialist economy was a task for her. A task no other could handle aside from her, due to the potentially damaging reactions from abroad.
"Very correct comrade President! To leave this necessary step on the revolutionary road for later would be to spit in the face of all those who have sacrificed their lives to building a highly developed socialist economy, now that it is within reach." reassured her Weisser, once again acknowledged only by the President's nod.
"Will everyone be ready to carry out their duties?" Heřman Švestka asked, with his voice slightly shaking. And the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Interior responded with their nods.
"Pavel?" the President asked her Minister of Agriculture, "What about the, you know, farmers and the fishermen?"
"The farmers and the fisherman are always behind you, comrade President!" he responded, "But, please,consider the effects re-nationalization could have on the sector, I would say they need... more time." in fact however, Dohnal like many others in the room, disagreed with this re-nationalization, doubting any potential economic benefits and fearing instability, isolation and recession, at best.
"Perhaps then, we could make an exception for the agricultural and fishing sectors? Perhaps six more months for small and medium agricultural enterprises and a full year for small and medium fishing enterprises until they are nationalized?" Lubomír Mejzlík suggested his compromise. He also wan't a keen supporter of the idea of re-nationalization, but he sensed an opportunity to appear as a trouble solver in front of Reiserová.
"All the private enterprises in fishing industry are small or medium." Dohnal responded before looking at the President's face, seeing her eyes were set on him, he felt pierced by her gaze, "I think the farmers and fishermen would be in support of that idea." he resigned himself.
And again the room fell silent. Finally Karel Šín stood up and opened his mouth with a smile. But before he could sey a single word, his actions were noticed by Zuzana Saková, who quickly jumped to her legs and not wishing to let any other to appear more loyal shouted: "Long live comrade Reiserová!" despite also disagreeing with re-nationalization. Soon she was joined by Šín, Weisser, Dlouhá, Mejzlík and in few seconds by all the other Ministers. President Reiserová smiled, "The decision has been adopted unanimously, I'll see you in the National Assembly in two hours." with that she turned around and walked to her private office, as majority of her government grouped together, to discuss the influence of minister Weisser.
Meanwhile Reiserová opened her phone and wrote two sentences to Silas Kligenberg, "Remember when I told you I will always be gentle to you, and that you will thank me for it? I will be expecting that 'thank you' today : P" she pondered for few seconds before sending the message. But as soon as she did, she turned down notifications from him. He had to believe she was too busy to answer him at the moment. Once again, the President for Life realized how difficult the task, of not peaking at the messages from him until the evening, in front of her was.