United Left Press Conference

The ULC leader, Alberto Garzón, invited 500 people to a conference hall in Zarantin so they could ask the ULC leader some questions concerning them. 25% of the audience are ULC supporters, 25% of the audience are UKIP supporters, 25% of the audience are Socialist Party supporters and 25% of the audience are either undecided or supporting other parties. 
Lizzie Ruth (UKIP Supporter): “Good evening, Mr Garzón. If you ever enter government, you might face the situation of bankruptcy during your term. How can we trust the ULC with the Falleen economy?” 
Alberto Garzón: “My government will balance the books, and let me tell you how we are going to do it. First, we will have fair taxes, so we will cut taxes for both the rich and the poor in hope that the people’s income will develop. Secondly, we will protect key areas like health and education, make both health and education free for people and we will cut the military budget by 5%, as we have no need to keep a large military. We only need enough troops to defend our towns and cities in an attack but currently we need enough troops to deal with the civil war in Haalsia. If we ever get into government, then we will start lowering the military budget and have it lowered to 100 billion Fall by the end of our 1st term in government.” 
Shirley Williams (SP Supporter): “Many rich people try to avoid paying taxes by hiding money in foreign bank accounts. How will you prevent this from happening?”
Alberto Garzón: “That is a very good question. I will enact a law that says people have to pay a 10,000 Fall fee to set up a bank account in a foreign country, and if they don’t pay that fee then they will be fined 20,000 Fall. If the money put into that foreign bank account was produced in Falleentium, then we would still require them to pay their fair share of taxes from that bank account or else they will be fined double the amount they avoided paying. I think we must tackle tax avoidance wherever we can. That will be one of our main priorities when we enter government.” 
Hiroshi Williams (PRM supporter): “I am concerned that your economic plans will cause the government to overspend.” 
Alberto Garzón: “I can assure you, sir, that my economic plans will not cause the government to overspend. There are schools and hospitals that have been rebuilt across this empire, so I don’t agree with that. We plan on reducing spending on some areas such as military, which will reduce our overspending.” 
Simon Chevrolet (Undecided): “You have not mentioned any co-operation with other parties. Why have you not stated any co-operation or do you not plan on co-operating with other parties. If so, why not?”
Alberto Garzón: “Let me be plain. We’re not going to do a deal with any party. We’re not going to join or form a coalition. Let me tell you this. I am not going to sacrifice the future of our country, the unity of our country, I’m not going to give in to Socialist Party demands around military or deficit or anything like that. I’m not going to have a ULC government if it means deals or coalitions with the Socialist Party. If you want a United Left government, you need to vote United Left. I’m the leader, we are not going to have deals. What I want is a majority ULC government. You ask me about deals, you ask me about coalitions, they’re not going to happen.”
Mateja Macon (UKIP Supporter): “In that case, will there be no ULC government because you are not going to get a majority.”
Alberto Garzón: “I am going to fight as hard as I can for as many seats as I can then it will be up to the people to decide who should be in government. With the SP, and the same applies to parties like the FCRP, the reason why I reject the Socialist Party, who, by the way, are fighting us. The idea that we are friends with the Socialist Party are nonsense. The reason we reject them is because they want to separate the people of this empire and their leaders throw insults at everyone. I even heard that Brandt insults everyone he works with sometimes.” 
Kristina Cerney (Undecided): “You don’t seem to explain the possibility of not getting a majority government, which is ridiculous and you really need to be honest with voters about what you might do if you don’t get a majority.” 
Alberto Garzón: “I was talking to my party Spokesperson, Cayo Lara, the other day about this. He said “If you don’t get a majority, it means going into a darkened room with either Willy Brandt or Jeff Sessions.” I don’t like the sound of that at all. I am not going to push away my manifesto promises, whatever the outcome of the election. If I don’t win a majority, I’ve got a manifesto. Some of you might have read it but the manifesto’s out there. If I’m the Chancellor, I am going to do everything I can to get my manifesto, and not start trading with Jeff Sessions’ manifesto. I don’t want to go into a darkened room with another party leader and ripping out my own manifesto. That is not what ULC voters are voting for, it’s not going to happen.” 
Kristina Bennett (Center Party supporter): “What makes your view more important than the Falleen people when it comes to foreign issues.” 
Alberto Garzón: “It’s about leadership. It’s about leadership and what I want to achieve as Chancellor. When I look at the empire, what do I think the biggest problems are? I think 4 years of young people thinking they are going to have a worse life than their parents and 4 years of expensive healthcare which people have to pay for and if I become Chancellor in several months, I will spend most of my energy on those issues.”
Alfred Little (UKIP Supporter): “So if you don’t form a majority government, will you call for a 2nd election.
Alberto Garzón: “I don’t want a 2nd election. I want to govern. I want to govern and change the country. You get this choice every 4 years. Do you want a country run for the richest and the most powerful?” 
Temur McKinley (ULC supporter): “Good evening, Mr Garzón. When people ask you about forming a coalition, you are like “No, I want a majority.” Do you know how much respect you would get if you were honest?” 
Alberto Garzón: “My friend, I am not saying to you that I am guaranteed a majority, actually my campaign director told me that the chances I am getting a majority government is 1%. I tried to answer the lady at the back’s question about not getting a majority government. I tried to outline my approach. My approach is not to start ripping out parts of my manifesto and the reason I say that is because I think trust in politics is very low. I don’t feel forming a coalition where one party blames another for their own mistakes. If I’m Chancellor, I’m going to seek to implement all of my manifesto.”
Jorunnr Coelho (UKIP): “Mr Garzón. I am a teacher. How can you guarantee that you will not make cuts to education?”
Alberto Garzón: What we’ve said is we will protect areas like healthcare and education, so it will be protected against inflation. We have planned this because investing in our future is essential for both our empire and our economy. 
Mulan Zeelen (ULC supporter): “Is a vote for you a vote to see the welfare budget skyrocket?” 
Alberto Garzón: “No. I believe in a welfare system with responsibility. Responsibility means that you can work, you should work. We’re the only party in this election putting forward a proposal saying that if you’re a young person unemployed for more than a year, we will guarantee you a job but if you don’t take the job you will lose benefits. Can I say that we haven’t got enough homes in our empire. While I have been campaigning and talking to voters, I have met with people as old as 27 still living with their parents because they cannot afford a home of their own and some of them are still unemployed people struggling to find a job.” 
Jota Zyac (Undecided): “What will you do differently about immigration?”
Alberto Garzón: “Under a United Left government, when people come here they will not get benefits for at least 2 years, we will ensure that, in our public services, immigrants learn the local Fallish languages. I think everyone who comes here should learn Fallish and we will stop employers from bringing people into this empire, exploiting migrant labour and undercutting wages. There have been 2 prosecutions for failure to pay the minimum wage in the last 4 years.
Let me tell the Audience this. I am not going to lie, I am not making easy promises but I am not going to be the guy who makes easy promises because it makes people think that you are going to break all your promises. Thank you for attending.” 
At the end of the question time, an exit poll was taken from all 500 people who attended. Here are the results: 
*United Koalition of Imperialist Parties: 35% 
*United Left Coalition: 31%
*Socialist Party: 16%
*Other/Undecided: 18%
Category:The Imperial Constitution