For the last six years San Serriffe has enjoyed stable government, rising prosperity and freedom from strikes of any kind. This happy state of affairs is justly and widely attributed to the personality of the President, Maria-Jesu Pica.
Born 37 years ago of poor but honest sisal grinders, he is now generally regarded - despite his relative youth - as the father of the San Serriffian people. From an early age he took a keen interest in politics.
Conscripted into the army at the age of 16, Maria-Jesu Pica was an apt pupil at the Bodoni machine-gun academy and quickly rose through the ranks to become, by exceptional promotion, a general by the time he was 29.
He has eight children. Maria-Jesu Pica is a family man, a quality reflected in his choice of Ministers. The Government of General Pica, elected for life in 1971, consists of Prime Minister Angelico Pica; Minister of the Interior Rudolfo Pica; Foreign Secretary Martin Pica; Minister for Oil Phosphates and Foreign Trade, Arnoldo Pica; and Minister of Education, Public Enlightenment, Woman's Affairs, Minorities and Culture, Esmeralda Pica. There is no Minister of Finance. Martin and Arnoldo Pica are the President's two eldest sons. Rudolfo is his first cousin. Esmeralda Pica is his aunt. Three other members of the family - Giuseppe, Adolf, and Luigi -are serving life for treason.
The Government was formed following a coup in May, 1971, when seven regiments of dismounted cavalry, loyal to General Pica, overthrew the Government led by General Minion, of part Malaysian extraction. Although reports vary, the casualty list was considerable, with many Malaysian immigrants reported dead while resisting arrest.
For 17 days Radio San Serriffe broadcast nothing but martial music interspersed with appeals for calm. In his subsequent presidential address President Pica promised his people stability, two chickens in every pot, rigorous prosecution of General Minion and other enemies of the State, the abolition of Minionite newspapers, the establishment of a Government-controlled press and broadcasting service which would tell nothing but the truth, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly subject to licences to be issued by the Ministry of the Interior.
No restrictions are placed on foreign visitors except that their mail is censored.