HoloNet News ISC Governors Push Bill To Extend Presidential Term

[The Storyteller]

“Good afternoon, this is Ani Diara reporting for GNN live here at Christophsis,” A twi’lek was speaking into a microphone, “I’m on site where we’ve learned that the overwhelming majority of ISC Governors have jointly come up with and signed on a bill that would extend the ISC Presidential term from the standard four years, to ten years. If passed, it would be in effect immediately as President Thorne was elected for a second term in office after overwhelming support just a few weeks ago! The bill has passed through the Executive Council vote and now sits on the recently re-elected President Thorne’s desk! This is a monumental and significant shift in the ISC. Now, back to some of our political analysts.”

“In many ways, this is both a surprise and also a bit expected coming from a new body of government that's still on the upswing,” The analyst sitting in the newsroom began, “Since President Thorne took office, planets within the ISC borders have collectively seen an economic boom. GDP measured by purchasing power has spiked by well over 60%, real income increased with the explosion in trade, wages have tripled for some of the fringe worlds and unemployment and poverty are on a steady decline. And that’s not even counting ISCRA, which has since considerably added to a population boom and industry output.”

“This all began with the early decisions made by President Thorne on implementing excise taxes on planets without a well established economy that were more trade based. Since then, those planets were able to integrate into the ISC ecosystem and establish new trade to bolster their import and export markets.”

“But couldn’t some argue that this gives the President a lot of power for longer and protects him even if he doesn’t perform his duties?”

“Yes and no,” The other analyst commented, “A longer term does not take away the ability to begin impeachment procedures should President Thorne fail to perform his duties. It’s important to note that the bill was pushed forth and initiated by the Governors, not the President.”

“True, though this does put a lot of pressure on the President to maintain consistency in pushing ISC forward to success. The galaxy’s eyes are on him now because if he signs this bill, ISC will have the longest serving term of any of the three major galactic body leaders!”

“Yes, and we will closely monitor his approval ratings which have skyrocketed as of the last Galactic Session. The ISC was vindicated in many ways when the Jedi’s rule breaking came to light, followed by their ultimate ousting from the Senate.”

“Now let’s get back to Ani who will keep us posted on the status of President Thorne’s signing of the bill and what some of the other Governors have to say!”

 

[Carrick]

Of all the things that Carrick thought that he would be spending his time back after his short vacation doing, a press conference had been low on the list. But, in the end, the Governors had gone and done something big. They had gotten together and voted for something that had the potential to change the landscape of politics within the Galaxy forever.

A change in the term of the office of the President of the ISC from Four years to Ten years.

"Yes, Miss Daily." he called on the next of the Reporters with their hands raised, "Thank you."

The reporter in question remained standing while those who had not been called upon returned to their seats for now, ready to leap back up for attention when the time came like the vultures they were.

"Yes, Secretary Carrick, our watchers want to know - who actually started the discussion of this change?" she asked, tilting her head to one side in an attempt to be coy, "The source of it is a hotly debated topic."

Carrick resisted rolling his eyes through sheer force of will.

"Hotly debated in the depths of the holonet subforums." he joked, earning a few light laughs, "No, but in all seriousness the idea was first kicked around by the council of Governors some months ago. With the election coming up it was reorganized by several of us until we were happy to present it formally."

With a wave of his hand, another reporter stood.

"So was this timed to coincide with the recent presidential election?"

Carrick raised an eyebrow.

"Of course it was. You don't drop constitution-altering things on the desk of a President who may not be set to stay." he reasoned, "It was held off until the results of the election had been made abundantly clear and was presented to the President for approval only once the results had been triple checked by impartial parties. That it was President Thorne once again was something I, personally, would have bet on were I a betting man but it, ultimately, wouldn't have changed the legislation we presented."

Another reporter.

"Secretary Carrick, will you be running in the next election?"

At this Carrick let out a genuine bark of laughter.

"If I am still kicking around the political scene of the ISC in ten years? Maybe, but the politics is very fluid when it needs to be and besides... I might have retired by then." he waved a hand as he stepped back, "Thank you, that'll be all for today."

 

[Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl]

Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl was horrified and enraged at the unfairness of it all. He had to put up with Emryc Thorne for the next TEN years?

The Wookiee's distaste for the ISC President was not a secret; Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl vehemently disagreed with the ISC's anti-Jedi sentiment, he found the Emryc Thorne Fan Club to be both ridiculous and uncontrollable, and he absolutely detested the way the media fawned over Thorne's every move just because he was attractive. The hype had only increased with the President's kidnapping several months ago.

None of that mattered right now, though. Replacing the Wookiee's initial rage was concern; apparently, the ISC Governors had also joined the Emryc Thorne ass-kissing club. Emryc Thorne already had his own currency. Now, he had the his Governors handing him a ten-year term just weeks after winning an election for a four-year one. That precedent was dangerous, because in Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl's opinion, there could be nothing good about a government that couldn't say "no" to its leader. Fortunately for the FWA, Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl had no such qualms.

"Draft a message to Prime Minister Belasi" he said to his secretary. "Tell her as respectfully as you can that she'd better not get any ideas."

 

[Hergalor]

Hergalor sat in his office, watching Holovision, as the news came in from the ticker. The ISC's President, Emryc Thorne, would remain president for an extended term. It was a bold move, one which he suspected some in the FWA would balk at. He understood their concerns; who would want to sacrifice their sovereignty to a leader for longer

But two points weighed in Hergalor's mind. For one, the ISC was an incredibly new polity that President Thorne had founded and led. Despite his often polarizing appearance, he also projected a vision of stability, cool neutrality, and industrial growth to both the ISC and Galactic Senate broadly. It was why even Core Worlds would defect to the ISC - leadership rallied around their president. There was no telling who, or what, would follow; the existence of the ISC itself was not yet guaranteed to much of the galaxy. Frankly (leading to point two), Hergalor was not anxious to see what lay next. Hergalor's Taanab was beginning to enjoy what would be a warm relationship with the Thorne regime. If voters decided to change their position on foreign relations, or a new president entered office who opposed TAC's growth, all the progress the world had made with ISCRA's investments would be for naught. Long-term investment was the name of the game, now, and the ISC at present was the stable polity. Some saw a bubble that would pop, but Hergalor saw a changing galaxy where the Outer Rim's economy would grow and grow. It would help to be at the ground floor of that.

Hergalor pushed a button to summon his aide Gonoval into his office. "Senator?"

"Send a gift to congratulate President Thorne. A fishbowl, with a live Naboo scalefish." Here's to ten more years of profit.

 

[Emil Ro]

Emil was back on Coruscant thinking about his own reelection prospects when the news came to his attention, as it sometimes did, via a mob of reporters outside his office. Even as a Senator, he sometimes underestimated the media's hunger for drama between the galaxy's various leaders. Sometimes, Emil fed their hunger, particularly when the object of his ire was that abominable Senator Starros from the Free Worlds' Alliance. But, most of the time, he was a rather uninteresting person to interview.

"Chancellor," one reporter said, shoving a mic into his face. "Have you any remarks about this latest push by the ISC to extend the term of its president?"

"Should I?" Emil said, glancing over the rim of his sunglasses. The Devaronian woman at the other end wasn't with the tabloids, so he relaxed slightly.

"President Thorne has just been elected to his second term. This is quite obviously a ploy by the governors of the Consortium to extend his rule. Isn't that a concern, given the recent history of the galaxy?"

She was baiting him. The press had almost unanimously labeled Emil the second coming of Palpatine. Now, they wanted him to fire the same shots back at the President. And while he did find it rather ironic that the Consortium would make this move after months of Emil being the leader chosen by the media as Palaptine's spiritual successor, he didn't bite the bait.

"The Consortium is a sovereign nation," Emil said. "Its governors represent their people well. If they have elected President Thorne to another term and extended that term, then that is their prerogative. It is not the business of the New Republic how our contemporaries govern themselves. I have enjoyed an amicable relationship with President Thorne and look forward to doing so throughout his extended term in office."

He started to walk away, but this reporter was persistent, stepping into his path. "Some have whispered that this is the first steps towards the Consortium becoming a new Empire. What do you say to them?"

Ah, yes. The infamous "some" people. Code language for "my producers." Emil knew this game well.

"I don't see any indications of that. To my knowledge, the Consortium has mechanisms to remove its president should he step out of line. And even if it were true, not all empires are the Empire. Empires have done just as much good for this galaxy as democracies. The only empire I am concerned about at this moment is the Sith Empire. And that is where my concerns will stay for the foreseeable future."

And with that, he stepped around her and into a waiting hover-cab, to be whisked away towards his private apartment.

 

[Korre Belasi]

Korre was actually in the lab when the reporter Ani Diara appeared on the holoscreen shoved in a corner of the room. The woman listened to everything that was said by the Twi'lek, but was working with biohazardous material and couldn't spare the time to undress out of all her protective gear to go gawk at the holotv.

"Computer--" Beep boop. "--turn off the tv."

The holotv turned off with a quiet zip, leaving the Belascan to finish cleaning up her station in silence.

-----

"Alright, what do we have here..." Korre, who had then just returned from the lab, plopped down at her desk as her hands undid the bun put up to keep her hair safely away from hazardous materials. There were several message alerts on the digital screen implanted into her desk, most of which had to do with the announcement she had listened to back in the lab.

"Computer--" Beep boop. "--turn on the news and rewind the recording starting one hour ago."

The broadcast began to play again on the holoscreen across the room, allowing Korre to listen to the report again as she scrolled through the various emails she had received whilst in the labs. 'Damn, so the one time I make it in something happens, huh?' Her eye caught a message sent from Senator Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl, which was tagged as urgent.

"Prime Minister..." Korre read down the email, mumbling the words as she read. "...I'm sure you have... ... ...bill passed through the ISC governors... ... ...President Thorne is... ... ...I hope that you--" 'What?' Korre rubbed her eyes and squinted at the sentence again. "I hope that you...don't consider following in his footsteps..." A stupefied expression came over Korre's face as she read the short remainder of the message. When she finished she sat up, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. The message was not disrespectful but she felt disrespected by that one line.

"Well, that's one way to say 'don't get any ideas.' For kriff's sake..." Was she surprised? Mildly, but she figured that the Wookie's distaste for the ISC should have foretold this. 'Have a bit of faith!' She had absolutely no intention of extending her term. In fact, it would probably be impossible to try. It was already hard enough to get the Free Worlds Senate to agree on anything; they certainly wouldn't vote unanimously to extend her term outside of reelecting her.

Knock knock. Florin entered after the rapid two knocks, also looking mildly annoyed.

"Korre, there are reporters outside that want to interview you," he said plainly. The Belascan sighed and slumped farther back into her seat. He looked at her for a moment, gave her a sympathetic shrug, then said, "I'll tell them you'll be out soon."