2130 GMT+2, 1 January 2020
Apartment 32, Building 10, Kharkiv, United Republics of Novokazia
Private Residence of Tatyana Khurdovskaya
Yuriy Shchepchak walked across the small apartment closing the small window that looked out on the snow covered city outside. The cold frigid winter air blew through the streets of Kharkiv as its many denizens prepared for the announcement of the election results. Across the country, people had braved the cold to cast their votes in a hotly contested election which had been born out of a massive political scandal resulting in a deposed Prime Minister and only the second time the President had dissolved parliament forcing an election.
Yuriy looked back toward the TV, the news splashed across its small pixelated screen, sitting in the corner of the room, crowded around it were nearly a dozen chattering people who had packed into the small apartment of the person who brought them all together, Tatyana Khurdovskaya, the young, charismatic, newly elected leader of the Novokazia League of Democratic Socialists.
One of them quickly interrupted the chatter around the TV,
"Wait! Sh-.. I think they're about to announce the results."
The room instantly fell silent all of them watching their fate as it beamed back at them. The news anchor had stopped briefly to listen to the ear piece feeding them updates as they came in. A brief moment of surprise crossed the anchors face before she began to speak,
"We have received the final tally for the January snap election...", the anchor paused for a moment seeming to wait for the teleprompter to update before continuing,
"The Democratic Socialists have 326 seats giving them a comfortable majority to form a government, this is a huge upset for the New Liberal Democrats and their coalition with the Christian Union."
The small apartment erupted in a wave of emotion as cheers, tears and laughter met the news. Tatyana hugged Yuriy who had come back to the group, tears forming in her eyes.
"Yuriy, I cant believe we did it," she exclaimed shaking her head in disbelief as the TV began to show the break down of the results.
"Our senior assembly correspondent Lukas Korlyev has more on the ramifications of this election, Lukas?" A thin, bespectacled man began to point at a large screen with a break down of the Republican Assembly comparing its pre-election make up to the new,
"As you can see Dariya, this is an upset of historical proportions. The New Liberal Democrats were facing an uphill battle even with their coalition with the Christian Union of Donetsk-Kavkaz but it appears in light of the scandal revolving around former Prime Minister Ishitin, voters have effectively decided to remove them from any power brokering." The screen showed the 600 member Republican Assembly, the New Liberal Democrats-Christian Union coalition had gone from a combined 421 Seats to a mere 110 while the Democratic Socialists had gone from a mere 94 seats to a majority wielding 326. The news anchor continued,
"There is good and bad news for the other parties as well. The Communists gained several seats bringing them to 62 seats. The Socialist Workers Party saw a relatively large increase as well with 88 seats. Bad news falls to the Sovereignty and United Novokazia parties who both are now down to a mere 11 seats and 3 seats respectively. Needless to say, this has been a fantastic night for the left wing parties, particularly the Democratic Socialists, back to you Dariya."
The fervor in the room had died down as they all listened, the excitement still bristled amongst them but a sense of the significance of what would be next was beginning to set in. The anchors began to explain the meteoric rise of Tatyana Khurdovskaya within left-wing politics in Novokazia. Raised in a small working family in Kharkiv, her father had been an adamant communist and her mother a center left social democrat. At 24, she had unseated a prominent local politician in Kharkiv's Gorduma elections. Within the next 4 years she had become the face of the party. Now she would almost certainly be Prime Minister pending a vote in the opening session of Parliament, the first female Prime Minister and the youngest ever.
0730 GMT+2, 7 January 2020
1 Solyenko Street, Kiev, United Republics of Novokazia
Residence of the Prime Minister
The black BMW 750i came to a slow stop outside the gray masoned building amid the terraced housing that made up Solyenko street. Tatyana peered out from the rear seat to the maroon door, a single golden 1 adorned its face and two armed police officers stood outside. She had seen this building many times but always on TV as the Prime Minister gave important addresses.
"You ready?," Yuriy asked from the other seat,
"As ready as I can be," Tatyana replied with a hint of apprehension
"You'll do fine, all these years of work have led you to this moment," Yuriy looked over at her, a reassuring smile on his face. Yuriy Shchepchak had been her senior advisor since she began in politics and also one of her oldest friends. They climbed out of the car as two bodyguards opened the car door, Tatyana still was trying to get used to the sudden entourage of security. She had been assigned a single police officer as protection during the election but after the results of the election, an entire security detail had arrived.
As she quietly proceeded to the office in the back of the building, she thought about all the events that had led her to this moment. Four years ago she had run for a council seat in Kharkiv against an established member of the New Liberal party. In the eyes of the politically seasoned, she was almost assured to lose the election yet much like the upset that had just made her prime minister, she won.
She had campaigned on the the rights of workers, social freedom, and a strong welfare system combined with a tireless grassroots effort to meet voters and spread the message which had chipped enough support away that she won by a healthy 6 point margin. She continued to gain fame in her time as a Peoples Parliamentarian with fiery speeches condemning the corruption of the long dominant New Liberal - Christian Union coalition and for spearheading a left wing opposition coalition with the New Vision Party.
All of this had culminated in mid November 2018 with the massive scandal that gripped the then New Liberal Prime Minister Petru Ishitin, who had been discovered to be profiting off a human smuggling ring to provide cheap, illegal laborers for wealthy Kazaks. The revelation had plunged the entire country nearly into a constitutional crisis as the Prime Minister denied the charges and his coalition refused to back a vote of no confidence. When state charges were brought against Ishitin, the President, a largely ceremonial role but who did have the power to dissolve parliament in extraordinary circumstances did just that. What followed was a contentious election with the previously ruling coalition accusing the League of Democratic Socialists of a set up and the more extreme United Novokazia party and Sovereignty Parties claiming a left wing coup was in progress.
Tatyana paused at the dark wood door, a silver plaque at its center, "Office of the Prime Minister". She entered the room, which was tidier than she imagined it would be. A large desk with computer monitors sat in the center, a small desk plaque greeted those who entered, "Tatyana Khurdovskaya."
"I guess you found it after all," Yuriy jokingly said to her noticing the plaque, some less reputable, partisan news outlets had claimed she didn't even know where the Prime Minister's residence was. Tatyana gave a chuckle, Yuriy continued,
"You have a busy itinerary today," he had opened a binder she hadn't noticed he was carrying, "first we have a cabinet meeting here, then we have a meeting with the President just before you go to the Assembly for the opening session."
"Right then, I suppose let's get started," she said following Yuriy out of the office.
The cabinet held its meetings at 1 Solyenko, in a conference room. There were over a dozen cabinet members. Some had been personally selected by Khurdovskaya but most had been vetted by her staff. They all sat at the long, large table which dominated the large room tucked deep in the building. As she entered, the quiet murmuring in the room stopped as they all stood out of respect. Tatyana took her spot at the head of the table, Yuriy took a seat on the wall behind her as the meeting began.
Each cabinet minister proceeded to report on transition progress from the previous government. While there had been some hiccups and the occasional stonewalling by outgoing ministers, the transition had been overall a smooth affair. The ministers then went into more detail of the current happenings of their offices. The meeting finished uneventfully after a couple hours and Tatyana was whisked away by Yuriy and several other aides to the same BMW outside to the meeting with the President.
1114 GMT+2, 7 January 2020
Pushkinskiy Palace, Kiev, United Republics of Novokazia
Residence of the President
The large Pushkinskiy Palace had been the residence of the President since the end of the revolution in late 1962. In the time leading up to that it had been the private residence of General Anatoliy Lepinchyev, an authoritarian who in 1942 launched a military coup overthrowing the House of Munteanu, an ethnically Moldovan royal house that had ruled Novokazia for nearly 300 years.
Tatyana peered out the window as the car stopped in the courtyard in front of the palace. "Is he a King or a President?", she quipped quietly to herself as she gazed at the large building. It was strange she thought, she had campaigned against all the blatant self serving of the previous government and yet was about to have an "audience" with someone who lived in a relic from a long forgotten monarchical past.
The smartly dressed servant who had led her from the car, guided her up the long walkway from the car through the large ornate doors of the palace. The palace was exquisite even if Tatyana found herself disapproving of the not so subtle undertones of regality. Classical art adorned the walls leading through until Tatyana was led to a large room. At the center was the President, Sergey Bityanin. Nearly 76 years old, he had a storied history as one of the prominent names within Novokazia. He had been one of the architects of the 1962 Yellow Revolution which had toppled the Lepinchyev junta. The President was an elected official who served 6 year terms. President Bityanin had been in office since 1981 thanks to a lack of term limits for the Presidency.
"Prime Minister, its great to finally meet you," he said with a large smile shaking her hand,
"Likewise Mr. President, I look forward to working with you,"
They sat at two large cushioned chairs in the center of the room, a small tray with a pot of tea and pitcher of water and some glasses. The President began to pour some tea, offering Tatyana some, she accepted.
"Naturally, I want to congratulate you on such a tremendous victory in the election", he said pouring the tea before continuing,
"That business with Ishitin was quite embarassing for not just himself but the country."
"Yes, Mr. President. I look forward to showing the nation that when their trust is placed in the right hands, good things can come for not just those who voted for our cause but for everyone." She was a little caught off guard, not expecting to discuss the scandal with the head of state. A slight grin adorned his face as he took a sip of the tea.
"Well, if you need anything you know where to find me." He said gesturing with his eyes at the palace. A brief moment of awkward silence filled the room before he asked, "Did you have anything for me?"
"No, Mr. President. I-", he cut her off
"Well, then you'll have to excuse me, I have another meeting shortly with the now opposition party leader." He nodded and she stood having only taken a couple sips of the tea before she departed.
Back in the car on the way to the Republican Assembly she called Yuriy.
"So how was the meeting? I thought your meeting was at 1130?" Yuriy said somewhat confused on the other end,
"If you can call it that, he congratulated me and before I knew it he was asking me to leave. He didn't ask about the governments plans, or any issues we may be facing, nothing."
"Well, maybe this meeting is just a formality."
"I suppose, perhaps you're right." Tatyana said skeptically. For someone who was beloved by the people of Novokazia, she felt that he had shown very little interest in the person they had chosen to speak and govern for them. She sighed, "Alright Yuriy, I'll see you at the Assembly. The small motorcade continued quickly down the motorway toward the Republican Assembly in the center of Kiev.