Chapter 71: That Time I Held an Election in South America

TL: Skye

"......"

I was at a loss for words for a moment as I looked over the draft Constitutional Amendment Bill Isabella had put forward, but I recovered fast and shot her proposal down on the spot.

"A seven-year term is already absurd, and now you're telling me there's to be unlimited re-election on top of it? Don't you think there's a bit of a problem with this?"

Isabella answered my objection without batting an eye.

"The foundation of democracy is the choice of the people. If the people wish it, you must heed the calling and serve for twenty years, thirty years, however long it takes. And if you fail to win the people's choice, you can simply step down then, can't you?"

"No matter how I look at it, this isn't right. Let's just go with a single seven-year term instead. Serving exactly seven years and then bowing out cleanly would do more for the advancement of democracy than..."

"Your Excellency! That is out of the question!"

There was a sudden bang from the end of the table, and Pedro shot to his feet.

The top man in the San Marcos military establishment stood there glaring at me with eyes like steel.

"Your Excellency. The army follows you and you alone. If you step down, there is no telling how the military will move."

"Well, can't you simply keep it under control yourself, Field Marshal Pedro?"

"I am nearly sixty years old. Before long I'll have to hand over my post and retire myself, and without even you here, controlling the army will be impossible."

"Wow... lucky..."

Just as I sat there envying him, Pedro clenched his fist and spoke.

"Your Excellency, do you want to see soldiers turn their guns on one another again? Do you intend to shove this nation back into the inferno of civil war?!"

"Hold on, what does the one thing have to do with the..."

Just as the national-security logic left me speechless, an ominous voice drifted in from the other side of the table.

"Field Marshal Pedro is right."

SIA Director Lucio opened his mouth, his eyes chilling.

"The San Marcos of today is like a structure built on thin air. The moment you step down, Your Excellency, the criminal syndicates and reactionaries we've kept suppressed will spring back into action. The only one who can stop that is you."

Before I could even get out a word of rebuttal, Ricardo, the Senior Secretary for Finance, rose to his feet.

"The economy could just as easily plunge into crisis."

"Out of nowhere?"

"Why do you think the Korean companies are pouring money into San Marcos? This country's growth potential? No. They invested on faith in you, Your Excellency, and nothing else."

Ricardo laid it out point by point, as if punching figures into a calculator.

"If you step down, there will be an immediate, large-scale flight of capital, and investment will grind to a halt. Jobs will dry up along with it, and there's every chance the current boom scatters like a mirage. Your retirement would be nothing less than a death sentence for the San Marcos economy."

Just as the breath caught in my throat, even Sergio, the normally meek Senior Secretary for Education, stepped forward with his face crumpling toward tears.

"Your Excellency... you yourself said that education is a policy you have to plan a hundred years out for. The schooling of San Marcos has only just begun to put down roots. But what if the next president cuts off the school meals, claiming the budget's short? What if he shuts down schools? Who answers for our children's future then?"

Sergio's appeal was raw with desperation.

"At the very least, until the children who've just enrolled have grown into adults... shouldn't it be you who watches over them, Your Excellency?"

Every exit was sealed off.

The loyalty of the military, the stability of society, the confidence of the economy, even the future of the children: all of it was bound up in this single thing called me.

It was a system I'd built to keep myself alive, and yet, paradoxically, that very system was now strangling me.

"Your Excellency."

Finally, Isabella delivered the knockout blow.

"This Constitutional Amendment Bill is not a matter of greed. It is the last resort for the sake of this country. As things stand, this nation cannot hold itself together without you."

Isabella tapped her fingers against the Constitutional Amendment Bill where it lay in front of me.

"Do you want to see the people starve to death and be gunned down?"

"No, when did I ever say I wanted that..."

"Then please, accept the calling of the people. I beg you."

"......"

From the mood in the room, it looked like if I dug my heels in any harder, they were ready to launch a hunger strike.

'...Let's just say yes for now.'

No limit on re-election only meant there was no ceiling; it didn't mean I was actually obligated to keep going.

I'd just change the law for now, and then, depending on how things looked later, I could make a run for it or step down, whichever worked out.

I let out a deep sigh and nodded.

"...Understood. If that's truly what you all want, then I will accept this Constitutional Amendment Bill."

In that instant.

"Hurraaaaah!"

The cabinet members all sprang up from their seats at once and cheered.

"Long live Your Excellency! Long live San Marcos!"

"A wise decision indeed!"

And so the presidential term of San Marcos was settled: seven years, with unlimited re-election.

***

That night.

The secret meeting room beneath the Presidential Palace.

The figures who could be called the core of UF (UJIN Forever) had gathered for the coming election.

Chief of Staff Isabella and SIA Director Lucio.

The eyes of these two, the closest confidants of Yu-jin, the living embodiment of power, looked like the eyes of revolutionaries on the eve of revolution.

Isabella set down her teacup and spoke.

"As you saw earlier, His Excellency accepted the Constitutional Amendment Bill. For us, that means the steepest hurdle has been cleared."

Lucio asked, a menacing glint in his eyes.

"So all that's left now is the election itself."

"His Excellency will be running as the sole candidate regardless. The outcome is as good as decided. In an uncontested run, he need only secure more than fifty percent of the vote to win."

Isabella set her teacup down.

"But."

Her eyes gleamed coldly.

"Our goal is not a mere victory. A hundred percent approval. A flawless win without a single stray vote. That is the coronation gift we are to lay at His Excellency's feet."

"A hundred percent, is it..."

Lucio's lips curled into a sinister smile.

"We've already taken our measures on that front. My agents are combing through Libertad, making certain no irreverent rumors are circulating."

"Even if something of the sort does surface, you mustn't respond too aggressively. His Excellency places great value on fairness."

"Have no fear. I issued my orders with that very point in mind. And the provinces?"

"Those are firmly in the grip of the National Saemaul Women's Association. Maria, the Women's Association President, has even spread the rumor that hanging up a portrait of His Excellency cures illness, so a fair number out there practically take him for a god."

"Splendid."

Isabella and Lucio looked at each other and smiled, well satisfied.

Every preparation was flawless. All that remained was to drive up turnout and funnel every last one of those votes onto Yu-jin.

"Shall we discuss the voting procedures, then?"

The two of them put their heads together through the whole night, hashing out by any means necessary the election methods that would tilt things in Yu-jin's favor.

"What if we station volunteers in front of the polling stations? Right beside the booth, so the voters don't get confused, gently escorting them through it."

"As ever, you are deeply considerate, Chief. The electorate will cast their votes with real peace of mind."

"And on the ballot, we make His Excellency's name and his checkbox nice and large. The box for voting against, we keep small."

"Hmm... that might come across as a touch petty. Better not to do that; instead..."

"For the campaigning, we lean on television and radio wherever we can..."

"Out in the provinces there may be no media to speak of, so we set out battery-powered radios village by village..."

"To make voting absolutely compulsory, we enforce it by law, but declare the day a public holiday so that..."

And so, as dawn began to break and every last item had been settled, Isabella and Lucio steeled their resolve once more.

"This election is where we show them. Let's prove in numbers just how deeply we, the people of San Marcos, love His Excellency, that burning fervor of ours."

And so the historic presidential race of San Marcos began.

Though of course, only one man was ever slated to be standing at the finish line.

***

Ten days later.

Close to a million citizens had flooded into Libertad Central Plaza, in the San Marcos capital.

With the total population of the capital sitting at just over five million, that meant one in five had turned out.

The reason they'd gathered was simple.

To witness Yu-jin's campaign rally, plain and simple.

As a result the plaza was packed past the point of bursting, with people crammed onto the rooftops of the nearby buildings as well, and the police had to be mobilized in full to head off any accident or chaos that might break out.

How long had they waited like that?

Thud, thud.

The moment Yu-jin stepped into view atop the stage.

"WHOOOOOAAAAAH!!!"

A roar fit to shake the earth's foundations rang out.

Yu-jin! Yu-jin! Yu-jin!

Viva President!

Yu-jin waved, bearing up under the immense weight of it.

'Was it always this much...'

It struck him anew, the sheer depth of the support the people were pouring his way.

"My esteemed fellow citizens!"

His booming voice rode the enormous loudspeakers and rang out across the entire city.

And in that instant, impossibly, the roar of the million-strong crowd cut off all at once.

In a silence so total that not even a breath could be heard, millions of eyes locked onto Yu-jin.

"These past three years, we have wrought a miracle. The gunfire fell silent, the laughter of children filled the schools, and bread and meat rose onto our tables. But!"

He clenched his fist tight.

"I will not be content to stop here!"

"......!"

"We have escaped hunger. But now is the time to dream of living well. I, Yu-jin, give you my promise. Within the next seven years, I will make San Marcos the pearl of South America!"

Yu-jin drew out the blueprints he'd prepared, one after another.

"To that end, I will revive our secondary industry. I will raise up countless factories on this soil. Automobiles, electronics, textiles... I will see products stamped 'Made in San Marcos' sold across the entire world. And those products will become your jobs!"

The eyes of the crowd glittered with anticipation.

"I will also put an end to the tragedy of people who cannot afford a hospital and so let a small illness swell into a grave one! I will build hospitals and reform the medical system, so that the state takes responsibility for the health of its people!"

"Boo-hoo-hoo! To think His Excellency has been worrying over us this much!"

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Your Excellency!"

"Yu-jin Choi! Yu-jin Choi! Yu-jin Choi! Yu-jin Choi!"

From every direction, cheers rose up, tangled together with the sound of weeping.

"And finally, I will breathe life into the private economy! By lowering the threshold of the banks, sweeping away regulations, and backing new ventures, I will build a nation where anyone willing to work for it can grow rich."

Yu-jin swallowed hard and cried out.

"A great nation where everyone eats well and lives well! I, Yu-jin, will see it done, without fail! I beg you, place your trust in me and leave it in my hands!"

When the speech ended, the plaza erupted all over again.

"WHOOOOOOAAAAAAH!"

A roar that seemed to pierce the heavens, confetti swirling through the air, and citizens in a frenzy.

Yu-jin raised his hand to answer their cheers, and thought.

'All right, since it's come to this anyway... let's give it a shot.'

That day, the plaza of Libertad burned hotter than it ever had before.

*****

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