Executive Conference Room
Social Democratic Party Headquarters
Kopenick, Hosagovinia
Walter Ebert was sitting at the head of a long conference table on the top floor of the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party. Large floor to ceiling windows ran the length of the room and offered a picture-esqe view of one of the many squares in downtown Kopenick, the historical district. The building was in a perfect position, just mere blocks from both the National Assembly and the Office of the Prime Minister, not to mention most of the government departments.
Around the table sat a small group of Ebert’s closest advisers, as well as several high ranking officials within the Social Democratic Party. Ebert was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Hosagovinia, and just a week ago had won a majority in the National Assembly. The victory had come at the expense of the incumbent Conservative Party in a election that will go down as one of the biggest political upsets in Hosagovinia history. Now, he sat in his party’s headquarters as the next prime minister of Hosagovinia.
Everybody was silent as they watched one of the many television monitors that adorned the walls of the conference room. For what seemed liked weeks, but in reality had only been a few days, rumors had swirled around Kopenick that President Scheel – a Conservative – would use his legal authority as president to delay the new session of the National Assembly the full month allowed by the law, in order to allow current Prime Minister Hans Donitz to pass an aggressive agenda before turning over power to the Social Democrats. These rumors had Ebert and his Social Democratic colleagues extremely nervous.
Now, they were watching on live television Prime Minister Donitz announced that he would be resigning tomorrow, giving up his position as Prime Minister of Hosagovinia and as Leader of the Conservative Party. This was a complete rebuff of the suggestion that President Scheel would delay transferring power to the Social Democrats. Every Social Democrat – both those in the leadership there in their downtown headquarters and across the entire country – could breathe a sigh of relief. Ebert would take over soon, and with a fairly clean slate.
As Prime Minister Donitz continued his press conference and the political pundits prepared their talking points, the phone rang in the conference. It startled most of those sitting around the table. After a few awkward moments, one of the aides lifted the receiver.
“Hello?”
“…”
“Okay.
“…”
“Okay.
“…”
“Okay. Thank you very much,” the aide said, hanging up the phone. Everyone around the table fixed their eyes on him, eager to see who was on the other end of the line and what they had wanted.
“That was President Scheel’s chief of staff,” he continued. “After the Prime Minister’s announcement today, President Scheel has decided that he is going to sit the new National Assembly on Friday. Sir, you are going to be prime minister in two days!”
Cheers went up from the people in the room. After some hurried and excited chatter, a few left the conference room to begin making sure that those elected to the National Assembly made their way to Kopenick by Friday. On Friday, the President would preside over the new session of the National Assembly in which every member would be sworn in. Then, largely down party and coalition lines, the members of the body would elect a new prime minister of Hosagovinia. It was essential that at least 301 members of the Social Democrat/Labour/Green coalition had to be present to ensure Walter Ebert would be elected prime minister. The short term notice provided some challenges.
“Well, looks like we have some work to do,” Walter Ebert said to the gathered group, before opening a folder in front of him. He was referring to the strategic planning decisions they still had yet to make, as well as the work on other policies he would implement in government.
“Also,” he said, briefly looking up from the folder. “I want to meet with Prime Minister Donitz as soon as he can.”
Social Democratic Party Headquarters
Kopenick, Hosagovinia
Walter Ebert was sitting at the head of a long conference table on the top floor of the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party. Large floor to ceiling windows ran the length of the room and offered a picture-esqe view of one of the many squares in downtown Kopenick, the historical district. The building was in a perfect position, just mere blocks from both the National Assembly and the Office of the Prime Minister, not to mention most of the government departments.
Around the table sat a small group of Ebert’s closest advisers, as well as several high ranking officials within the Social Democratic Party. Ebert was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Hosagovinia, and just a week ago had won a majority in the National Assembly. The victory had come at the expense of the incumbent Conservative Party in a election that will go down as one of the biggest political upsets in Hosagovinia history. Now, he sat in his party’s headquarters as the next prime minister of Hosagovinia.
Everybody was silent as they watched one of the many television monitors that adorned the walls of the conference room. For what seemed liked weeks, but in reality had only been a few days, rumors had swirled around Kopenick that President Scheel – a Conservative – would use his legal authority as president to delay the new session of the National Assembly the full month allowed by the law, in order to allow current Prime Minister Hans Donitz to pass an aggressive agenda before turning over power to the Social Democrats. These rumors had Ebert and his Social Democratic colleagues extremely nervous.
Now, they were watching on live television Prime Minister Donitz announced that he would be resigning tomorrow, giving up his position as Prime Minister of Hosagovinia and as Leader of the Conservative Party. This was a complete rebuff of the suggestion that President Scheel would delay transferring power to the Social Democrats. Every Social Democrat – both those in the leadership there in their downtown headquarters and across the entire country – could breathe a sigh of relief. Ebert would take over soon, and with a fairly clean slate.
As Prime Minister Donitz continued his press conference and the political pundits prepared their talking points, the phone rang in the conference. It startled most of those sitting around the table. After a few awkward moments, one of the aides lifted the receiver.
“Hello?”
“…”
“Okay.
“…”
“Okay.
“…”
“Okay. Thank you very much,” the aide said, hanging up the phone. Everyone around the table fixed their eyes on him, eager to see who was on the other end of the line and what they had wanted.
“That was President Scheel’s chief of staff,” he continued. “After the Prime Minister’s announcement today, President Scheel has decided that he is going to sit the new National Assembly on Friday. Sir, you are going to be prime minister in two days!”
Cheers went up from the people in the room. After some hurried and excited chatter, a few left the conference room to begin making sure that those elected to the National Assembly made their way to Kopenick by Friday. On Friday, the President would preside over the new session of the National Assembly in which every member would be sworn in. Then, largely down party and coalition lines, the members of the body would elect a new prime minister of Hosagovinia. It was essential that at least 301 members of the Social Democrat/Labour/Green coalition had to be present to ensure Walter Ebert would be elected prime minister. The short term notice provided some challenges.
“Well, looks like we have some work to do,” Walter Ebert said to the gathered group, before opening a folder in front of him. He was referring to the strategic planning decisions they still had yet to make, as well as the work on other policies he would implement in government.
“Also,” he said, briefly looking up from the folder. “I want to meet with Prime Minister Donitz as soon as he can.”