Praetor, Interrupted

[Federation News Service 0]

ROMULUS – A month into his first term as the first democratically elected Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire, Destorie N’Dak finds himself facing a variety of challenges that would daunt an experienced executive, let alone a newcomer to elective office.

 

On Monday, representatives from the Dargol region, located in the outer reaches of the Empire and composed of approximately three star systems, presented N’Dak with a proposal aimed at, in their own words, “accounting for the years of struggle and oppression brought on by the subjugation of the Dargoli people.”

 

Meanwhile, the Soltan attacks on the Federation have rippled through the Federation economy, and have started to hit home on Romulus. The Romulan Mercantile Exchange (RMEX) has recorded six straight weeks of gradual losses, dipping to its lowest levels in the post-Civil War-era. Compounding this, Federation exports have dropped nearly 35% over the last month as the Federation’s industrial sector recoils from the near total loss of the manufacturing sectors in the Sol system, and as goods from the various Federation worlds are diverted from export to the reconstruction efforts, which are still in the very early stages. All of that has had the cumulative effect of a steep rise in commodity prices, coupled with a steep rise in dilithium prices as Soltan attacks have damaged numerous refinery and mining facilities.

 

Additionally, N’Dak has had to deal with nagging protests from some members of the main opposition party, the Uhdan'Euar (Moving Ahead), who continue to push for a more expedient investigation into the death of the his main opponent in the election, Senator Aekal Donatra, just days after the deadline had passed for a replacement to be put on the ballot, leaving N’Dak with a clear path to the Praetorship.

 

All of this while being faced with a series of natural disasters around the Empire, and the usual grind of running a large, multi-ethnic space-borne empire spreading across hundreds of light years.

 

Despite these challenges, N’Dak and his staff remain upbeat. According to a long time confidante, “Destorie [N’Dak] has always liked a challenge. He’s used to the sort of adversarial flow of being an executive.”

 

Within the administration, sources say that he plans on addressing many of the issues, especially the ailing economy, the Dargoli proposal and Imperial Security in the wake of the attacks in his first joint address to the three houses of the Romulan legislative branch early next week. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, as they were not cleared to discuss specifics of the Praetor’s speech, senior staff members indicated that he would present “a clear, concise portrait of his plans to bring Romulus into the next century as a strong, rebuilt Empire with a robust economy and a proud, unified people.”

 

Romulan policy expert Jael Klhan of the non-partisan think-tank New Century, a cooperative between Federation and Romulan scholars aimed at providing cross-cultural analysis, says that the address will give N’Dak the opportunity to turn momentum his way.

 

“The attacks on Earth, and then her [Donatra’s] death, were real game changers for the N’Dak camp,” Klhan says. “Before those two events, the main plank of N’Dak’s campaign revolved around keeping the status quo, but those events have really seemed to force them to think forward. It will be interesting to see which direction his people go.”

 

Early leaked draft copies of the speech present an ambitious agenda for N’Dak’s first term of office, including massive investment in modernization programs and infrastructure spending. Some experts say that the price tag of the proposal, which most estimates place at nearly 13 trillion credits, could hamper any momentum he does pick up from the speech, however. Administration officials admit that while they have considered that possibility, they’ve encouraged detractors of the plan to focus on the good of the empire, not just defeating his proposals.

 

One of the most vocal critics of the administration, Senator Aeji Faeil is remaining cautious. “I remain optimistic that the Praetor understands he is going to have to modify his approach from the hard-line rhetoric of his campaign. There are certainly things that the Praetor is asking for that I think even his most vocal critics in my caucus will be willing to agree upon, but the bottom line is, we will do what is right for the entire Empire, not just the elite few.”

 

The administration’s chief information minister, Hvarol Ulon balked at the suggestion that the Praetor is catering to the empire’s elite class. “I think when you look at what we’re going to propose,” he said. “You’ll see a lot in it for the lower and middle classes – the people that the Senate has traditionally overlooked.”

 

The speech could, however, be overshadowed by another event on the Senate schedule for next week. On Tuesday, the new director of the Tal’Dian, the successor agency to the Tal’Shiar, will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for the first time since being appointed by N’Dak. The high-light of that testimony is expected to be the agencies report from their official inquiry into the death of Donatra.

 

Ghanein Lkhal the new director, who had previously served as a deputy director in the Galae’s own intelligence wing, the Gal’Shian, is expected to deliver the report and respond to questions from Senators. The inquiry, which was initiated by N’Dak’s predecessor Praetor Vahin Klaeneth, has occupied much of the new directors time.

 

According to an aide close to the director, they are aware of the political impact their findings will have. “Everyone knows how big this could be,” the aide said on condition of anonymity. “There have already been allegations that our report will be tainted by political desires, but that simply isn’t true.”

 

The aide went on to say that the report would be “thorough and painstakingly vetted.”

 

Lkhal himself addressed some of those concerns. “Listening to the various pundits, some of the fringe elements have said that this report will be little more than propaganda for the Praetor. I am sorry, but those are delusions. While the Praetor and I have spoke about the report, I’ve never felt he was meddling in our report. It will be an unbiased assessment of the events that led to her unfortunate death. I encourage those who’ve suggested otherwise to look at my record and rethink whether I would ever be influenced by politics when it comes to the security of the Empire, because I won’t. My only goal is to serve and to protect the Empire; the organization I head will not be a political tool – we fought a war because the Tal’Shiar did not uphold these values.”

 

Though his report may or may not be politically influenced, it certainly will have political effects as there remains a great deal of acrimony and anxiety over the sudden death of Donatra, that despite his best efforts have complicated the early days of N’Dak praetorship, a praetorship already engrossed in a myriad of conflicts.

 

“The truth is that with everything that has happened leading up to now – the attacks on Earth, Donatra’s death – combined with the tumultuous first month,” Faeil said. “If he’d won the election against Donatra outright, perhaps it would be different, but his leadership is in question. I don’t think he’s a craven man, but he’s got a lot of work to do before he will be able to lead with any consensus.”