[b]Iron Lady, Part Seven - Midterm Madness[/b] As Priscilla bought groceries in the Public Market, she couldn't help but hear chatter of what the new Opposition party, the May 25th Movement, were doing. She also couldn't help but look at the election posters and billboards that Aurelia had put up in Manila itself, posters with a simple promise even she can appreciate: [b]Vote for the May 25th Movement and Vote for Nationwide Lighting.[/b] These posters were centred around pictures of a lightbulb illuminating rural and urban homes alike, no bias towards either. A nice touch, and it had Priscilla preparing to concede several points of the Opposition program, namely the fact that they [i]can[/i] provide electricity if they wanted to, while she would find it...harder despite her position as Head of State. While she paid the accustomed price for the food, Irene would put her hand on her Lady President's shoulders, saying, "Let's end this early; no use seeing you worried." ------ Priscilla would find two people just outside her home, courteously waiting for her. The first was Isaiah Macadangdang, the main organizer of her Youth Leagues, and the second was Diego Gomez, the Senate Majority leader. Both were clad in the Filipino [i]Barong Tagalog[/i], a transluscent white formal shirt made up of pineapple fibres, and black Philippine Silk trousers. The Iron Lady gave a sigh, and spoke to the two: "It is about Aurelia, isn't it? If so, come on in." Still in her simple clothing, Priscilla served tea and pastries to Isaiah and Diego as they sat down, before saying: "We are going to let democracy work, and we are going to fight within the bounds of democracy. If we are to preserve a majority in Congress, we will do it [i]fairly[/i]." Isaiah, a young, fresh-faced man who had just reached his mid-twenties, sighed at that. Diego, who was older with a more hardened expression that made him intimidating to others, implored, "Lady President, Democracy only goes so far; if we give power to reactionaries, it will end only in the undoing of the great work we've done to make things in the nation as a whole more fair. I don't even get why the people are seriously discussing Aurelia's...pitch. Haven't we given them enough?" Priscilla stared at them, her glasses sharpening her gaze. She would then say, "We are entitled to what we give; we treat others the way we wish to be treated. But our ability to provide has limits; all governments encounter that problem." A humble admission. "But I have a plan around that, a plan that will blunt their offensive." A smile. "We are going to co-opt their project. We are going to be humble, cooperative, and we are going to turn this concession of power into an avowal of our love and a declaration of modesty. We will let them bring electricity to the people, but on [i]our[/i] terms. We will force them to compromise, we will force them to accept that we have a role to play, we will make them concede at least half of our points every time they propose a bill...and we will be the healthier for it. We are a Democracy and we will fight in a democratic manner; autocratic methods are only [i]in extremis[/i]." Isaiah was the first to catch on. "What would you want them to concede, then? You are prepared to let them bring Electricity, but what do you want from them in return?" Priscilla smiled at that. "The one thing we have been focusing on since the liberation of our country. Defense." Elaborating further, she would then say: "If they can shell out enough money for an electric grid, they can surely shell out more for weapons and contacts that can hand us those weapons. Ethiopia strangely has an Indian Ocean fleet; we will try and see if we can charm them into parting with a few of their obsolete boats..."