President Nihita was indeed an ambitious politician, convinced he could accomplish something greater than those who came before him. To broaden his horizons, he needed to unite every force he could. This was not merely an objective truth taught by the mentors of the proletarian revolution; it was a principle every leader, even one in the Stone Age, ought to understand instinctively.
And so the president formed the first coalition government with multiple parties in the cabinet since the Blue Star Commonwealth had established its independence. Even local parties like the Pioneer Party, which had been founded less than a year ago, and unaffiliated regional power brokers like Old Master Bai had been given cabinet minister posts.
Yet this ruling body, which seemed so united, harmonious, and prosperous, had run into a crisis that put its governing abilities to the test in its very first month of work.
So far, at least when it came to the ringworld, the response from Earth's central government had been less than decisive. In fact, they had been about as stunned as a chicken caught in the headlights.
After more than fifteen hours of meetings over the past five days, President Nihita and his committee chairs and ministers had finally reached a consensus: not only could the main force of the New Continent expeditionary fleet not be recalled, but they even had to consider sending reinforcements.
"Reinforcements require congressional approval. So we really need to think of a way to explain this to Congress," Vice President Yellen said in a voice as faint as a ghost's.
"Besides, we'd originally expected more than seventy percent of the expeditionary fleet to return home after March. I drew up this year's budget based on that plan. But if we send more troops, we'll really run a deficit."