In a statement posted to his official account online, Prime Minister Toquihu of Xiomera warned neighboring Huenya that re-electing incumbent President Xiadani in their upcoming elections would lead to resumed hostilities between the two nations.
“Xiadani has consistently pursued a bigoted anti-Xiomeran ideology and policy agenda, both at home and abroad,” the Prime Minister said in the video. “She will undoubtedly continue to pursue such an agenda if she is re-elected. This is something that the Xiomeran Empire is not prepared to tolerate forever.” The Prime Minister warned that Xiomera “will be compelled to respond decisively” if Huenya continues to pursue its allegedly anti-Xiomeran policies under a continuing Xiadani administration.
“Huenyans need to make smarter choices. Safer choices. Xiadani is dangerous to peace, both on the Xiomeran subcontinent and in the wider world. If she pushes us too far, only Huenyans will have themselves to blame for the resulting response from the Empire,” the Prime Minister finished. While the video did not tell Huenyans who they should choose rather than Xiadani, the implied threat of Imperial retaliation if Xiadani was re-elected was clear.
The reaction from Huenyans was quick. Within hours of the video being published, spontaneous rallies emerged in the cities of Ixtenco, Chuaztlapoc, Acalan, Necuatexi, Oacalco and Tacuitapa condeming Toquihu’s statements. “Prime Minister Toquihu of the Empire, and I say this with all due respect, can go get fornicated by a donkey,” a street vendor named Teyamac told onlookers at the rally in Ixtenco. “Huenyans decide who we want leading us, and if any Imperial doesn’t like it, that’s just too damn bad, because they don’t tell us what to do anymore.” Very loud cheers greeted this statement, and others of similar tone from other impromptu speakers.
While the responses from Huenyan officials were slightly more measured than that of the Huenyan street, their agreement with their citizens on the ground was amply clear. “Toquihu can rattle his bones all he wants. The Empire he leads is a fast-fading specter. We are a free nation, and unlike the prisoners in the prison called the Xiomeran Empire, Huenyans freely choose their leaders,” President Xiadani said in a statement from the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli. “Freedom and democracy are the future of this subcontinent, not repression. And Huenya is that future.” Xiadani added that Huenyans “will not be fooled by the Empire’s attempts to divide us. Huenya is not anti-Xiomeran, we are anti-Empire. And everyone knows that.”
Eileen Finch of the Centrist Coalition, Xiadani’s chief rival in the presidential race currently, issued her own statement. “As is his usual modus operandi, the foremost minion of Empress Calhualyana, her pet Prime Minister, is trying to bully Huenya. It won’t work now, any more than it has in the past. While I do believe that Huenyans should make a choice other than Xiadani to lead us forward, the Huenyan people will make that choice for themselves. We will not, as a free people, accept or tolerate any attempt by the Empire or anyone else to interfere in our elections.”
Speaking to DTNS on the condition of anonymity, operatives from multiple campaigns opposing Xiadani in the elections were angry about Toquihu’s statement for a different reason. “Trying to coerce a Huenyan to do your bidding, especially coming from the Empire, is the surest way to get them to do the exact opposite of what you want. This statement will just drive more people to vote Xiadani than even before, just to spite the Empire,” one operative said. Another called Toquihu “the biggest [expletive deleted] idiot of all the [multiple expletives deleted] idiots running the Xiomeran Empire” and said that Toquihu “just screwed us over completely.”
