The seven islands that make up Chalakanesia
As everyone knew full well, that sudden lunge toward democracy was a forced move, made over the opposition of the senates of each of the Seven Pearls of Chalakanesia. All senators of Chalakanesia had been bitterly opposed to allowing the people to elect the president - fearing, and doubtless rightly, that Heaven and Hell would soon press for the very senators themselves to lose their own oligarchical powers of self-selection.
But, in the end, the seven senates had agreed to amend the constitution to permit democractic presidential elections. The Great Powers of the Conference had offered Chalakanesia a great Modernization Loan if and only if it would only consent to free and fair presidential elections: and the senators had been unable to resist this bribe. After all, the seven senates would have to approve the various projects for which the Modernization Loan would be used, which meant that each individual senator would have the opportunity to enrich himself prodigiously by accepting bribes. (Let it be noted that the pronoun 'himself is entirely in order. There were at the time no female senators). [EoH Ch10]