Author's Note: The end of an era in Panem as the election finally approaches. It's one of those times where most people are optimistic, and everyone is very keen to work together and I've tried to get that across. This is the end of the first part of this story and next week a new phase begins.

….

Disbandment

To the surprise of many, they had managed it. Panem's Council of Representatives had lasted the entire month. Tomorrow was election day, and they would officially disband the following morning. They had held their final meeting before each member went to work on administering the election, having tried to leave a semblance of order for the incoming President. They could only hope for no disasters before their new leader took office.

They had achieved more than even they thought possible. Fourteen people thrown together because people knew their names and faces, and they had stepped up to serve Panem in a time of great crisis.

It was no secret that many members would hurry back to their districts once they had officially handed over affairs to the new President, having decided that national politics was not for them. District One's representative would return home to a new role in coordinating the reconstruction of the most damaged areas and Enobaria was keen to transform Two's Institute into something better than training career tributes. Four's representative would return to his old job as the district's officiant and was looking forward to being able to enjoy his role and Lily in Eleven would return to her partner Orchid's side in running her home. Gale Hawthorne was weighing up his options but could not bring himself to return to Twelve.

Others would remain in the Capitol, deciding that they would like some involvement in the new leadership. Ten's Isabella Perez had informed the three women standing for election that she would willingly serve in any of their administrations and for Plutarch, leaving the Capitol, especially after a stint in Thirteen was unthinkable. He was a link between the old and the new, without the nostalgia for the old days and with the necessary skills to shape the image of the new order. He had his own immunity from prosecution to safeguard too.

Collectively, they had managed the disaster of the aftermath of civil war about as well as could be expected. It had been chaos, the economy was in freefall, and nobody quite knew what to do for the best but at least the power was starting to return in most areas of the country, some food was being delivered and thanks to Thirteen, more people had access to medical care.

As the candidates not already on the council, both Ophelia Magnusson and Colonel Lon had been invited to their final meetings to ensure they would have some readiness in the event they would assume office. But Colonel Lon, perhaps already aware of the inevitable outcome, or still believing in his own supremacy, had turned down the invite. Ophelia on the other hand arrived promptly and sat alongside Beetee, first observing, but then asking questions as she saw fit and looking over some of the minutes from previous meetings.

It was not a system built to last and it was obvious that the edges were already fraying, but the Council of Representatives had done its job. For the first time in over eighty-five years, the districts had representation and for the first time ever, this was on an equal footing with the Capitol.

They had been starting to oversee the reintegration of District Thirteen, using it as a venue for election events, a source of keen, dedicated civil servants and eagerly using the resources made available to them. But it had been a fine thing to balance, and the new president would need to continue the balancing act. Thirteen would not allow its resources to be drained, receiving nothing in return, but they wanted to play their part in bringing Panem back together, albeit with many of its own at the forefront.

Balancing competing needs had been an enduring theme for the council. Everyone everywhere needed their problems resolved urgently and tough decisions had been made. Representatives wanted to take care of their own district's interests but had had to realise quickly that they must serve the needs of the nation first and direct help where it was objectively needed the most.

For the representatives of the twelve districts, it was a sense of duty that carried them throughout the month. Gale Hawthorne had realised quickly that he was not the best representative for Twelve, but he had been available, and people knew his face, so he ended up part of Panem's transitional government at nineteen years old. He left the role in the knowledge that such a situation should never be allowed to happen again, that Panem ought never to find itself in such a state of crisis again. Enobaria had keenly felt the weight of being from the most contentious district and knew she had been picked to see Two's situation from all sides and offer them all the best representation. But it had been a burden and one she would be glad to be relieved of. She loved Two and the feeling of pride of being from their respective homes had been shared amongst the representatives. They all felt the need to put their best foot forward, to show the capabilities of their districts in the best way possible and to play their part in trying to figure the first pathway out of the mess Panem had become.

….

The election had not even happened, and it was over for Colonel Lon. He would go through the motions on election day, speaking to his core supporters, liaising with his men in the Capitol to find some last-minute support and reaching out to those who had done well in the old system. But he could not win overall. It had been overly ambitious to assume he would take the presidency, but he had at least hoped to win in Two and had it not been for Ophelia's competency, he felt certain he could have won in the Capitol.

His support had been, and still was strong in Two's mountains which bordered the Capitol, and he had plenty of followers in the villages between the borders and the main city. But his movement had not caught on the further afield his supporters travelled, and he would fall short of the numbers needed to carry District Two's vote.

He had declined his invite to the council's final meetings. He did not wish to be associated with them and to give what he deemed a sham any legitimacy. They were faces plucked from obscurity because they had been seen in the Capitol and they had no real leadership experience or political skill. It had been a stroke of luck that they managed to last as long as they have. But he could not stand to be around them. Workers who had no place in the former Presidential Mansion, creeps from the Capitol, strangers from Thirteen, and victors, untrustworthy as ever, hedging their bets. They were not real leaders and those who stayed on in the new administration would be found sorely lacking.

Once the shine and novelty had faded from their new president, whoever she may be, (that much was obvious), people would realise. They had thrown away stability for inexperience and hope and traded strength for weakness disguised in a desire to please all. They would call out for people who knew what they were doing to return, they would want their real leaders back, and Colonel Lon had promised to those still loyal that he would keep them together.

His candidacy had made people realise that there were folk who were not fully on board with the new democratic experiment and if they could field a candidate in an election, as contradictory as it may seem, they were people who could not be ignored. He had demonstrated that Two still had strength and spirit, that there were people who could be called upon should they be needed and that had to mean something. When former leaders were called back, he would help get Two ready.

….

The disbanding of the council marked something more, something bigger and more symbolic than the ending of one administration. This marked the end of the old order. They would leave their role in the hope that this would be the final time an unelected administration sat in governance.

They hoped they had sown the seeds of change and truly dispensed with the old. District folk were taking their rightful place in government, they were going to have a say and hopefully, there would be no going back. A room full of district people had held on to what was left of Panem and tried to begin bringing it back together. They had stared disaster in the face and proven that they were capable, that Panem did not need Capitol governance to function, and that something different was possible.

They could not please everyone, but what they had done was better than choosing to harm almost everyone. Ordinary people had come face to face with what their oppressors had done on paper, had seen the minutes of meetings that sealed their fates and decided to tear the old order apart. They believed they had set a culture where leaders strived to meet the needs of the ordinary workers, the people who kept a country functioning.

Their presence had meant that those in the Capitol had come face to face with the district-born for perhaps the first time in their lives. They were not characters in the television spectacle of the Hunger Games but real people, now holding power, knowledge, ideas, and a determination to make things better.

There were people involved for their own personal gain, but everyone was pragmatic enough to acknowledge that, and where their skillset and knowledge came in useful, the council took advantage. Even the most reluctant, like General Montgomery, had begun to see the sense in working together and had realised that despite their previous occupations, there were real leaders in amongst the district people in the Capitol. Thirteen would not be receiving all the spoils and glory of victory and General Silver had realised that the passing of power was no longer an assumed right. Power and leadership would have to be earned. Trust was crucial.

The council's leadership was both filing away the old and welcoming in the new. Unelected but not necessarily unwanted. Unelected but not tyrannical, corrupt, or ruthless. They worked together, uniting their districts and around the table where Snow once sat with his ministers and generals, but where only he held the power. Instead, they shared that responsibility and for the most part, they listened to each other. They had argued, but there were no repercussions beyond personal grudges or the diminishing of someone's election chances when they were unlikely to win in the first place. It was a form of government where everyone who arrived left alive.

It was a form of leadership where people had not had the time to become beholden to outside influences, beyond the needs of their homes, and they soon realised that those interests were more aligned than they were ever led to believe. Indeed, it was the first time since the final time the Mayors were allowed to meet in the Capitol that district people had met in an official setting that was not related to the Hunger Games.

They had not made any laws, but they had made important decisions and set the direction for a new administration. A direction far away from the Hunger Games, from the oppression of the majority and towards meeting the basic needs of everyone and the end of tyranny. The council had started to reintroduce Panem to the rest of the world. The first official links to neighbouring countries in over half a century had been made. They had not thrown open their borders and nobody had yet offered their space to Panem's citizens, but tentative approaches had been made and new relationships were being formed.

Change was apace and the ending of the council's time in office would welcome a new era with the hopes of so many people who want to put their faith into a new leader. The next time decisions were made in the mansion, they would be made by those who the people wanted there. Not everybody would get their winner and people would need to continue moving beyond their differences and disappointments, but democracy was going to run its course for the first time in a lifetime and hopefully Panem would be the real victor.