Chancellor(New Republic)

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Chancellor

Historical information

Organizational information

Government

New Republic^[1]

Organization

New Republic Senate^[1]

Position type

Head of State^[5]
Head of government^[1]

Powers

Presiding over theGalactic Senate^[1]
Issuing executive orders togovernment officials^[1]

Duties

Elected leader of the New Republic^[1]
Chairman of the Galactic Senate^[1]

"After Palpatine, nobody wanted to hand over that much power again, so we don't have an executive, only a chancellor with no real authority. Mon Mothma got things done through sheer charisma, but almost every chancellor since her has been…"
"Useless."

―Leia Organa andHan Solo^[6]

Chancellor, also known asSupreme Chancellor or theChief of State was thehead of state of theNew Republic. However a chancellor was not a nominal chief executive and the role was limited to a ceremonial role with limited authority. However, a chancellor possessed certain powers that may be exercised discretionally.

Upon theformation of the New Republic,Mon Mothma waselected. Due to it being waslegal continuation of the position ofSupreme Chancellor under theGalactic Republic, Mothma technically succeededSheev Palpatine, but eliminated theemergency powers inherited from her predecessor and was subjected to restrictions that were designed to prevent any chancellor from accruing any real power, and therefore lost control over theGalactic Senate. Mothma's successors maintained this following the end of her term.

However, differing views emerged from two major political factions in the Senate, commonly referred to as theCentrists andPopulists, who disagreed on the extent to which if anew and more powerful title should to replace the chancellor and would have been tasked with bringing order to the divided government, but the debate ended with no consensus and the election for its postponed indefinitely.

In32 ABY,Lanever Villecham was elected as the chancellor. A believer in the peace initiatives of the New Republic, Villecham focused his term on improved trade relations with neutralstar systems instead of themilitary build-up with theFirst Order, that ended with thedestruction of theHosnian system, where the chancellordied, with the First Orderinvasion ofthe galaxy soon realized.

Powers[]

Main article:Charter of Chancellor

"The charter of Chancellor maintains the emergency powers granted by Palpatine, and they can persist no longer. They are a poison to democracy. They undercut my role."

―Mon Mothma, first chancellor of the New Republic^[1]

The chancellor was the elected leader of the New Republic.

The office of the chancellor would have little central authority,^[6] which became a chancellery with a limited powers similar to that made during theRuusan Reformations,^[7] and was not even a nominal chief executive,^[6] and was subjected to restrictions that were designed to prevent any chancellor from accruing any real power.^[4] The powers of the chancellor themselves were derived from thecharter of Chancellor, where chancellery was formally known as Supreme Chancellor and was empowered to be leader of theGalactic Senate.^[1] A chancellor would officially represent the New Republic, receiving dignitaries^[8] and concluding treaties with other governments.^[9]

The first New Republic chancellor,Mon Mothma, was given the emergency powers that were once granted toSupreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of theGalactic Republic during theClone Wars.^[1] As someone who had spent the duration of the Clone Wars arguing against the increased powers of the chancellor^[10] and eager to distance her new government from that of Palpatine's,^[11] Mothma intended to eliminate the emergency powers from her position. Though the powers granted her the authority to sendNew Republic forces to fight and die wherever she chose, she did not want such a responsibility and felt that it was a poison todemocracy. Instead, she submitted to the will of the Senate, even in military matters such as the disarmament of theNew Republic Defense Fleet.^[1]

History[]

Background[]

Main articles:Supreme Chancellor andChancellor (Rebel Alliance)

"Her first decision seemed like a semantic one, but it really underlined the extent to which Mon Mothma was planning for a decentralized system of power. Where Palpatine had once been the supreme chancellor, she would just be chancellor. "Supreme" had very unwelcome connotations that could have no place in the new galaxy."

―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[12]

The Supreme Chancellor was the head of state and head of government of the Galactic Republic.

The origins of the chancellery came from the Galactic Republic,^[1] where the Supreme Chancellor served as the leader of theGalactic Senate and thehead of state of the Republic itself. Established byTarsus Valorum^[13] who served as the first Supreme Chancellor following thefall of the Old Republic, in which theSith weredefeated by theJedi Order.^[14] The power of the Supreme Chancellor would be limited by the Ruusan Reformations.^[7]

During the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatineamassed more and moreexecutive powers until,^[7] at the end of the war, he had enough power totransform the Republic into theGalactic Empire and declare himselfsovereign ruler ofthe galaxy.^[15]

The position was used by theAlliance to Restore the Republic, where formersenator Mon Mothma was given therank ofchancellor while serving as the Alliance's civilian leader.^[16]

Mon Mothma[]

"Like the Rebel Alliance before us, like the New Republic now. We persevere."

―Mon Mothma^[9]

Mon Mothma was the first chancellor of the New Republic.

After thedeath ofEmperor Palpatine during theBattle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance formed the New Republic and the Galactic Senate was reconvened on Mothma'shomeworld ofChandrila. Although Mothma was elected as first chancellor of the New Republic,^[1] she technically succeeded Palpatine as chancellor via the charter of chancellor which included the emergency powers that had once been given to her predecessor during the Clone Wars. However, it was her intention to do away with those powers, believing them to be a poison todemocracy.^[4] In a short time after being elected,^[1] Mothma then eliminated the emergency powers granted to her by the chancellery's charter.^[5] Mothma also planned to propose a massive military disarmament once theGalactic Civil War came to end, hoping to cut the size of the New Republic Defense Force by ninety percent. While the other ten percent would go towards training and supporting local militias. She proposed to put these ideas on the agenda before the New Republic Senate.^[1]

With the end of the war and the signing of theGalactic Concordance, the peace treaty with the Empire, saw the achievement of that proposal through theMilitary Disarmament Act.^[5] Despite some debate over Coruscant's future role within the New Republic,^[12] it was ultimately decided that the Galactic Senate would convene amongst memberworlds on a rotational basis,^[5] as part of Chancellor Monthma's further reforms,^[17] doing much to convincestar systems that the New Republic would be different from its predecessor governments.^[5] Nevertheless, Coruscant would retain some government operations as it was already designed to handle and administer the galaxy's infrastructure.^[12]

Abolishment attempt[]

Main article:First Senator

"I hereby propose the abolition of the titlechancellor. In its stead, we will elect a 'First Senator'—and that First Senator will be givenreal authority over economic and military matters. Our troops and politicians will be answerable again. The Senate will have to cooperate. And we can finally move the New Republic forward!"

―Lady Carise Sindian^[6]

The New Republic Senate considered replacing the title of chancellor with a new office known as First Senator.

Chancellor Mothma was credited with forging a political consensus during her term in office that allowed the New Republic to establish itself as a lasting power. After her term in office ended, however, her successors failed to create that same political consensus, a consensus that SenatorLeia Organa credited to her charisma as a leader. By28 ABY, two political factions—theCentrists and thePopulists—had emerged with divergent views on the role of the central government and the power of the executive.Lady Carise Sindian, a Centrist, eventually proposed the abolition of the office of the chancellor and a redrafting of the Republic's constitution to create a new position:First Senator, which she proposed would have strong authority over economics and the military. A fierce debate emerged amongst those who favored a strong central authority and those who worried that a position like First Senator would lead to the rise of another emperor.^[6]

Senator Organa became a leading candidate for the role of First Senator, despite her reservations about the creation of the office. Her candidacy was derailed, however, after it was revealed by her political enemies, including SenatorRansolm Casterfo and Lady Carise, that she was the daughter of the lateSith Lord Darth Vader. SenatorTai-Lin Garr replaced her as the populist candidate, but Garrwas soonassassinated. The vote to abolish the role of chancellor was then delayed and both parties agreed that the election for First Senator should be postponed indefinitely.^[6]

Lanever Villecham[]

"Not realising that the ideology that had once produced stormtroopers armor was still producing stormtroopers. Chancellor Lanever Villecham resolutely refused to heed the warnings from the likes of General Leia Organa as to what was about to happen."

―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[12]

Lanever Villecham pursued a policy of appeasement with the First Order, which ultimately backfired.

In32 ABY, senatorLanever Villecham of theTarsunt system was elected chancellor^[18] as a strong believer in the peace initiatives of the New Republic and continued to pursue peace with theFirst Order during theCold War so long as they followed the dictates of the Galactic Concordance. He instead pursued improved trade relations with the neutral worlds of theTrans-Hydian Borderlands, as they had been disaffected from the Republic fordecades. Villecham also had to contend with a private military force, theResistance, led bygeneral Leia Organa, that pursued evidence that the First Order was violating the Galactic Concordance.^[5]

Ayear later, Organa dispatched an envoy to the thencapital ofHosnian Prime,Commander Korr Sella to argue for a military build-up against the First Order with the chancellor on her behalf, as she thought she would never get out of theHosnian system alive if she went, but by then it was too late,^[5] with her ultimately proven right when the First Order used itssuperweapon,Starkiller Base, to target the Republic. Itdestroyed Hosnian Prime, killing chancellor Villecham and the rest of the planet's population.^[19]

Protection[]

Main article:Senate Guard (New Republic)

TheSenate Guard was asecurity force enstrusted with the safety of the Galactic Senate.^[8] In addition to to protecting members of the Senate, the Guard could also be deployed for crowd control and security purposes.^[9]

List of chancellors[]

Period	Chancellor
4 ABY^[1]–sometime after9 ABY^[20]	Mon Mothma^[1]
32 ABY^[18]–34 ABY^[19]	Lanever Villecham^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

The position of chancellor of the New Republic first appeared in the2015 novelAftermath,^[1] written byChuck Wendig. In the Expanded Universe of books, comics, and games, which has since become the non-canonStar Wars Legends brand,^[21] the leader of theNew Republic was known as theChief of State. Like in canon, Legends stories also depictedMon Mothma as the first leader of the New Republic.^[22]