JEDI HoloNet

With election day on 447.25, Senators across the whole galaxy embark on their campaigns this cycle with a new gravity for a few who may look to replace the popular Naka Rei as Chancellor in the upcoming cycle after he announced today he will not seek re-election.

It has been my distinct pleasure to serve the people of the Republic in her military and now politically for my life. By the end of my term I will have captained the great ship of state through turbulent waters for nearly a decade. While the Galaxy still faces rising challenges, I feel that my administration has made great strides towards bringing our disparate parties and governing philosophies in the Republic into a common direction.

The Republic today is more organized, fruitful, and productive than it has been in the last three decades. Even through the economic recession after Axxila, our economy has seen growth in the forms of millions of industrial jobs, the growth of new mining projects, and the lend-lease and rearmament treaty with our allies in the League of Sovereign Systems that has allowed for a total update of our fleets.

While the people of the Republic were worried about a fragmenting, fraying, and heated political climate eight cycles ago when I assumed this office, we’ve seen our union remain whole in the face of ultranationalist, ultraconservative, and violent secessionist terrorist groups such as the Roilers who wanted to use force to usurp the rule of law in our nation. We’ve reminded ourselves that even though we may have differing opinions, cultural traditions, histories, and political philosophies… All beings in the Republic are bound together by principles that transcend these- principles that bind us together in a common creed: that every sentient is created equal and is endowed by their creators with inalienable rights. That we have a common respect for one another as siblings in common peace and freedom.

To my honorable colleagues in the Senate I ask of you to remember this: never doubt that those who you disagree with in the galaxy’s greatest deliberative body hold the same values as you. Never doubt that the legislators whom you share a common job with share your common purpose. Do not allow yourself to be blinded by ideology, but remember that you serve your constituents, the people of the Republic, and there are things that every sentient in our nation holds dear.

I want to say thank you to the people of this Republic, to this Senate, and to the Galaxy for being gifted the opportunity to serve in your Navy, in your Senate, and as your Chancellor. Nothing has given me greater joy in my life than having had these opportunities to act as your steward and servant.

Good night.

Early polls this cycle suggest that the Republic is unhappy with the way the Senate has been handling current crises such as the economic recession from the collapse of D’Astran Legacy Bank, the unchecked rise of totalitarianism in the Third Estate along the northern border, the outbreak of war in the Thanium Sector, and the rise of piracy out of Hutt Space to the east and south. Political analyst Sytaph Paar shared his thoughts on Chancellor Rei’s announcement.

It’s very politically savvy. Even as a moderate, Chancellor Rei is a War Hawk. He wants what’s best not only for the Republic but for his party. Right now the polls are swinging in the favor of the War Hawks with the crisis in the Back Reach and Thanium. People are seeing the injustice going on right in our back-yard and they want us to intervene. By stepping down now Chancellor Rei can do so being confident that a successor will be a member of his party, solidifying War Hawk leadership for at least the next senatorial cycle if not longer.

Polls are showing that the Diplomat party is struggling to maintain energy on domestic policies in the face of international tensions that have been on the rise. The War Hawks in several polls look as if they stand to make some major gains stymied only by the increase in the popularity, too, of the Free Soiler movement as anxieties increase about security in sectors along the border.

Several Senators have already announced their intentions to run for the Chancellorship after Naka Rei’s announcement, including Vice Chancellor Seema Kaur who has been seen as Rei’s protégé for the station,

Chancellor Rei’s announcement today does not come as a shock, having worked with him every day for the last eight cycles in the highest office, but I am nonetheless saddened now that it’s official. Nonetheless, having worked in the executive office, I am officially campaigning to the people of the Republic, and my colleagues in the Senate, to step into his shoes and continue the work he and I have been doing to bring together a common vision for our Republic, curtail violence in the outer rim, and bring economic prosperity at home. To do this, I seek to continue to update the Republic navy and army forces, train new divisions of special forces squadrons, and make sure that the Third Estate knows that in no uncertain terms: You will not have a free ticket to forcibly install your will onto any independent systems under an administration helmed by me.

Diplomat Senator Yalook P’oolel from the Er’Kit system announced his intention to run for a third time.

The state of the Galaxy is turbulent. Continued silence and isolation from the Empire, the growing strength of our allies in the League of Sovereign Systems is challenged daily by well-equipped state sponsored terrorists, pirates, and mercenaries coming out of Hutt Space by the Triellus League. The Republic is in no position to act as warden, security, or police for the whole Galaxy. We need to cooperate with our friends and allies internationally rather than take on the burden of galactic security all on our own. Most importantly, we need to make sure that we have full employment, full housing, and full healthcare to every Republican citizen in our nation, something we’ve yet to achieve.

Freshman Free Soiler Senator and Dustig Sector native Nawanh Poshma announced his intention to run for the executive office.

The solution to the domestic economic crisis is for sectors to handle their own economies more directly, rather than having to always force our needs through Coruscant. The solution to our security concerns is for sector governors to have increased control over stronger local security forces. The solution to the gaps in education, employment, and wage can only be addressed on local levels by the people closest to those problems: sector governments! Federal oversight has been stifling, disinterested, and obstructionist to the needs of the people by the rim for decades! It’s time to reclaim our local power in the face of federal overreach.

Analysts indicate that Kaur has an early lead. The overlapping interests of isolationism that both the Diplomats and Free Soilers share threaten to split their vote unless both parties can come together in a coalition to choose a candidate that they both can agree on to overcome the projected majority of the War Hawks in the upcoming senatorial session.

Reporting from the Senate Dome, I’m Quan Regal of the Associated Presses