Imperial Senate

The Imperial Senate is the former Galactic Senate, rebranded to match the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire. It is officially the highest legislative authority within the Empier.
Then Supreme Chancellor, now Emperor, Sheev Palpatine greatly reduced the authority of the Senate towards the end of the Clone Wars with the establishment of the Planetary Governors and Sector Moffs. In protest of this and other authoritarian reforms, the Delegation of 2,000 submitted the Petition of 2,000 to the Supreme Chancellor, calling upon him to surrender his war powers and seek a peaceful end to the war. Instead, the Supreme Chancellor ended the war by assassinating the leadership of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and declared himself Emperor, to thunderous applause from the Senate. The next day, the newly rebranded Imperial Intelligence Service arrested several dozen senators for treason, many members of the Delegation. Many other Senators in the Delegation, including Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were able to retain their positions by swearing loyalty to the Emperor.
Shortly thereafter, the pacification of Jedi rebels and their Wookiee allies on Kashyyyk emphasized how much power the Emperor could wield without Senate authority, and all of the remaining signatories of the Petition of 2,000 withdrew their signature. Since then, the Senate has turned a blind eye to actions taken in pursuit of security for the Empire, focusing itself on other matters. Though the Emperor and the rest of executive authorities within the Empire theoretically follows all laws passed by the Senate, in practice the Emperor, the agencies that report to him, and his Moffs & Governors are free to ignore all such laws so long as they aren't blatant about it. This has started to erode some of the perceived power of the Senate among the galaxy.

Type

Governmental, Senate/Parliament

Alternative Names

Galactic Senate, The Council, The Senate

Parent Organization

Galactic Empire

Subsidiary Organizations

• Delegation of 2,000

Location

Coruscant

Related Ranks & Titles

• Senator

Notable Members

• Alice Vyn
• Bail Organa
• Garm Bel Iblis
• Mon Mothma