Tabloid "Since when did the Senate place the bottom line of Corporations above the lives of its own people?" - Senator Starros slams 'corruption' in historic

[Voren Dhur]

Senator Starros speaks at the Galactic Senate this morning

"Since when did the Senate place the bottom line of Corporations above the lives of its own people?" - Senator Starros slams 'corruption' in historic speech​

Speaking at a packed session of the Galactic Senate today, Lothalite Senator, Cal Starros (FWA), has lambasted his peers for acting with 'naked self-interest' over a vote to impose sanctions on the Sith Empire. In what has become a heated session, the Senator took to the floor to question some of the objections raised by members in response to speeches made by Senator Kang (NR) and Senator Hedarial (NR), who spoke in favour of the resolution at length today.

The resolution which, if passed, would see fines imposed on companies and individuals selling weapons, combat droids, combat armour, warships and more to the Sith Empire, has attracted heated debate, with Senators in favour of the resolution drawing attention to the ties serveral opponents have with companies that would be adversely affected in the event of a successful vote.

At the commencement of the debate, however, President Thorne (ISC) of the Independent Systems Consortium, and a member of the board of weapons manufacturer, Blackwell Technologies, queried whether or not the resolution would be more wide-spanning than an arms embargo, suggesting that members would need to "....boycott Thyferra? Are you going to boycott Bespin? Are you going to stop the shipping of the AMS vaccine to worlds full of innocent civilians just because the Sith loom above them?”

Senator Starros was quick to confirm that this would not be the case, outlining the exact items which would be restricted by the resolution, whilst Senator Kang took to the floor to directly accuse the President of having a "conflict of interest" saying -

"I wonder if there is a conflict of interest in President Thorne voting on this bill, seeing as him sitting on the board makes him personally affected by the potential loss of profit for these corporations."

~ Senator Kang​

This resulted in a fiery exchange between the Senator and President Thorne, who retorted that Senator Kang requesting an audit into BlasTechs deals with the Sith Empire, would also be a conflict of interest due to BlasTech being based on her homeworld.

President Thorne did not go on record to confirm or deny if he considered being a board member of Blackwell, a conflict of interest.

Multiple Senators continued to take to the floor, such as Senator Ordalos (ISC), who repeated the suggestion that a weapons embargo as described by Senator Starros, would negatively impact the lives of civilians on Taris and Denon. Other Senators, such as Secretary Carrick (ISC), Senator Drast (NR) and Governor Archer (ISC) made similar claims or voiced opposition as the session went on, with Senator Hedarial attempting to correct the record - before Senator Starros evidently, had enough.

In a lengthy speech, the Senator for Lothal accused members of making claims which were "discussed as if they are facts" before rallying to the defence of Senator Kang saying that "....there appears to have been a suggestion made that proposing an audit is a conflict of interest? Senator Kang is not linked to BlasTech in any way - they are not, for example, a sitting member of the board of a company that is being hit by these sanctions." in what is being seen as an indirect reference to the position of ISC members on the board of Blackwell.

Senator Starros has not commented on this suggestion when asked earlier today by the Herald.

The Senator moved on to ask the Speaker to disallow members who sit on the board of companies that would be impacted by the vote from participating in the voting later in the session.

He moved on to express exasperation at the slow approach of the Galactic Senate, in an outburst being described as 'uncharacteristic' for the normally well-mannered Senator.

"I am tired of the inaction of this body, I am tired of the inaction of its members. On Lothal we have spent billions levelling up our defences, we have contributed to the AMS vaccine distribution. We stand a few jumps from the border with an Empire, that bombards planets for fun. An Empire that killed over 140 billion people last time it was in power, by blowing up planets with superweapons. And, this Senate seems content to do nothing. We have a war machine on our doorstep, murdering hundreds-upon-thousands of people, or our people. [...] MegaCorporations helped establish a genocidal empire, those same MegaCorporations who have members here, on their payroll."

~ Senator Starros (FWA)​

Relations between the three galactic powers represented at the Senate, the Free World's Alliance, New Republic and the Independent Systems Consortium have been on a steady decline over the course of the AMS pandemic, with further erosion on such relations only increasing in pace as the war with the Sith Empire rages on. This recent session in the Senate appears to draw those tensions to a new height, with multiple members coming to blows, levelling accusations of corruption and inaction at each other.

Despite this, the debate still continues, with Senators Kang (NR) and Starros (FWA) refusing to back down from their suggestions that conflicts of interest by those opposed to the resolution, are standing in the way of the resolution of the debate.

Senator Starros and Senator Kangs offices issued a brief joint statement earlier today:

"The Senators remain committed to ensuring that greater economic pressure is put onto the Sith Empire, and gently remind members of the Press and the Public that the resolution will restrict trade in weapons, warships and combat droids, not medicine, AMS vaccines and food as has been suggested by some of those opposed to this resolution. The facts remain that companies should be punished with fines, which are easy to track and enforce, should they sell weapons to our enemies, which are then used to commit violent acts against civilians of the Free Worlds Alliance, New Republic of the Independent Systems Consortium."

"We do not apologise for the accusations that there exist conflicts of interest within the Senate, and encourage the Speaker to ensure that members connected to, specifically on the board, owning shares of, of in receipt of payment from effected companies, be disallowed from voting on this measure today. We encourage members to put the interests of their people first, not the interests of those who would make a profit off of the backs of our peoples suffering."​

This heated session of the Senate may mark a new low in the relations between the three Governments, however one thing has become clear - political alliances across the Governments, namely between groups of philosophically aligned Senators appear to be emerging, regardless of the faction those Senators are a part of.

Mentioned: @Nor'baal @Eccles @ThisIsHowLibertyDies @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab @Mr. Teatime
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