Deputy Chancellor The office of Deputy Chancellor was specially created in 24 BBY by Palpatine , Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic . It was established for reasons of political expediency during a major Republic crisis , in which the authority of the Jedi Order was being challenged . The sole occupant of the Deputy Chancellorship was Senator Sano Sauro of the planet Eeropha . History . Anti - Jedi factionism . In the final years of the Galactic Republic , many Senators did not trust the Jedi — a sentiment of distrust , however , that many Jedi reciprocated for the Senators . A few years prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars , Jedi - shamed Senators Sano Sauro and Bog Divinian , along with Jedi - deposed Romin tyrant Roy Teda , tried to stir up anti - Jedi sentiment in the Senate by proposing that the monastic Order should be precluded from all future activities of the Senate . The anti - Jedi faction ' s claims did little , however , towards achieving its aim of banning the Jedi Order , and the vote on the matter after the Senate ' s debate , in 24 BBY , ended in favor of the Knights . Senator Sauro even turned his back on Divinian , choosing instead to vote with the Senate majority that favored Jedi support — a choice made , however , only after being bribed by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine with an offer to become Deputy Chancellor . Senate Chamber attack . None of the security measures taken , however , against the growing anti - Jedi sentiment prevented from occurring a vicious attack on the Senate — orchestrated by arch - enemy of the Jedi Order , Force Blank Granta Omega , the true mastermind behind the anti - Jedi faction . The surprise attack in the Senate ' s Grand Convocation Chamber , by an army of seeker droids , left 46 beings dead , including 21 Senators , 24 Senatorial aide s and guards , and Teda himself ( for he , too , was betrayed by Omega , the protégé of Sano Sauro in his youth ; indeed , the betrayal mimicked Sauro ' s betrayal of Divinian and served as a rather fitting homage paid to Omega ' s old patron ) . Even so , the Senate Building attack could have been much worse , as thousands had been targeted and , thanks to the Jedi who responded , comparatively few of Omega ' s intended targets were affected . Continued Senatorial support of the Jedi Order after the attack — by the Order ' s very efforts to thwart and contain it , and by Palpatine ' s special appointment — was thereafter secure , the anti - Jedi faction having failed in its divisive aims . Political powerplay . Soon after the creation of the Deputy Chancellorship , Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker sought to understand Palpatine ' s reasoning behind the appointment of Sauro to the new office . Sitting alongside the Supreme Chancellor inside his personal office , Skywalker gazed with Palpatine at the temporary garden in the exterior courtyard outside the Galactic Senate complex . There , towering above the colorful , exotic flowers that ran in a square around the silver - barked trees , were twin horns of the bloodred claing bush , native to Sano Sauro ' s world — and the ominous - looking thorns spawned young Skywalker ' s inquiry . He wondered why the Chancellor had awarded Senator Sauro the position of Deputy Chancellor when the Jedi were certain that he was part of the plot to assassinate Palpatine : Anakin simply couldn ' t understand . The position was offered to Sauro , Palpatine professed , before the vote on the anti - Jedi petition took place , and he therefore knew it was an offer Sauro couldn ' t refuse . Palpatine claimed foreknowledge that Sauro would betray Divinian : the assurance of a powerful office would be enough to abandon the risky prospect of staying true to a scheme that effectively had already been crushed by the Jedi ' s impressive thwarting of Omega ' s Senate Building attack . But Skywalker still couldn ' t grasp how Palpatine could have ever found it within him to reward Sauro for betraying him . Palpatine explained to the strongly Forceful Jedi Padawan that his generous gesture to Sauro had , in effect , made a friend of a bitter enemy , linking the Senator ' s fate with his own . Beyond that , the Chancellor would always know what Sauro was up to ; Palpatine ' s action was done to keep this enemy of the Jedi Order and of the Supreme Chancellor close .