Separatist Parliament

> "Your friend is a Separatist? One of Dooku's pawns?"
> "The Separatists used to be a part of the Republic. I was close with many of the senators who left. I may not agree with them, but they're more than pawns."
>
> - Ahsoka Tano and Padmé Amidala, on Senator Mina Bonteri of the Separatist Parliament

## General information

### Leader(s)

* Head of State Count Dooku
* Speaker of State Nute Gunray
* Separatist Congress Leader Bec Lawise

### Sub-Group(s)

* Independence Faction
* Peace Faction
* War Faction

### Headquarter

Separatist Senate Building, Raxulon, Raxus Secundus

## Overview

The **Separatist Parliament**, also known as the **Separatist Senate**, **Confederate Parliament**, and the **Separatist Congress**, was the bicameral civilian legislative body that governed the Confederacy of Independent Systems, representing thousands of member worlds and consisting of hundreds of senators that supported the Separatist movement. When the charismatic Count Dooku founded the Confederacy in 24 BBY, the vast majority of sectors and star systems that had seceded from the Galactic Republic created their own legislative assembly to govern the newly formed Separatist state. Many of the appointed delegates, who had previously represented their constituencies in the Galactic Senate well before the Confederacy's secession, remained to speak on their behalf in the Confederacy. The Parliament was presided over by the Separatist Congress Leader Bec Lawise and the Confederate Head of State Dooku and regulated by a codified constitution known as the Bylaws of Independent Systems. The legislative body convened frequently for sessions in the Separatist Senate Building located in the Confederate capital of Raxus Secundus.

## Establishment of Parliament

### Organization

The **Separatist Parliament**, also known as the Separatist Senate or the Separatist Congress, is the supreme legislative body of the Confederacy of Independent Systems responsible for overseeing all political and military affairs. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

The Separatist state is governed by this congressional assembly, which is composed of a number of appointed delegates who represent their constituencies. The Confederate Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of: the Confederate Head of State, Count Dooku; the Executive Separatist Council; and the Separatist Parliament (the primary chamber). The Speaker of Congress, also known as the Separatist Leader of Congress, chairs over Senate proceedings as the Presiding Officer of the Senate, while the Confederate Head of State officiates legislative sessions. In addition to member states, corporations were given representation and permitted to participate in the legislative process. This Confederate ruling body would be known as the Executive Separatist Council.

The Executive Separatist Council, also known simply as the Separatist Council, Separatist Union, or the Leadership Council, is the executive corps in charge of managing the war effort, overseeing the allocation of resources among member planets, and making political decisions. The Council was made up exclusively of corporate executives who funded the Separatist war machine. This governing body is responsible for overseeing parliament and acting as a reliable system of checks and balances when required.

## History

### Formation

Over the centuries, the idealistic pillars of the Galactic Republic weakened as complacency and corruption spread to the highest levels of government and, the Senate devolved into a stagnant behemoth of bureaucracy. The Republic turned a *"blind eye"* to a myriad of Mid and Outer Rim territories while neglecting the individual liberties and rights of the alien species, who, like so many other forsaken and marginalized species underneath the boot of the Republic, were exploited and seen as inherently inferior due to their alien origin. Senators stopped serving the public interest and started vying for control over their planets and sectors. Distrust grew among planets, as institutionalized corruption left unseen scars across the galaxy. It was only until the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems that a fanatical secessionist movement unified the disenfranchised worlds who desperately yearned for independence under one banner. The Confederacy of Independent Systems then founded on an ideological belief in individual sovereignty and independence free from the shackles of oppression of the Galactic Republic’s Senate, as well as a general disdain and neglect by the Republic-centric *Core World* regions set out to challenge the unjust status quo of the galaxy.