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Senator Fi Lor

An open letter by Senator Fi Lor of Morlani

If one were to say that littering on Senate Grounds should disqualify one from becoming Regional Senator, I would think they were joking, but there is one case where I would agree with that assessment, and that is the case of the Senator from Alpheridies, Senator Dalan Voss.

Of course, this is not because of two scraps of paper that were blown away by the Coruscant breeze, but rather the mentality behind it. I am a believer in the need for Senators to be passionate about their causes, a Senator without passion has a void that corruption and riches will fill. But passion must be tempered by wisdom, experience, and dignity.

I do not like to speak ill of my coworkers, but given that he is running for Reginal Senator, I must advise those who may consider voting for him, to consider the following.

• Senator Voss does not make friends. When I wrote him a letter in good faith, hoping to come to an understanding, he tore the letter apart and called those seeking peace and compromise cowardly. Quelli as a region cannot hope to function without compromise, and should he be elevated to the position of Reginal Sector, he will stunt any growth as he refuses to work with anyone unless he gets his vision (1)
• Senator Voss is a radical. Don't get me wrong, I am all for his passion to do good, but his desire for change is not one brought about by consulting with the people of the systems he would represent, or even their representatives, but rather his vision for the galaxy as HE intends to push it, not by convincing everyone of its validity by exposing the galaxy to how well it has worked on his planet, but through Senatorial action enforced by a blaster. (2)
• Senator Voss and his Democratic Front support a wasteful Grand Army of the Republic. I for one support a limited military and funding PDFs to fight pirates and ensure that a situation like Naboo never happens again. Yet, Senator Voss and his party are leading voices calling for a massive military with ships designed to fight warships, not pirate vessels. Who are these to be used against? He speaks against the tyranny of corporations, yet seeks to invest the Republic with the tools to tyrannize on a scale far beyond anything Gunray could ever hope to accomplish. (3)
• Senator Voss and his Democratic Front seek to destroy corporations, they speak a big game of handing the power to the workers, yet the reality is either "Worker Unions" that become as corrupt as the corporations were, dismantling corporations into minuscule blocks based on arbitrary government policies that in their inflexibility choke out the very business they intend to support or lead to government-run industries, where you trade a businessman who can be fired for a politician who enjoys his position for life. (4)
• Senator Voss and his Democratic Front target young and idealist Senators, and manipulate them into joining their extremist faction with the promises of affecting change, but in reality putting them in a faction that will not actually change anything, and by demanding extremes burn the very bridges required to make progress. (5)
• Of the bridges burned, one is surprisingly that of the Jedi Order, in his speech on Alpheridies Voss called them misguided and blinded, stating that since he is so able to see the rot in the galaxy, he therefore is more enlightened than the wise Jedi Order. It either implies a level of arrogance to assume that the Jedi are just unable to have the vision and ability to fix things that he can, or a level of insult that the Jedi are inept. Perhaps he should consider that the Jedi do see the problems of the galaxy, but recognize that repairs take time and effort, not loud rhetoric. (6)

I do believe Senator Voss represents his people in as good faith as he can, and that there's no hidden malice behind his actions, they are simply born of passion and inexperience. I wish him well as he learns to navigate power, but I also cannot endorse his candidacy for an office of this importance, where an insult born of passion can affect the lives of billions.

I hold no ill will towards him, and as I said in reply, he's always welcome to my office, perhaps meditation at my Shrine to the Force could allow us to find common ground and temper his passion into a sword able to actually cut through corruption, rather than a hot brick of poorly formed iron.

I must oppose his run for the position of Reginal Senator for Quelli, not just because I am running against him, but on the grounds that even if we agreed politically, he is not ready for such a position.

I do not see this race as Senator Voss vs Myself, it is a race for you the people to decide who you want to be represented by, I only intend to make sure that you understand what you are getting if you vote for Senator Voss. He is a good man, but a good man may still be poorly suited for the task at hand, and if you truly believe in his cause then you will support him staying where he is, in a position where he can actually do his work and won't be crushed and then discredited when he fails to accomplish his aims.

Signed: -Fi Lor Derpy Of Ferrix, Senator of the Morlani Sector, Captain of the Ferrixian 3rd Guard, Graduate of the Morlana Technical Institute, Hazardous Materials Certified Shipbreaker, and most importantly: a devoted husband and father.

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(Additional notes by the Senator For Mirial and Free Trade Party Co-Administrator, Fay Of Ovee,)

(1: The Free Trade Party seeks peace and diplomacy with all, especially those we may have issues with, as one must have dialog and compromise with those who oppose you, lest you leave only violence as a solution.)

(2: The Free Trade Party seeks to allow planets their own independent choices on how they are run, which means that Senator Voss could easily market his vision to individual planets and have them adopt it and prove its viability one by one, rather than requiring galactic-wide adoption, but that would require taking the time to actually learn about and work with those planets individually)

(3: The Free Trade Party supports Senator Mothma's defense plan, a plan born of compromise and by working together to address security concerns of many worlds and factions to find solutions that apply to the myriad of problems in the galaxy.)

(4: The Free Trade Party supports the Free Market, including the right of planets to refuse to do business with corporations that seek to abuse them, and workers to refuse to work should their contracts be violated or injustices levied upon them, should a planet wish to have a worker-run industry, it is their right. Senator Voss should consider taking his message to those worlds and trying to affect change on the ground instead of in the Senate.)

(5: The Free Trade Party will always extend an olive branch to those who wish to leave his Party and start actually working on improving their worlds.)

(6: The Free Trade Party, and both Senator Fi Lor and myself are supporters of the wisdom of the Jedi Order, we seek to work with them and aid them in stamping out darkness,)