Today, while on a campaign visit to Mandalore, Senator Voss engaged in a longform interview with Manda Saxon of HoloNews. During the interview Voss was asked about Senator Fi Lor Derpy's recent open letter concerning him, and Voss was more than happy to respond. Below is the transcript of that portion of the interview.

Voss: That is why it is so important that we do not allow the corporations to get away with what they did on Naboo. If they can come for Naboo, what planet is next? Alpheridies? Mandalore?

Saxon: Pivoting away from the threat of corporations for a moment, what is your take on the open letter released by your opponent, Senator Fi Lor Depy?

Voss: Yes, Senator Derpy loves to write open letters. The kind of politics typical of someone who talks much but does little. In truth I consider the whole thing rather amusing. The Senator for Morlana loves to prattle on about civility and compromise but he's the one now launching a vicious smear attack on his main political competitor rather than engaging in an honest debate about the direction of the Republic.

Saxon: In the open letter he makes a number of claims about your party. For one he suggests that you are political radicals uninterested in compromise.

Voss: I am guilty as charged. The situation right now is dire, and it will take radical voices and radical solutions to bring about meaningful change.

Saxon: So you are uninterested in compromise?

Voss: With the Free Trade Party and their corporate allies? Yes. Derpy is just another corrupt corporate Senator whose campaign is bankrolled by the Preox-Morlana Corporate Authority. He likes to pretend like he supports corporations for the good of the Republic, but it's really because they are the ones who line his pockets.

Saxon: What about other parties, like the Galactic Reform Party, the Council of Independent Systems, or the Children of the Republic?

Voss: Well that is a different matter. We are more than willing to work with those political forces who are not wholesale accomplices in the corporate takeover of the Republic. There is much to be done in the galaxy, and we will take any allies we can get in the fight to eradicate poverty and strengthen democratic institutions.

Saxon: What about his suggestion that you are "anti-Jedi"?

Voss: Utterly absurd. I am a Luka Sene Mentor, and have had many interactions with the Jedi in that role over the years. I have Jedi friends, and behind closed doors a number of them would agree with me that the Jedi code limits their ability to intervene for the good of the Republic.

Saxon: So you think Derpy misunderstands your position?

Voss: No, I think he has deliberately misconstrued it in an effort to slander me. You have to remember that this is a man who defends the Trade Federation after they helped murder Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo. He is a hypocrite of the highest order.

Saxon: In his letter, Senator Derpy also challenges the idea of a Grand Army of the Republic. What do you have to say to that?

Voss: The only people who should be afraid of the Republic rearming itself are the corporations and those who support them. His whole argument around the GAR is another sign of intense hypocrisy. He is perfectly fine with the corporations being allowed to build up immense droid armies, but wants to leave the Republic defenceless.

Saxon: What will happen if the Free Trade Party manages to secure the Chancellorship? Will you still support Republic rearmament?

Voss: Absolutely not. If Fi Lor Derpy becomes our next Chancellor then the Republic is truly lost. The corporations will have won, and we will need to start making some hard choices.

Saxon: What kind of choices?

Voss: A Senate under the complete sway of the corporations and the pro-corporate parties will mean the end of any attempts to reform the Republic. Peaceful separation from the Republic of worlds like Mandalore, Alpheridies, and Naboo may be the only way to prevent a total corporate takeover of the galaxy.

Saxon: Any final comments on the letter before we move on?

Voss: Senator Derpy and his Preox-Morlana backers must be afraid, or they wouldn't have bothered resorting to mudslinging. That means the Democratic Front has a real shot, and I encourage everyone to turn out and make sure that a corporate hack like Derpy doesn't end up representing Quelli Sector.