Chancellor (New Republic)

Chancellor, also known as Supreme Chancellor or the Chief of State was the head of state of the New Republic. However a chancellor was not a nominal chief executive and the role was relegated to a ceremonial role with limited authority. Nevertheless, a chancellor possessed certain powers that may be exercised discretionally.

Upon the formation of the New Republic, Mon Mothma was elected. Due to the position being the legal continuation of the position of Supreme Chancellor under the Galactic Republic, Mothma technically succeeded Sheev Palpatine, but eliminated the emergency powers inherited from her predecessor and was subjected to restrictions that were designed to prevent any chancellor from accruing any real power, and therefore lost control over the Galactic Senate. Mothma's successors maintained this following the end of her term.

However, differing views emerged from two major political factions in the Senate, commonly referred to as the Centrists and Populists, who disagreed on the extent to which if a new and more powerful title should to replace the chancellor and would have been tasked with bringing order to the divided government, but the debate ended with no consensus and the election for its postponed indefinitely.

In 32 ABY, Lanever Villecham was elected as the chancellor. A believer in the peace initiatives of the New Republic, Villecham focused his term on improved trade relations with neutral star systems instead of the military build-up with the First Order, that ended with the destruction of the Hosnian system, where the chancellor died, with the First Order invasion of the galaxy soon realized.

Text and facts from the “Chancellor (New Republic)” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.