65 Reforms

The 65 Reforms were a series of governmental reforms in the Golden Empire passed in 151 ABY. The name derived from the fact that 151 was 65 YGE; there were not sixty-five different reforms.

Background
By 149 ABY, the Golden Empire had approximately 1,300 inhabited member worlds, along with thousands more uninhabited resource systems. Each occupied world (and its system, if it alone was occupied) was ruled by a Consul and represented by a Tribune, resulting in roughly 2,600 officials reporting directly to Queen Rin Sakaros. Many in Rin's government began to realize the Empire had grown unwieldy. Her brother Tariun repeatedly expressed concerns that Rin would either begin missing things or grind herself into madness by trying to adequately address the issues of every world.

In 149 ABY, the Reawakened attacked the Empire in what became the Nightmare War. Several Royal worlds, including Dolomir and Klee`shlyoo`hshee, were devastated before the Empire assembled its response. Prime Legate Sorrik felt this brought up another issue inherent to the Empire's growth; the Armada was heavily centralized, with few divisions above ship and cohort level. As a result, the central Armada administration was responsible for the defense of the entire Empire at all times.

After the Reawakened were defeated and the Empire began the laborious process of rebuilding, Rin called together her advisors in a series of meetings to address the issues. She proposed her solution to the Consular Assembly in 150 ABY, giving her Consuls and Tribunes a year to discuss the matter. The Empire embarked on a campaign of public education to convince the people of the necessity of the proposed reforms. The Assembly suggested a few reforms of its own, and the reforms became law at the conclusion of the Assembly in 151.

Sector governance
The largest reform reorganized the entire Empire into sectors of 100 worlds each. Each sector would be governed by a Procurator, the equivalent of a Consul on a sector scale. Consuls would henceforth be appointed by the Procurator, who would in turn be appointed by the Sovereign.

The appointment of Consuls by Procurators rather than directly by the Sovereign was the source of the majority of public concern. Knowing Rin personally appointed their leaders had consoled some citizens otherwise uneasy with the enormous legislative and executive authority delegated to Consuls. In addition, the announcement that Tribunes would report to the Procurator instead of the Sovereign caused great upset, as the Tribunes had been created to check corruption and abuse by Consuls. Many Royal citizens feared that the new system would allow exploitation by unscrupulous Consuls tacitly supported by corrupt Procurators.

In order to check that possibility, Rin also created the position of Advocate, a sector-level equivalent of the Tribunes. Advocates were also elected by the people they represented, and had the authority to suspend any action of the Procurator and appeal it to the Sovereign for judgment. Tribunes were also allowed to report to their Advocates as well as their Procurators to establish another check against tyranny.

The support of several well-respected public figures, including Breek Zagrev and a number of Tribunes, coupled with the aggressive public education campaign, gradually brought public support over to the side of the reforms. The first Procurators were appointed and the first Advocates elected in 151.

Sector Defense Forces
Though she did not wish to substantially arm individual sectors, for fear of Procurators carving out armed fiefdoms, Rin conceded that an entirely centralized military put outlying sectors in danger from surprise attacks. Working with Sorrik and the military High Commands, she arranged to spread much of the Armada throughout the Empire. Every sector was given a number of capital ships, soldiers, and starfighters, which were under the command of a Sector Magister who reported to the sector Procurator. The Magister was empowered to use his forces to defend the sector against invaders, or to pursue pirates and criminals with the Procurator's approval.

To check any thought of rebellion, Rin restricted the sector militaries so that no sector could have more than one. In addition, the Prime Legate could at any time commandeer or reassign the forces of a sector, either to his own command or to another sector. The Prime Legate maintained the Prime Fleet, and had personal authority to appoint and dismiss Sector Magisters at will.

The creation of sector defense fleets was very well received by the public, and indeed did much to allay the fears accompanying the creation of sector government in the first place. With the Nightmare War a recent memory, most citizens were happier to have a quick-response force closer to home than they were uneasy with their Procurators having small militaries under their command.

The Royal Family and the Household Guard
Though not a matter of wide concern to the Empire, Rin had become increasingly vexed by the situation of the Royal Family. She had initially intended only for the Sovereign, the Phoenix Prince, and Royal Executors to be protected by Royal Guards. However, in 140 ABY she broke her own precedent to provide her cousin Andromeda Keane a pair of Royal Guards. Rin similarly gave her brother Nagarian a contingent of Guards when he visited the Empire, and assigned a pair permanently to Breek when she married Tariun in 145 ABY. Several members of the Order of Keltrayu, including Prefect Eskol Kaartinen and former Royal Guards, worried about the strain on the Order to provide Centurion Guards for too many royals. The birth of Breek's children and their need for protection finally forced Rin to come up with a better arrangement.

While trying to address that concern, Rin also had to address the fact that she had not come up with clear plans for titling her family. Tariun and Nagarian bore the title "Prince", and her sister Jasmine Auroras "Princess". However, that left Jasmine's daughter and granddaughters and Breek's children unresolved.

To accompany her governmental reorganization, Rin finally promulgated a clear and permanent law about the Royal Family. She specified the Royal Household as a subdivision of the Royal Family at large. Every member of the Household (apart from the Sovereign) was given the title "Prince" or "Princess". Every other member of the Royal Family (which was finally officially defined as being descended from Rin or one of her siblings) was given the title of "Mirza" or "Mirzaya".

Rin also returned to the traditional arrangement that only the Sovereign, Phoenix Prince, and Royal Executors would be protected by Royal Guards. To defend the rest of the Royal Household, Rin ordered the formation of the Household Guard, with an expected initial deployment date of 176 ABY. In the interim, she commanded that her Massassi Guard units would continue to protect her extended family.

The Private Secretary
Another reform of internal significance to the government was the creation of the Sovereign's Private Secretary. Rin had endured criticism from her ministers and other advisors for years that she had no chief of staff or formal method of scheduling apart from doing it herself. Tarzg Sav'lir, Head of the Royal Guard, had assumed the duty of communicating on her behalf and controlling access to her, but this drew criticism not only because some felt the Bothan was far overreaching his duties, but also because others worried than focusing on such political concerns took his focus away from his primary duty of guarding Rin.

Admitting that they had a point, Rin decided to create a personal Secretary position to handle correspondence and scheduling, as well as controlling access to her. Her initial choice for the position was Jira Zaffrod, but she was persuaded not to appoint a Centurion by her ministers, after consulting a number of Tribunes. The general feeling from the Tribunes matched the concern of the ministers that the public would not be happy with yet another high-profile governmental position filled by a Centurion. Though Rin was fully aware that some of the opposition stemmed from her ministers not wanting to trade reporting to one Centurion for reporting to another, she was also conscious that the public legitimately did share their concerns. She ended up selected Veersh, an Army brigadier and Breek's senior staff officer at the Battle of Shest Minor.

The Sovereign's Council
Since the foundation of the Empire, Rin had regularly consulted with a handful of people whose opinion she particularly valued, many of whom were not otherwise major government figures or members of the Grand Council. Seeking to give this group formal status as a gesture of transparency, and also deciding on a permanent solution to the question of regency in the Golden Empire, she formally constituted the Sovereign's Council as part of the reforms.

Opposition to the move came on several fronts. Of the twelve beings appointed to the initial Council, four were Centurions, which drew criticism from those who protested the Order's prime role in government. Having already conceded in the matter of her Private Secretary and most of her Procurators, Rin was in no mood for further aspersions against the Order. There was some additional concern about the appointment of Te`net Organi, who, unlike Breek Zagrev, Sorrik, and Eskol Kaartinen, did not hold major public office, but Rin ignored this as well.

Others were concerned about the appointment of Mohuurk, one of the Directors of the Vall`to Sector Bank, feeling it would amount to government by corporation. Most of these were pacified with the reminder that the body had no authority whatsoever (except advisory) when the Sovereign or Phoenix Prince were present, and even if ruling as regents, the Council had to act by majority; Counselors could not govern independently. Some military officers voiced concern that Admiral Salome Hrek and newly appointed Sector Magister Tarse Medrego might be obligated to disagree with or speak critically of Sorrik, who was their superior officer, but Rin made it clear that no reprisals would be tolerated for views expressed in Council.

An entirely different line of criticism emerged among those who felt the Grand Council (or perhaps the thirteen Procurators) should rule as regents in the absence of the Sovereign and Phoenix Prince. Rin argued successfully that the thirteen Procurators would eventually become hundreds and thousands, which would make regency by vote impossible. Further, several of her loyalists and agents spread her belief that the Grand Council, although effective in executing the work of the government, would be ineffective as a regent body; Rin expected that it would quickly descend into each member governing his ministry or area of expertise, utterly devoid of the central focus the Empire needed to function.

Law and order
Rin had been aware of, and even acknowledged, the need for Empire-wide law enforcement longer than she had entertained any of her other reforms. The Ministry of Justice was given the issue for study shortly after the Conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy, but the Tribulation and the Nightmare War had disrupted the process. After exhaustively debating all options, the Ministry commission finally endorsed the creation of a gendarmerie patterned on the Synno Gendarmes.

The principle objection to the proposed Royal Corps of Gendarmes was financial; it was to be an enormous investigative body which would require money for salaries, equipment, and training. Some money was saved by phasing out the Military Police divisions of the Army, Navy, and Starfighter Corps, as the Gendarmes were responsible for all military law enforcement. Funding for inter-system law enforcement operations was also reclaimed by the Royal budget and directed to the Corps's funding. However, additional taxes were needed to complete the budget allocations.

While the additional tax burden for any individual citizen was minute, the concept was unpopular. The Royal government pointed out the benefits, included streamlined law enforcement, increased safety, and the presence of a military-trained group of professionals available to defend systems in support of the sector military detachments. Coupled with a breakdown of the exact tax changes, the government persuaded the majority of the population to support the change. Synno was a particularly strong supporter of the reform, and the success of the Synno Gendarmes on their home planet was a major selling point.