Supreme Chancellor election, 3640 BBY
In the year 3640 BBY, the Galactic Senate convened an unscheduled meeting to choose a new Supreme Chancellor. This urgent assembly was necessitated by the assassination of the then-current Chancellor, Dorian Janarus. Janarus was killed by a notorious bounty hunter while aboard his personal vessel, the Founder, which was in orbit above Corellia, a Core World. The individual Janarus had previously selected as his preferred successor was Leontyne Saresh, who formerly held the position of Governor of Taris.
Background
The late Chancellor Janarus had found himself deeply involved in a controversy surrounding the bounty hunter who would ultimately take his life. This hunter was the most recent Grand Champion of the Great Hunt. Jun Seros, a Jedi Master and Janarus' closest advisor, had fabricated numerous false accusations against the Champion, placing a bounty of one million credits on their head and labeling them the "Republic's Most Wanted". However, Darth Tormen subsequently hired the hunter to lure Janarus and Seros away from Coruscant, the Republic's capital, so that the Hunter could get revenge for this perceived injustice. Tormen aimed to exploit the ongoing battle for Corellia by influencing leaders within the Corellian resistance to support the Corellian Council's decision to secede from the Republic. Tormen's plan was that if Corellia officially joined the Sith Empire willingly, the Chancellor would be compelled to engage in diplomatic efforts and travel to Corellia personally.
As planned, Janarus walked into the trap, journeying to Corellia on the Founder. Seros, in an attempt to gather the Green Jedi to fight the Sith invasion, was defeated by the Champion, who then used Seros' access codes to board the Founder. Upon confronting Janarus in his private quarters, the hunter was told that Janarus condemned Seros' actions and revealed that he had publicly disavowed his former ally, effectively exonerating the Champion. Despite Janarus offering the hunter the chance to assassinate Tormen in exchange for complete immunity, the Champion chose to immediately kill the Chancellor.
Candidates
Leontyne Saresh, a former Imperial slave whose ancestors were survivors from Taris, had risen to a position of considerable power within the Senate, despite being a political rival of Janarus. Her strong criticism of the Sith and her calls for the total annihilation of the Empire led the Senate to appoint her as governor of the Taris Resettlement Initiative, a role widely regarded as a career-ending assignment. However, Saresh embraced the project and dedicated herself to addressing the numerous issues plaguing the devastated planet, making significant progress during the final stages of the Cold War.
Election and aftermath
Despite the eventual destruction of the resettlement initiative, Saresh was elected to succeed Janarus just as the battle for Corellia reached its peak. Shortly after her election, Republic forces on Corellia retook the Corellian Parliament, arrested the traitorous members of the Corellian Council, and killed three members of the Dark Council - Darth Acharon, Darth Hadra, and [Darth Decimus](/article/darth_decimus], the supreme Imperial commander on Corellia.
Simultaneously, the Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order, who was in command of the separatist Rift Alliance after being tasked by Janarus with reintegrating the Alliance worlds into the Republic, successfully thwarted the Children of the Emperor's plans to undermine the war effort on Corellia and defeated the First Son. In a formal ceremony on Coruscant, Chancellor Saresh pledged reparations to the Rift Alliance, both as acknowledgement of the injustices committed by the Republic government and as gratitude for their invaluable assistance in defending the Republic.
Behind the scenes
The fate of Janarus is determined by the player character who is a bounty hunter in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Because the bounty hunter is an Imperial class, the assumed canonical choice is for the player to select the dark side option and assassinate Janarus. Nevertheless, the hunter also has the alternative of sparing Janarus and instead killing Darth Tormen in exchange for immunity. Janarus then willingly steps down, clearing the path for Saresh's election.