A new Romulan senate was brought to power this week ending the provisional naval government set up by Commander Donatra. Romulan citizens will be happy to see a return to representational government, something which was suspended when former Praetor Hiren and the entire Romulan senate were assassinated on masse by the rebel alien citizen Shinzon.

Senators are usually elected by the rest of the senate when a vaccancy becomes avalible, and the senate in turn elects the Praetor and his proconsuls. Under the highly unusual event of the death of the entire council, special provisions apply. Should such circumstances occur during a "time of crisis", the Romulan military is granted temporary control of government. A new senate is then elected from a list of prominent Romulan citizens by the populace.

Several members of the new senate should be familliar to the well-informed Romulan citizen. For example, the new representative for Tinzot province, Romulus is former General Krasus. The long-standing officer in charge of military ground forces received a well-deserved retirement package two years ago following the Dominion War. Staunch but liberal-minded, the former general and senator-elect made this comment yesterday: "While the incidents which led to my election show a need for increased security in the senate and the capital city forum, it is also important to recognize the need for social change in Romulan society, particularly in regards to the treatment of our distant cousins, the Remans."

Others, however, are taking a much more hard line approach. One of these is Senator-elect Torena, a former production head at one of Remus' largest dilithium mining facilities. She made these comments earlier this week: "It is clear that there is a severe lack of internal security in the Empire. The reforms we placed on the Tal Shiar following the failed attack on the Founder homeworld have lead to internal dissent and political chaos. This recent catastrophe could have placed our nation in grave danger, let us be sure it does not happen again."

For the most part, it seems, senators are seeing the wisdom the former approach, albeit with a slight bit of trepidation. Many have a desire for change, beliving that the Empire needs to evolve in order to remain a potent power in the beta quadrant. Time shall show which opinion is dominant, as the new senate will first conveine tommorow to elect their Praetor and Proconsuls.