Illyana Sharrad

Illyana Sharrad is a human politician. She served as High-Secretary of the UEE government during the administration of Kelos Costigan from 2942 until 2950.

2950 elections
Nearing the end of Costigan's term, she enrolled in the 2950 UEE imperatorial Elections, making it to the last five for the final vote. Her ongoing campaign combined with her regular duties as high secretary caused a very busy schedule for her. One of her primary campaign pointers was to fast track one pressing infrastructure need for each UEE system. This is called the "Jump Start" program.

"Words will only get us so far. It takes real work, focus, and dedication to make tomorrow better than today. I have the fight and focus necessary to make these ideas a reality."

Competition
Officially, the Universalist party had endorsed Sharrad as their candidate for the 2950 election. But Imperator Costigan (who is part of the same party), had never officially declared his support, possibly due to the fact that his son Titus Costigan was also in the race for Imperator under the Universalist party. Costigan had met with party chair Aadi Svensson prior to the secondary vote to pressure him into endorsing Sharrad, which soured the work relationship between Sharrad and Costigan. Making matter worse between the two Universalist candidates were a series of attack ads specifically targeting Sharrad that hit the Spectrum just before the secondary vote. Titus' campaign denied involvement. Despite this, Sharrad still lost several key parts of the Universalist voting block to Titus.

Jump Start program
The Jump Start program essentially allows governor's councils in each system to propose a single initiative that will serve the needs of the residents there. The purpose of the program is then to fast track the plans, hopefully boosting the long-term health of the system's economy, and benefiting from the potential return on investment when carrying it out. That in turn could create jobs, inject capital, and improve the lives of that system's residents. The program has received widespread support from public sector unions across the Empire.

In order to fund this program, Sharrad proposed that the funding for the Synthworld project be temporarily paused in order to review the project's progress and set attainable goals.

Active Engagement initiative
Another one of Sharrad's plans is a program that would essentially require anyone, whether they're a citizen or civilian, to "actively engage" in an authorized civil service program while taking advantage of certain benefit programs. In an interview with Eria Quint on Showdown, Sharrad explained that not participating in the program will not cause anyone lose access to the rights and services guaranteed to them in the Common Laws. "Those that need a little extra help will get it by giving a little back". Some of the options available would even lead to civilians gaining Citizenship.

Endorsements
Sharrad is endorsed by the following organizations:


 * Universal Party
 * United Public Servants
 * Civic Engagement Society

Personal statement
"High-Secretary Illyana Sharrad has devoted her life to improving the Empire. For the past eight years, she’s had the honor of serving Imperator Costigan as High-Secretary and overseen trillions of credits in infrastructure improvements across the UEE. Before her transition into public service, Illyana protected taxpayers in the private sector by exposing a massive corruption scheme centered around bids for public works projects.

Illyana is running to be the next Imperator because not only is she the best bridge between the current administration and an exciting new future, but she has the experience and skills to manage the Empire’s complex bureaucracy and lead it in bold new directions. She’ll let the generals continue their successful campaign against the Vanduul, rebuild crumbling infrastructure across the Empire, and create new programs that incentivize civic engagement.

Illyana wants to build bridges, not tear them down – because hands-on experience has taught her that the UEE’s major problems can only be solved when the people of the Empire come together."