East Ramay

East Ramay, officially the Republic of East Ramay, was a sovereign state that existed between 1925 and 1981. East Ramay is the direct successor of the Eastern Ramay colony of the Samot-Sertofian empire which was granted independence on the 1st of May 1925 as designated by the treaty of Holmgard. East Ramay, while democratic in practice, some elements of leadership remained autocratic with the most notable example being the post of president being mostly unopposed throughout President Suwiryo's term in office. The country ceased to exist on the 17th of October when communist revolutionaries took control of most of the country and occupied the capital.

For most of its existence, East Ramay was ruled by President Suwiryo, who held a strong stance on brotherhood and unity over the ethnic groups in the country. With a history of ethnic tension, integrating and unity policies were enacted by the government throughout most of its early years. As a result of the stronger central government and the cooperation between the peoples, economic growth during the first few years showed a healthy balance. Many East Ramayans were lifted out of poverty during the first decades of the Republic. During the Kesh War, East Ramay officially remained neutral and continued to trade with both sides. This led to a massive economic and population boom in East Ramay with the GDP tripling in only fifteen years. East Ramay became one of the most prosperous states in Kesh at the point and was nicknamed the pearl of Kesh.

Following the end of the Kesh War, East Ramay invested heavily in reconstruction efforts in Kodeshia, helping the nation regain its footing and stability. The built up infrastructure left after the Kesh War economic boom enabled East Ramay to project its products not only to Kesh and trade with Artemia and Avalonia, however, export volumes after the first few years of more widespread trading began to decline, commonly known as the era of stagnation. The era of stagnation was marked by the death of President Suwiryo in 1973, leaving a massive power vaccuum. In 1975, elections were held and saw President Raditya be elected. President Raditya died in 1979 ahead of the 1980 elections, a massively contested election between three presidential candidates in which all three candidates claimed victory and begun organizing their own governments and cabinets. The split excarbated the worsening political and economic situation in East Ramay.

A civil war erupted in June of 1980 between supporters of different candidates, with each candidate having different foreign backings and support. A side effect of foreign powers meddling in the elections of East Ramay made the anti-foreign communist revolutionary group the red warriors gain massive traction between the populace. The massive support for the red warriors and the fractured central government made it very easy for the red warriors to seize control of large swaths of land and cities, eventually capturing the capital on the 17th of October 1981, thus formally declaring a new state called "Democratic Ramay", marking a formal end to the Republic of East Ramay.

During its 56 year existence, East Ramay grew from one of the poorer states of Kesh into one of the most prosperous ones during the span of only 40 years. Its economic and political systems were once praised by experts and analysts alike. The social integrity of East Ramay was once a prime example of coexsiting. East Ramay joined various international organizatons such as the commonwealth and the Kesh summits.

Formation (1924-1925)
On the eve of the treaty of Holmgard, the intellectual community in the colony of Eastern Ramay had been notified by their counterparts back in Samot-Seratof that the empire would be disintegrated per the treaty and all of its colony be granted independence immediately. News of such disintegration reached the governor-general of the colony, which gathered the intellectual few to discuss the terms of the departure beforehand to avoid a bloody conflict as witnessed before the arrival of the Samot-Seratofian empire on the coasts of Southern Kesh. The governor-general would then present the results of the meetings to the Samot-Seratofian colonial authority to be forwarded and be included in the treaty of Holmgard. Although so, the governor general, who was an ethnic Seratofian, still hoped that the colony would remain either under Seratofian or Samot rule, but this was sternly rejected by the gathering. Hopes of the colony remaining under Seratofian or Samot rule eventually died out when the notification of the partition of Seratof were to happen upon the signing of the treaty.

Suwiryo Sastrodiharjo, the leader of the native youth organization and one of the few with a university education at that time, was chosen to be the interim leader of the transitional government before the signing of the treaty. With support from all backgrounds and ethnic groups in order to create a new nation in former colonial lands, he convened several times publicly with the endorsement of the governor-general, discussing the future of the country by drafting a constitution and the terms of the state, such as its make, government, and judicial system. Most of the systems agreed upon in East Ramay were colonial vestiges remnant from Seratof and Samotkhe, and as a result, these institutions were already firmly in place when independence was formally given.

On the 1st of May 1925, coinciding with the signing of the treaty of Holmgard, the flag of the new Republic of East Ramay was hoisted on the old governor-general's palace which had been converted into the people's palace. The first inauguration of President Suwiryo Sastrodiharjo was seen by hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Early years (1926-1943)
The republic, upon independence, was one of the poorest states in Kesh, owing to centuries of colonialization and mismanagement on behalf of the colonial authorities. On the 13th of January 1926, the first elections in East Ramay took place, in which voters elected the 200 member assembly along with the 150 member body responsible for drafting a constitution. The constitutonal convention would eventually convene beginning on the 17th of March 1926. The East Ramay general assembly ratified the new permanent constitution on the 13th of November 1926, which solidifies East Ramay's state as a , however, the same assembly also granted the title of "president for life" to President Suwiryo, which was initially opposed by various factions, but eventually passed with a slim margin.

A five-year development masterplan was approved by the general assembly in 1927 outlining the goals and ambitions of East Ramay. Contained within the first five year plan was an ambition to secure the international awareness on the existence of East Ramay as a sovereign nation and to restructure the economy away from a colonial-inherited one to one fit for international trade. On the 12th of April 1927, Sulistyono Margono was sworn in as the country's first prime minister. The first cabinet assembled in front of the people's palace on the 15th of April. Between 1927 and 1932, East Ramay opened up diplomatic and economic ties to various nations in Avalonia and Artemia and strengthened its already burgeoning economic links and market with West Ramay and Prabhat.

As an act of national solidarity and pride, PM Sulistyono, with the backing of the general assembly and President Suwiryo, nationalized several privately-owned holdings and corporations such as the CV Listrik Ramay, which was the main electric supplier to the nation, and PT Air Sumberejo, a large water-needs company. The East Ramayan Monetary Authority which had been issuing and regulating the East Ramayan Austral since independence was also upgraded to a formal central bank named the Central Bank of East Ramay in 1929. As a result of the massive acquisitions and purchases done by the government between 1927 and 1930, in 1931, a massive holding for all the s were lumped as one and publicly traded in the Sragen Stock Exchange beginning on the 2nd of October 1931. New capital entering the state coffers enabled the government to invest in numerous infrastructure projects throughout the young nation, most notably the trans-Ramayan road which spanned the entire country's length. An ambitious project to connect Banyuasin Island to the mainland was also approved in the 2nd five-year masterplan of 1932-1937.

Ethnic tensions reached all-time highs in 1934 when two unknown men broke into the home of a wealthy Yafan business owner, in which the suspect was a Rajungan man, fuelling anti-Rajungan head lead by the Yafans in virtually all aspects of life. As a result, many ethnic Rajungan were fired from their positions at work, and were discriminated elsewhere, creating a stereotype that the Rajungan were dirty and corrupt. In response, President Suwiryo dismissed the chief of police for his inadequate performance and replaced him with a Rajungan man to instill trust and a sense of brotherhood between the peoples of East Ramay. PM Sulistyono resigned on the 27th of August 1934 after growing pressure on him to address the ethnic imbalance was touted by the masses as a failure.

Early elections were called on the 12th of January 1935, where Sulistyono’s centrist  flunked the elections, losing more than half their seats in parliament and replaced with a  coalition known as Ramay Bangkit. The RB coalition nominated Yudhartono Andhikaperkasa as prime minister after forming their coalition, and Yudhartono was inaugurated on the 18th of January 1935. He decided to stick to the previous five year planned already approved and in progress at the moment while severely paying higher attention towards the well-being of all ethnic groups in order to foster back confidence of the East Ramayan people on the central government. In an effort to improve the economic standings of rural East Ramayans, the then Minister of Finance Juliananta Satyanagara devised the “fortress program”, which prioritized East Ramayans’ produce over other nations. Any farmer who wished to advance their business was able to receive a 30 year loan from the government to buy equipment and hire more employees.

In addition to the fortress program, irrigation was also ramped up to support farmers and the desert region of Gurunjaya. In 1937, the Ramay Bangkit coalition strengthened their position in parliament by gaining an additional 14 seats across 3 center-left parties, and passed the controversial 1937-1942 five year plan, which stipulated the increase of taxes and the reorganization of the very popular fortress program. PM Yudhartono attempted to implement several ideals into East Ramay before it was too late as in some countries. The East Ramayan Public Health Body under the helm of the ministry of health was created in 1938 with the funding of the tax increases and the cuts in spending. The system proved to be very popular and controversial at the same time, with estimates projecting the collapse of the health system by 1957 due to its underfunding and the growing number of East Ramayans who now seek medication in formal health institutions rather than the use of natural medication and local shamans to cure various forms of diseases and sicknesses.

Education was attempted to be stripped of any of its costs in early 1940, but the program was only applied to several major cities such as the capital Sragen and Klitren due to their capability of funding such system using the 1937 scheme of increased taxes. PM Yudhartono and his coalition still deemed the programs a success, attributing to the state of the nation which is not as wealthy as other nations but has already been able to create a system of. In 1941, a merger of 12 bauxite mining companies under the collective name of Ramayan Bauxites occurred, with the government having a 51% share. In late 1941, four months before the general election, the RB coalition was disbanded due to disputes in the running of both universal healthcare and education, and was replaced by a coalition of center-right parties known as RamayBisa (coincidentally also nicknamed RB). The RamayBisa coalition would nominate PM Sargiyananta as Prime Minister, inaugurated on the 18th of January 1942.