Bansunay

Bansunay Tanah Bansunai (Bansunese)
Flag Emblem
Anthem: Minum Dari Sungai Hidup "Drink from the River of Life"
Capital	Kubujuara 1°80′S 112°86′E
Largest city	Tanjang 5°06′N 115°22′E
Official languages	Bansunese
Demonym(s)	Bansunese
Government	Federal presidential republic
• President	Surya Hadi Widjaja
• Vice President	Buana Eka
Legislature	National Assembly
Independence
• Rythenean settlement	1620
• Tyrnican settlement	1816
• Treaty of Arden	13 March 1913
• End of Coalition occupation	21 October 1945
Area
• Total	667,566 km2 (257,749 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	30,372,000
• 2018 census	29,902,238
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$745.70 billion
• Per capita	$24,938
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$338.58 billion
• Per capita	$11,323
Gini	40.2 medium
HDI	0.700 high
Currency	Bansunese halupir (BHP)
Time zone	UTC+07:00 (Western Isuan Time
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd (CE)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+108
Internet TLD	.bn

Bansunay (/bænsʌneɪ/; Bansunese: Bansunai, pronounced: /bɑːŋsʊnaɪ/), formally referred to as Tanah Bansunai (lit. Land of Bansunay) is a nation in Isuan, bordering Songha to the west, Trenggulun to the east, and the Sea of Qes to the north. It has an area of 667,566 square kilometres, and a population of around 30 million people. Bansunay is comprised of nine federated states that retain certain powers and privileges. The national government is a presidential republic based in the planned city of Kubujuara, which forms its own federal territory.

Bansunay was one of the first places in Isuan to develop rice agriculture, with its fertile fields and river valleys playing host to a multitude of independent states. These polities usually settled their differences in ritual battles, rather than in true warfare. Alawokambese influence began to spread westwards along the coast in the 8th century, bringing the practice of Macakkanism into the region; it was in this period that the coastal cities grew larger than their inland counterparts.

Rythene extended its control over much of northern Bansunay in the 17th century, although this was mostly an ancillary endeavour to consolidate its Songhese territories. Its influence waned after the Great Upheaval, replaced by a waxing Tyrnican presence. Both Auressian empires failed to expand southwards, limited to the coastline by geographic constraints. The disgruntled inland states aligned with the Trenggulun All-Peoples Congress and Songha during the First Great War, driving Tyrnican influence out of Isuan entirely.

After its independence was recognised in the Treaty of Arden, a series of military cliques consolidated the emerging Bansunese government into a cohesive national administration. Bansunay aligned with Imperial Songha in the Sea of Qes crises in the 1920s and 30s, culminating in the outbreak of the Second Great War. Bansunese forces were involved in fronts against Albrennia, Trenggulun, Blayk, and Rythene, but were ultimately defeated by the Coalition. Bansunay was occupied from 1943 until 1950, leading to a large degree of Albrennian economic investment.

Bansunay is closely affiliated with Songha, with the pair forming the centre of the informal grouping known as the Ngtkip Pact. However, a significant portion of the Bansunese economy comprises subsidiary companies of Albrennia’s Pillars — most prominently Reynolds Midland & Co. — which is a significant cause of geopolitical tension in Isuan. Bansunay is a significant exporter of rice, rubber, palm oil, and coffee.

Etymology

“Bansunay” is the Rythenean translation of the native “Bansunai”; more correctly spelt Bansungai. Sungai is the Bansunese word meaning river, referring to the multitude of rivers that flow through the country. There have been several proposed explanations for the ban- prefix, mostly deriving from the Bansunese language.

• banyak (many); “many rivers”
• bangun or bangkit (to rise)'; "rising rivers", referring to the propensity for the rivers to flood during monsoon season
• bangsa (people); “people rivers”, meaning that Tanah Bansunai might mean “land of the people of the rivers”

History

Colonial Period

Tyrnican colonisation

• Tyrnicans attempt to penetrate the interior with ironclads/river monitors; they succeed in maintaining tenuous control of Bidang Lumpur for 5 years before the governor defects
• Construction of railways

Geography

The Bansunese section of the Ambulus mountain range rises higher than in Trenggulun or Songha (the Bai’aksia Mountains).

Government and politics

Bansunay is a federal republic operating under a presidential system, with a popularly-elected president serving separately from the legislature and judiciary. It is divided into nine federated entities, which are called states (negara bagian) and have their own elected legislatures and governments; and one federal territory (bagian federal), which does not have self-government. Some of the states also call their head of state "president", so the President of Bansunay is sometimes called the "federal president" (Presiden Federal) to distinguish the position from state presidencies. The president serves as the head of state and head of government, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Bansunese military (Tentara Tanah Bansunai). The president is expected to form a Cabinet with the approval of the MPR and outline intended aspects of "state policy" (kebijakan negera) and "foreign policy" (kebijakan luar negeri). The president possesses veto power against the legislature and law-making power in the form of executive orders (considered to be delegated legislation), but can also propose ordinary bills for parliamentary consideration. The federal president serves four-year terms, usually with a two-term limit. Term limits are not legally mandated: but after two terms, several so-called "protections" on the presidency expire, which opens the incumbent president to being more easily removed or circumvented by a number of entitled state actors.

File:Ministry Zone, Naypyitaw, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (1).jpg

The Badan Legislatif complex in Kubujuara.

The bicameral Parliament of Bansunay (Badan Legislatif Bansunai, lit. "Legislative Body of Bansunay") consists of the People's Deliberative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat) as the lower house and the State Representative Discursive Council (Dewan Perwakilan Wacana Negara) as the upper house. The MPR has 307 sitting members elected from single-member constituencies for three-year terms. The MPR originates and debates most legislation, oversees executive appointments and decisions, and can begin the process of convening both houses with respect to the president (inauguration, impeachment, policy adjustment). The DPWN has 92 members elected for five-year terms, comprising 10 councillors from each of the nine states and two additional representatives from Kubujuara. On the whole, the DPWN is the weaker of the two houses: ordinarily, it can only delay or suggest amendments to bills that have passed the MPR, and can only originate legislation if specifically addresses an issue pertaining to all states. However, it does have some notable specific functions. When a presidential bill passes through the MPR, the DWPN is empowered to reject it outright — this is considered to be a contingent legislative veto power equivalent to that of the president, rather than an inherent function of the chamber itself. Additionally, the DWPN is invested with the most entitlements in the event of a three-term presidency: it gains equivalent power to the MPR, and becomes the only house able to propose a recall election, which is distinct from the process of impeachment.

Bansunay is usually considered to have either a mixed legal system or an incomplete common law system. The judiciary is one of the main areas in which Tyrnican colonisation continues to maintain a strong influence in Bansunay, with many Tyrnican common law principles remaining relevant — most prominently, separation of powers and the use of case law in maintaining stare decisis. Similar to civil law systems, though, Bansunay does not have a single apex court. The Supreme Court (Pengadilan Tertinggi) is the final court of appeal with relation to civil law (non-criminal) matters; it takes cases from the state Civil Courts under its appellate jurisdiction, and may hear certain important cases under its original jurisdiction. The Constitutional Court (Pengadilan Konstitusi) is the only court that may hear matters pertaining to validity of laws (both constitutional and statute), including the ability to conduct judicial review on executive orders — and, in a three-term presidency, overrule vetoes if the bill does not contradict presidential policy. The Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court both function under adversarial systems. However, the Federal Criminal Court (Pengadilan Pidana Federal) works under an inquisitorial system (as do some state criminal courts). Most notably, the PPF is not the apex court for criminal matters — the Grand Tribunal of the Bansunay Armed Forces (Pengadilan Agung Tentara Tanah Bansunai) has no original civilian jurisdiction, but hears cases on appeal from the PPF. Its proceedings do not change for PPF appeals, and extend Bansunese military law and military justice to non-military personnel; principles of common law do not apply. Although many features of the Bansunese legal system are similar to those found in civil law, discussions of Bansunay as a pluralistic system consider it to consist of common law and customary law, rather than common law and civil law.

International observers assert that Bansunese democracy is severely compromised by the elements of stratocracy and corruption extant in its political system. The 1919–26 Basic Law of Bansunay (Undang-Undang Dasar Bansunai) described the federal presidency as a "protector" of emerging state capitalism and mandated that only members of the Tentara Tanah Bansunai (TTB) could stand for election to the office. The Basic Law was explicitly repealed during the 1943–48 Coalition occupation, and replaced with the Western-inspired Constitution of Bansunay (Konstitusi Baru Bansunai). The "New Constitution" persisted for some years until the 1953 election of Agung Tahyadi, who espoused a return to the Basic Law. Under pressure from Kubujuara and Providence, the Constitutional Court considered both to be binding precedents and introduced the legal concept of "simultaneous obedience" to resolve the conflict. This effectively combined the two constitutions insofar as they are compatible with each other. In 2012, the Valschaffën Institute for Democracy outlined a list of 5 primary factors that "blur political lines between democratic republic and military junta" in Bansunay.

1. The Basic Law mandates the president be a serving member of the Tentara Tanah Bansunai, whereas the New Constitution forbids ever having served. By post-1955 tradition, the Federal President is almost always a former member of the military.
2. The president typically has military connections, and consequently cabinet members are frequently also soldiers or have affiliations with the TTB.
3. Electoral constituency boundaries for the People's Deliberative Assembly are determined by the states. Several southern states (negara bagian selatan) form some of these as "military constituencies", in which only TTB personnel are eligible to stand for office.
4. The appellate process for criminal matters eventually ascends to the Grand Tribunal, in which civilians can be subjected to a kind of pseudo-martial law which is indefinite and undeclared. Only one party needs to file an appeal from the PPF for the PATTB to hear the case; prosecutorial corruption can result in anti-military defendants being dealt military justice; conversely, any defendants with military connections may escape criminal conviction by appealing to the Tribunal.
5. In spite of the Constitutional Court's adherence to judicial independence, it has rarely challenged the fusion of powers evident between the presidency, the legislature, and the criminal court hierarchy. The reasons for this may be twofold: judicial activists intent on on severing the link between the military and the government may be brought up on "unrelated" criminal charges in the PPF and the PATTB; or, the Constitutional Court could be disempowered or abolished entirely by the MPR, which has legislative (including constitutional) power.