Refusal Crisis
The Refusal Crisis (also known as the Royalist Coup, or in modern Syara the End of the Republic) was a political crisis in the Republic of Syara following the unexpected death of President Krunislav Mircevski. Efforts by pro-Warden Senate to enact constitutional reform by interim President Robert Križan were met with strong opposition by Royalist-aligned political factions and politicians within the country, leading to a refusal by the Royalists to recognize the legitimacy of the Senate's actions and an attempted siezure of the Senate building by military forces loyal to the Royal Families of Makedon and Galania.
The origin of the crisis lay in the growing divide between the revolutionary, Zobethos-fundamentalist Wardens and the conservative monarchist Royalists, which came to a head in the summer of 1983 when pro-Warden political parties and elements gained a super-majority in the Syaran Senate. Having gained enough votes to do so, the Wardens attempted to initiate a constructional reform that would officially strip the Royal Families and nobility of Galania and Makedon of their titles and estates. The move was fiercely opposed by the pro-Royalist elements of the Senate, who claimed that the effort was an illegal overreach of the national government. President Mircevski opposed the reform on practical grounds, arguing that the Senate did not have the legal authority to do so and insisted it was an internal matter of the Realms.
Mircevski's unexpected death on 13 October 1985 led to immediate accusations of foul play by both sides, though no official investigation was carried out during the remaining duration of the Republic. Per terms of the Syaran Constitution the Senate appointed an interim President, outvoting the Royalist factions to nominate Robert Križan, a pro-Warden Scitarian Realm Senator. Per the wording of Syara law the interim President was only expected to serve until an emergency election could be held the following year in the summer of 1984. Aware that the Royalists held a disproportionate advantage in electoral districts and that a Warden victory in the next election was not guaranteed, the Senate attempted to initiate the constitutional reform under President Križan. Royalist Senators loudly protested the move, arguing that the interim President lacked the authority to hold a constitutional endeavor.
The primary point of debate was over the vague wording of the Syaran Constitution, which only stated that the interim President would have "limited powers to ensure the necessary functions of government", with the Royalists citing this as proof that Križan did not have the authority to hold the referendum and the Wardens arguing that it fell under the necessary functions of government. The situation was an eventuality that the original writers of the Syaran Constitution appear to have never considered, and constitutional scholars remained divided on the issue. Unable to reach an agreement, the Wardens announced their intention to hold the referendum anyway, which led the Royalists to officially declare a refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the act, from which the crisis earned its name.
As the Warden Senator gathered to hold the referendum, pro-Royalist Senators, in conjunction with King Vasko of Makedon, appealed to Field Marshal Sivo Hadjiev. Deskov agreed to assist and gathered military forces loyal to the Royalists and on 15 December 1983 attempted to storm the Senate building in Zovahr. Forewarned by Warden sympathizers, many Warden Senators managed to escape the city, relocating to Slocova where Saša Mlinarić called for the Armed Forces of the Syaran Republic to help restore legal rule in the capital. The resulting disintegration of the VRS into Warden and Royalist camps effectively marked the beginning of the Refusal War, and the end of the Republic.