History of the Association of Indonesian Micronations

History of the Association of Indonesian Micronations (AIM) has spanned for more than a decade since its establishment by Indokistan and Los Bay Petros on 11 July 2011. Historical era of the organisation is divided into four eras, each with its distinct characteristics.

Era	Period		Description
	Start date	End date
Early years Tahun-tahun awal	2011	2013	Establishment and consolidation of the organisation
Consolidation Konsolidasi	2014	2016	High level of activities and interactions of member states, show of unity after 2014 Malindo Conflict
Post-founder era Era Pascapendiri	2016	2019	Organisation decline following dissolution of two founding nations of AIM.
Rejuvenation Pembaharuan	2019	Present	Rejuvenation of the organisation after arrival of generation of new members, especially from those originated from Stradan sector.

Early years

The organisation was first conceived on a private discussion between Los Bay Petrosian President Adriansyah Yassin Sulaeman and Indokistani Prime Minister Mustafa Hakim on early July 2011. Idea to form AIM was mainly motivated by both leaders desire to unite Indonesian micronations under one common bond. After finalisation of organisation founding charter and logo, and Mustafa's pursuit of endorsement from President Farhan Abbas was positively responded, both leaders declared the establishment of AIM on 11 July 2011. Los Bay Petrosian state television later published a news report on the establishment of AIM evening that day.

The election for the Secretary General was took place on the General Assembly in the evening of 11 July 2011, shortly after the declaration of the founding of AIM. There were three candidates on the election, it was Adriansyah Yassin Sulaeman of Los Bay Petros, Farhan Abbas and Mustafa Hakim of Indokistan. The first election saw Adriansyah Yassin won a plurality against other candidates and received 50% of the total votes, while Farhan received almost 30%, and Mustafa only gained 20%.

On 23 May 2012, economically conscience secretary general Adriansyah Yassin Sulaeman proposed that the organisation adopt a common currency. The proposal received only marginal support as other member states have their economy less developed than Los Bay Petros, the home state of Adriansyah Yassin, and the general lack of interest to engage in micronational economic activities.

In February 2013, AIM member states endorsed a plan to publish a book on Indonesian micronational movement aimed to Indonesian readers and those interested in micronationalism. The proposed book would have a main title "Micronations is not a Separatist" (Indonesian: Mikronasional Bukan Separatis). According to the plan, AIM delegates would contribute a section of the book by their own thoughts on Indonesian micronationalism, with the main purpose is to convince readers that micronationalism is not a separatist movement. The proposed book project was discontinued in mid-2013 due to lack of progress and declining interest among member states.

Santos affair

See also: Federal Republic of Santos

Flag of Santos

In early August 2011, AIM members made initial contact with the Federal Republic of Santos, a newly formed micronation founded by John Gregory on 6 June 2011. Santos was later admitted as AIM full member on the same month, become the second non-founding member state of AIM after A1.

Relations between Santos and AIM members, particularly with Indokistan and Los Bay Petros, turned sour after both countries accused Santos of "disrespectful acts", which includes insulting of the Los Bay Petrosian National Anthem and plagiarism on the design of Los Bay Petrosian Dollar. Further misunderstanding between Santos and both countries worsen the attempt to settle the issue. Indokistan and Los Bay Petros also despised Santos stubbornness to admit fault and repeated acts deemed unacceptable.

After exhaustive attempts to diplomatically resolve the issue, Indokistan and Los Bay Petros initiated a successful motion of expulsion against Santos from AIM, and the vote was passed by the General Assembly on 9 December 2011. Beside on the expulsion, Indokistan and Los Bay Petros also declared embargo against Santos.

Los Bay Petrosian President Adriansyah Yassin Sulaeman later sent a letter to the Santosian government which justified Los Bay Petrosian embargo against Santos on 12 December 2011. He furthermore made a televised speech to declare the embargo. The double attack of embargo and expulsion from AIM against Santos severely weakened the country, and motivated Gregory to cease any activities of the Santosian government on 11 December 2011 and officially disbanded Santos in March 2012.

As of July 2020, the expulsion of Santos from AIM became the only occurrence of member state expulsion on the organisation, as future withdrawal of AIM member state would always caused either by the dissolution or inactivity of the country or by withdrawal. Gregory later founded St. John in the end of 2013, which would not join AIM until 2014 for a brief period. In 2019, as a gesture of reconciliation, St. John was personally invited by Anthony Thomas of Excellent to rejoin AIM, which he accepted. Gregory would see St. John being accepted as AIM observer in July 2019, and as a full member in October 2019, signifying complete reconciliation between Gregory and AIM.

AIM-LMI rivalry

See also: Indonesian Micronational League

On 13 April 2012, Rasyidin leader Abdul Rasyid I declares foundation of Indonesian Micronations Forum (Indonesian: Forum Negara Mikro Indonesian, FNMI), later renamed as Indonesian Micronational League (Indonesian: Liga Mikronasional Indonesia, LMI). He declared himself as the secretary general, while Yogi Surya of Inesia became its chairman.

Relations between both organisations were initially amicable, with Indokistan and Los Bay Petros also joined LMI. In months, impression of rivalry between both organisations became more bold, especially after a proposal to unify LMI to AIM was turned down. Abdul Rasyid I further declared that LMI must remain exist as an alternative of AIM, yet insisted that relations with AIM shall remain friendly.

Al Rasyid Darussalam and Inesia control in LMI was seen as an attempt to counter the hegemony of Indokistan and Los Bay Petros, two founding members of AIM, on the sector. LMI also represent different geographic location on the community, as AIM was packed with micronations located within the western part of Java, LMI represented micronations located further east of Indonesia.

LMI decision to accept Fiharayan and UMSSR politicians to the organisation was seen with cynicism by AIM, as both countries were blacklisted from AIM and the member states ostracised its politicians.

In early 2013, Abdul Rasyid I's increasing absence from the community caused significant burden to the declining LMI. He then declared LMI dissolution on 22 February 2013, and also declared his recognition for the only remaining Indonesian micronational organisation, AIM. Collapse of LMI sealed AIM position as the main micronational organisation in the sector.

AIM expansion proposal

Prior to endorsing MASA, proposal to expand AIM membership scope to Southeast Asian-wide was once submitted to the General Assembly.

In March 2013, Indokistani President Mustafa Hakim proposed an expansion of AIM, so it would accept micronations from Southeast Asian region, instead of only those from Indonesian territory. It was motivated by recent interactions with newly founded Philippines micronations, such as Kaleido and Ariana. He justified the proposal by reminding AIM members that a Southeast Asian-wide micronational organisation were yet to be established, and by reforming AIM as such may increase the prestige of the organisation as the first Southeast Asian organisation. Inclusion of Southeast Asian micronations to AIM instead of founded a new organisation will also ensure Indonesian micronational hegemony on the community.

The proposal initially received mixed reactions, but an increasing opposition to the plan was heard afterwards. Those opposing the idea, including Abdul Rasyid I, Farhan Abbas, and Tommy N. argued that an expansion will resulting in chaos as AIM was not ready to do so. Other members also pointed out on language barrier and significant cultural differences that may impede the effort, as AIM were also obliged to replace its working language from Indonesian to English, many of the members had only a basic knowledge on the language.

After discussion sessions on the General Assembly, the council voted to reject the proposal. Despite on that, the assembly also declared their full endorsements on efforts to establish a Southeast Asian-wide micronational organisation. In April 2013, Micronational Association of Southeast Asia was established by an equal footing between Indonesian and Philippine micronations, the two largest national sector on the organisation. Excellent President Anthony Thomas' candidacy for MASA secretary general was also endorsed collectively by AIM members on MASA secretary general election in mid-2013.

Consolidation

The current AIM Emblem was adopted in 2015

The era was characterised by high level of interactions among member states and activities on the organisation. Member states further united after a series of conflict with Malindo as a spillover of Intervention in Ivanesia staged by Indokistan and Omahkulon in 2013 that led into 2014 Malindo Conflict.

The General Assembly consented to adoption of the new AIM emblem in early 2015, after initial discussion was made beforehand in mid-2014 under the leadership of Rayhan Haikal. The first proposal to replace the logo were made by Tommy N. on 27 February 2013, and received minimum support before it faded away, and resurfaced in 2014.

Ivanesian conflict

Main articles: Intervention in Ivanesia and 2014 Malindo Conflict

AIM Games torch relay

Main article: 2014 AIM Games torch relay

In September 2013, proposal to hold an Olympic-style regional event received member states support. Afterwards, an event called AIM Games was planned to take place in September 2014, with Excellent appointed as the host for the Games.

With burning spirit of solidarity, AIM member states agreed to have a torch relay among participants before the start of the Games. After weeks of planning, the committee presented the route plan and the "torch" - a document that would be signed by heads of member states expressing their endorsements for the Games. The journey was started after the host Excellent handed over the torch to Omahkulon, the first in line, on 28 March 2014. The succeeding relay to Arkapore (arrived in May 2014), and Indokistan (arrived in June 2014) was also successful.

The relay was failed during the succeeding phase in July 2014, when the torch were scheduled to be accepted by Sunda Raya from Indokistan. During the delivery process prior to the relay, the torch went disappeared shortly before the meeting between Farhan Abbas and Lintang Matahari Hasan to personally handing over the torch. The disappearance of the torch rendered the entire mission failed.

The failure of the relay caused severe loss of spirit among member states. The Games scheduled to commence in September 2014 also failed to took place. In the succeeding years, the community began to reassess the failure more positively, as they believed another relay in the future is possible. The lost torch was later rediscovered in Coatesville, Central Indokistan, the home state of Farhan Abbas in 2015. Due to lack of interest from member states to restart the relay, the torch was allowed to be kept by Farhan personally.

Tommy v. Rayhan

Main article: Tommy v. Secretary General of the Association of Indonesian Micronations

Proposed AIM Summit

In January 2015, Indokistan was appointed as the host for the upcoming planned AIM Summit. The summit was planned to took place in 1 until 3 May 2015 in Indokistani capital Suwarnakarta. An internal committee supervised by National Forum of Indokistan was established to held preparations for the summit, with Suwarnakarta Governor Mustafa Hakim and neighbouring Cussex Governor Rayhan Haikal among the committee member. Financial difficulties and lack of commitment among member states to proceed with the summit later caused the proposed summit failed to take place.

Despite the failure, the proposed 2015 summit became known for its most intricate preparation among other summit proposals. Prior to the failure, Indokistani government already published a summit brochure to AIM member states in April 2015, intended to be used as a guide for arriving delegates during the summit in Suwarnakarta. The guide consisted of information on location, itinerary, and items provided by the host during the summit. Beside on that, the preparation committee had also announced a preliminary report on possible options of the meeting place for the summit, which includes several locations in Depok, West Java and East Jakarta.

Collapse of Los Bay Petros

Federal Republic of Los Bay Petros was one of the founding members of AIM, together with Indokistan declaring the founding of AIM on 11 July 2011. Los Bay Petros supplied the first Secretary General, Adriansyah Yassin Sulaeman from 2011 until 2013. Los Bay Petros received permanent membership status on the Security Council (together with Indokistan) in early 2013, further emphasises Los Bay Petros importance in AIM.

In early September 2014, Los Bay Petrosian inactivity began to be noticed by the community, especially after Indokistan reported Los Bay Petrosian delegates withdrawal from Madyaraksan Committee on 30 August 2014 and all contact attempts made by Indokistan received no response.

During the election for secretary general in December 2014, Los Bay Petros failed to appear on the general assembly to cast the vote.

Los Bay Petrosian inactivity put a significant concern to the organisation. Los Bay Petros did not declared their dissolution yet did not confirmed their condition. Furthermore, Los Bay Petrosian status as founding member caused several member states to deny that Los Bay Petros were really dissolved. Two accidental interactions with Los Bay Petrosian politicians in 18 and 25 January 2015 did not answer the question, yet Indrawan Prasetyo confirmed the inactive nature of Los Bay Petros.

Realising the necessity to decide on Los Bay Petrosian membership status, the general assembly brought a motion to end Los Bay Petrosian membership from the organisation, thus recognising Los Bay Petrosian dissolution. On 30 January 2015, general assembly vote to revoke the country's membership from the organisation were passed, as the organisation finally acknowledged Los Bay Petrosian dissolution after months of uncertainty.

First AIM Charter

In January 2015, Secretary General Tommy N. submitted a complete draft of the proposed AIM Charter that has been composed by himself. Lamenting AIM lack of a constitution that were never proposed ever since AIM establishment in 2011, adoption of a charter for AIM were made a part of his election pledge in December 2014.

The draft consisted of two separate texts, consisted of a "charter" and "by-laws", in line with Indonesian organisational lawmaking tradition. Member states quickly expressed their support for the proposed draft, as their wished for a quick adoption of an organisational constitution. Tommy's draft passed general assembly vote on 28 January 2015.

Despite on its status as the constitution for AIM, the legitimacy of the charter was eroded by member states disregard to the charter, mainly caused by organisation lack of member states and personnel. The constitutional Security Council office was neglected as the only title holder after the collapse of Los Bay Petros, Indokistan, did not appoint a member states to fill the non-permanent seat. Indokistani quick accession to replace Tommy N. that was resigned in March 2015 also lacked constitutional basis, furthermore after Indokistan declared itself as "acting chairman", also an unconstitutional move.

Post-founder era

Dissolution of Indokistan on 5 July 2016 became a watershed moment of AIM in 2016.

The era was characterised by stagnation as the organisation struggled to maintain activity level due to declining number of member states and no addition of new member states. Lack of member states and personnels also forced past development proposals to be halted.

A complete migration of AIM centre of activities from Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger to WhatsApp were occurred on the period. Since 2014, activities on AIM Facebook group decreased significantly, as activity began to shift to online chat application only. AIM Facebook group was completely abandoned in mid-2016, and was preserved as an archive.

Collapse of Indokistan

Main article: Dissolution of Indokistan

Indokistan, beside Los Bay Petros was the founders of AIM when leaders of both countries declared AIM establishment on 11 July 2011. Since Los Bay Petrosian collapse in the end of 2014 and membership revocation in early 2015, Indokistan became the only remaining founding member state. After the resignation of Tommy N. in March 2015, Indokistan took over AIM leadership as chairman, further emboldened Indokistani importance in the organisation.

Indokistan unexpectedly declared its intention to be dissolved in June 2016, when the National Forum of Indokistan ratified the Indokistani Dissolution Decree that set the dissolution date on 5 July 2016. To avoid leadership issue after Indokistani departure, the chairman called a special General Assembly session to vote on the new leadership. The General Assembly later agreed to set leadership rotation system and made the Chairman title official, recognising the unconstitutional Indokistani chairmanship precedent. Arkapore ascended chairmanship, as the country was the first in line, on 1 July 2016. Indokistani dissolution was proceed as planned, and the country was officially disbanded in 5 July.

The collapse of Indokistan set the new era of AIM, as the organisation would run without both founding members since, despite Mustafa Hakim immediate reentry to AIM after declaring the establishment of Suwarnakarta Institute on 5 July and his commitment to continue his contribution in AIM.

Further dormancy

Dissolution of Indokistan on 5 July 2016 significantly felt by the general assembly, since the usually active and busy assembly chamber were emptied as 3 Indokistani delegates departed from the community. Love Mainland decision to disband itself on 26 July 2016 caused further decline to AIM.

The era also saw the AIM Charter completely neglected, since the organisation lacked personnels to run the administration. Disbandment of the constitutional Security Council and establishment of Chairman office were all performed without charter amendments. Those changes were done to accommodate the small number of remaining member states.

During 2017-2018 period, AIM only processed one membership application of Falalia. Sunda Raya collapse on 20 June 2018 led into further reduction of AIM member states.

Rejuvenation

Arrival of new generation

Arrival of Stradan sector micronations to the organisation and sudden increase of AIM member states in 2019 filled the organisation with new generation of young micronationalists. AIM veterans (Mustafa Hakim, Tommy N., Anthony Thomas) committed on a regeneration program to handover AIM leadership to the younger generation, while keeping their presence as guardian to the young members.

In the period of January–April 2020, AIM membership reached its highest number ever, with 8 new membership applications processed during the period, effectively doubled the total number into 15 member states in a mere 4 months. Most of the additions originated from Stradan sector micronations, after a successful effort of Aaron Penyami to reinvigorate micronational movement in the sector.

AIM Charter amendment

Cover page of the July amendment of the Charter

AIM Charter was created in 2015 after a draft created by Tommy N. was quickly adopted by the General Assembly. Further development on the organisation, especially after departure of AIM founders and organisation decline followed, rendered the charter severely outdated. The office of Chairman, intended to replace the former Secretary General office, was established merely by convention among member states after recognising Indokistani chairmanship precedence since March 2015. The position was technically unconstitutional as the charter recognises the Secretary General as the only executive office of AIM.

One of the main programmes set by new Chairman Excellent after its accession to the chairmanship in July 2019 was to amend the charter. Excellent successfully initiated amendment talks in the general assembly on 3 July 2019, with two stages of amendments on the charter and the by-laws were planned to take place for a month. The charter amendment process were finished in 20 July, and the by-laws followed in 29 July. The new text were ratified on 29 July.

The July amendment heavily altered the charter, as almost all articles of the charter were expanded. Changes on the charter included on removal of Security Council, recognition of the Chairman, restoration of the Secretary General and addition of the Secretariat, among others. A clause reiterates commitment to adhere to Pancasila and to not to separate from Indonesia was also added to the text.

A minor second amendment was ratified by the general assembly on 8 April 2020. The changes includes on term limit (from 6 months to 4 months) and on transitional period for observer member states (from 3 months to 30 days).

Death of Tian Abdurrahman

See also: Tian Abdurrahman

Tian passed away on 9 September 2019 after being hospitalised on unspecified illness since August 2019. The information was known when his family and relatives expressed their condolences on his personal Facebook page. The news was initially dismissed as untrue, despite of the unusually long absence of the normally-active Tian from the community. Direct contact made by Anthony Thomas of Excellent with his family later affirmed the news about his death to the community. The organisation later published an official statement on the death of Tian, passing the news further to the wider micronational community.

Tian's passing was a huge loss to the community, as one of its most avid and active member was no more. Tian was praised due to his active participation to discover new Indonesian micronations and potential members for AIM. Falalian and Litanian heads of state both expressed their gratitude on Tian for encountering them, thus allowing them to become member of AIM and be engaged in worldwide micronational community. AIM later declared Tian Generations Place as symbolic capital of AIM, to honour Tian.

Activity surge

Sudden increase of member states resulting in improvement of quality of activities and discussions conducted in the organisation. Beforehand, a streamlined organisation was aimed to ensure minimum staffing due to small number of member states.

After years of planning, AIM News Network was established on 3 March 2020 and became the first child agency of AIM. The news agency purpose is to report news concerning about AIM and to accommodate member states to publish their local news report.

On 19 April 2020, AIM General Assembly for the first time rejecting full membership application, in particular of Al-Muqaddimah. The country failed to won member states support due to an issue with Excellent, which preventing the other member states to declare their support to Al-Muqaddimah. The rejection was seen as a sign that AIM has finally able to set a standard that a prospective member state should achieve before requesting full membership application. Generally, membership applications were eased and hurried, to ensure a quick accession to the organisation. Ultimately, Muqaddiman issue with Excellent were resolved, and Al-Muqaddimah achieved full membership status on 29 April 2020.

The second agency, AIM Museum was inaugurated on 1 May 2020 to become the organisation's archive database and a museum. The museum accommodates archives originating from current and former member states, and opens a permanent exhibition accessible online.

Harjakarta became AIM Chairman as designated by members rotational system on 1 May 2020. The Chairman appointed Eri Septio Priangga to become the fifth secretary general on 2 May 2020, Eri is the first secretary general originated from the new generation of AIM member states. Eri then appointed 4 individuals to occupy the Secretariat offices. It was the inaugural appointment to the secretariat as the previous Secretary General Mustafa Hakim did not fill the secretariat.

The organisation planned resumption of activities on the "Indonesian Micronations" Facebook fanpage held by AIM that has been left dormant for years, after Falalian leader King Muhammad I was appointed by Secretary General Eri Septio Priangga as a staff for the Public Relations Office, and was made fanpage admin in mid-May 2020.

On 3 July 2020, Harjakarta suddenly declared their dissolution, resulting in vacancy of Chairman office that the country presided over. After days with no appointed replacement, the General Assembly agreed to appoint 3 individuals on an acting capacity to presides over the chairmanship as a triumvirate. Those individuals are Aaron Penyami of Neuborrnia-Merientalia, Mustafa Hakim of Suwarnakarta Institute, and Anthony Thomas of Excellent. The decision most probably would establish a precedent for acting chairmanship in the future.

2020 General Assembly Special Session

Official logo of AIM 9th Anniversary

Main article: 2020 AIM General Assembly Special Session

On 11 July 2020, General Assembly of AIM held a special session to commemorate the 9th anniversary of AIM that was established in 2011. The meeting took place on an online server hosted by Suwarnakarta Institute, and became the first time AIM members had a face-to-face meeting as the usual interaction method is only through a written chat.

The meeting was attended by 12 delegates from 11 member states, and its agenda consisted of announcement of state reports, free discussion on micronational topic, and commemoration of AIM 9th anniversary. The meeting gave significant boost of confidence for AIM members to hold a more grandiose celebration on the next anniversary in 2021 as AIM celebrates its 10th anniversary.

External links

• File:AIM Statement Tian.pdf - AIM Statement on the passing of Tian Abdurrahman on 9 September 2019.