Lawrence Ata

Lawrence Ata was a Solomonese politician, Known for being the Second Commissioner of Indomalaya. He served between 2093 and 2135.

## Early Life

Lawrence Ata was born to Lower-Middle Class parents on the 12th March 2055, in **Honiara, Solomon Islands**. He received a public education, becoming interested in Business and Logistics at a fairly young age, taking after his father, who did something similar. At age nine, his family moved to Singapore, Malaya, when his father took a job opportunity in the city. He was enrolled into a new school for the remainder of his youth, where he noticeably struggled with life in a new country, although would become more accustomed by the time he moved into senior education. Ata would take a course in Logistics and management at the **University of Economics and Law** in Saigon, South Vietnam. While there, he developed an interest in politics, owing to the exposure he got through the university. Upon graduation, he moved to Java, where he would work for a major transport firm, although after a few years, the group ceased to trade, as rising tariffs pushed it out of business.

## Political Career

Ata joined a number of political groups over the next few years, although found it difficult to gain any positions in the midst of the **Nusantara Hegemony**. He became a vocal supporter of a multicultural Indomalaya, gaining significant notoriety amongst those against the Nusantara National Party. As a number of non-Malay states are admitted, Ata would be among those to capitalise, spreading their ideals amongst those in the new states, even gaining an elected position for the first time in 2089, as a member of Assembly for the state of Visaya. In 2093, Indomalaya's Commissioner Nazril Hakim was removed from office, with a new campaign starting immediately. Ata, being eligible, chose to run for the role of Commissioner, running a campaign that lasted for six weeks. When voting occurred, Ata won the most votes of any candidate for Commissioner, and while Hakim resisted, using his Solomonese birth against him, Ata resigned from the Visayan Assembly and was inaugurated as Indomalaya's Second Commissioner in September 2093.

## Commission Years

Relations were expectedly tense with then President Syarif Chandran, since Chandran was a member of the NNP, and a strong proponent of many of the ideas Ata was against, although Chandran failed to be re-elected in 2095. Ata had a much more productive working relationship with Jintara Bihr, the first Indomalayan President not a part of the NNP. Ata would usher in a period of peaceful expansion and consolidation of Indomalaya, bringing in a number of Pacific Island Nations into the country, including his native Solomon Islands in 2113, as part of the state of Solomon and Bismarck. HIs greatest test came in 2112, When Kaia Halverson agreed to trade a portion of the Shan State to GUISS, in exchange for land on the Nordica-GUISS border, which angered many in Indomalaya. As a result, Ata threatened for Indomalaya to leave the Realm of Nordica if it is not reformed to ensure anything like this does not occur again. The resulting **Saigon Articles** reformed **The Realm**, as it was now to be called, giving each nation autonomy over it's own territory. The Articles also elevated Indomalaya to an equal position in The Realm as Nordica.

As Ata approached 80, he decided that he would resign from the role, and began screening for a successor, establishing a process akin to that in Nordica for choosing a successor. The process turned up Siam born Kezia Natsir, whom he was particularly impressed with, and began personally training her to be his replacement. Ata would resign on his 80th birthday, the 12th March 2135, nominating Natsir as his official successor.

## Post-Commission

After resigning, like many before him, Ata would continue to advise his successor from time to time, although returned to his hometown of Honiara, continuing his work remotely. Ata would not officially resign from politics, though became less and less engaged. he would advise Natsir for the last time prior to the **Moscow Peace Conference** in 2150. He would be diagnosed with Cancer the following year, and died two years later, on the 19th April 2153, aged 98.

## Legacy

While Ata defined much of Indomalaya's identity and established many of it's systems, he would be largely overshadowed by his successors, as Natsir and Tayathein would both serve until their death, becoming figureheads for Indomalaya over the course of their life. as a result, Ata, the only Indomalayan commissioner to resign, is frequently overlooked, despite being the one to elevate Indomalaya to become Nordica's equal.

Despite this, the Martian city of New Honiara is named in his honour, referencing his birthplace.