In the aftermath of the war and the struggle against Dutch rule, several exile associations collectively known as the "Gerakan Kesultanan Riau" (Riau Sultanate Movement) emerged in Singapore, planning for a restoration. Some of the groups dated from as early as the dissolution of the sultanate, but started to gain momentum following the post-world war confusion and politics. From the ashes of political uncertainty and fragility in the East Indies following the World War II, a royalist faction known as the Association of the Indigenous Riau Malays (Malay: "Persatoean Melayu Riouw Sedjati") (PMRS) emerged to call for the restoration of the Riau-Lingga Sultanate. The council was financially backed by rich Riau Malay émigrés and Chinese merchants who hoped to obtain tin concession. Initially founded in High Street, Singapore, the association moved to Tanjung Pinang, Riau with the unprecedented approval by the Dutch administrators. Based in Tanjung Pinang, the group managed to gain the consent of the Dutch for self-governance in the region with the foundation of the Riouw Council (Dutch: "Riouw Raad", Malay: "Dewan Riouw"). The Riouw Council was the devolved national unicameral legislature of Riau, a position equivalent to a Parliament.