Cirebon has two new sultans after royal dispute

Cirebon has two new sultans after royal dispute

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

Kanoman Palace in the West Java town of Cirebon has two kings as
a result of a year-long royal dispute following the death of
Prince Haji Muhammad Djalaluddin, the eleventh sultan of the
kingdom, last year.

At about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Prince Muhammad Saladin was
crowned as Sultan Kanoman during a modest ceremony in the palace.
On Thursday, Prince Raja Muhammad Emirudin was also crowned as
Sultan Kanoman in a more festive royal inauguration in the same
palace.

But Emirudin's installation turned ugly when some supporters
of Saladin attempted to stop the ceremony. The police managed to
prevent a possible physical clash after barring Saladin's
supporters from attending the ceremony.

Led by Saladin' sister, Princess Mawar Kartina, the supporters
continued to protest Emirudin's inauguration as sultan, saying
that it was a coup d'etat.

Mawar said that Saladin's supporters would settle the dispute
in court.

The royal dispute started following the reading of the will of
Sultan Djalaluddin, who named Saladin as his successor. However,
some members of the royal family said that Djalaluddin request
was against Kanoman tradition, which stipulates that the sultan's
first son from the queen -- in this case Emirudin-- is the
legitimate heir to the throne.

Saladin is Djalaluddin's son from one of his concubines.

Some royal family members, who are supported by the people and
about 100 royal officials, oppose the appointment of Saladin as
sultan. In January, hundreds of Kanoman royal family members held
a protest against Saladin.

The opposition grew because they considered the appointment of
Saladin as against the palace tradition.

"Appointing a prince in a will is not acceptable. We believe
Djalaludin knew that it was not our tradition. We suspect there
was an intent to manipulate and damage Kanoman Palace tradition,"
said one of Emirudin's supporters.

However, Saladin believes that he is the legitimate heir to
the throne after Djalaluddin's will was read before the public on
Jan. 1 this year.

Besides the two parties, a third party had also demanded the
crown, that is, Djalaluddin's brother, Muhammad Imamuddin, who
was acting sultan following his death.

Kanoman Palace is one of three kingdoms in Cirebon. The other
two are Kasepuhan Palace and Kaceribonan Palace.