House urged to step in on royal dispute

JAKARTA: A group of people went to the House of Representatives on Monday to ask the lawmakers to help settle protracted dispute at the Surakarta Palace in Central Java.

The group, comprising palace officials and workers, community figures and cultural activists, said the fight over who should be eligible to succeed the late Sultan Pakubuwono XII would worsen without intervention from both the House and the government.

"The palace is a national cultural heritage that needs to be preserved, that's why the government and the House must move to put the dispute to an end," the delegation's spokesman Tunjung Sutirto told deputy House speaker Zainal Ma'arif, who is a Surakarta native.

Following the death of Pakubuwono XII in June last year, the royal family has been split into two camps. Prince Hangabehi, the eldest son of the late sultan, rose to the throne in mid- September, just a few weeks after his half-brother Prince Tejowulan was crowned the new sultan outside the royal compound.

The feud arose as the late sultan did not name any of his concubines his queen nor appoint his legitimate successor. --