Pakoeboewono heirs locked in bitter conflict

Pakoeboewono heirs locked in bitter conflict

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta

The body of Pakoeboewono XII, the late sultan of Surakarta, was
laid out in a mosque on the premises of the Surakarta Palace on
June 11. Hundreds of residents gathered at the mosque to pray and
pay their last respects to the sultan, who died at the age of 79.
Relatives of the sultan gathered in a corner of the mosque, while
journalists waited in another corner, waiting for details about
the passing of the sultan, particularly on who will rule the
Surakarta sultanate. Grief could be felt in the air.

Suddenly, Prince Edy Wirabhumi, a son-in-law of the sultan and
spokesman of the sultanate, signaled that there would be a press
conference.

At the press conference, held in a building on the palace
grounds, the prince devoted much of the conference to the change
of power following the sultan's death. According to him, Prince
Hangabehi had been chosen by the sultan as his successor, based
on a testament written by Pakoeboewono XII.

The testament marked the beginning of a power struggle in
Surakarta Palace.

Prince Dipokusumo, one of the late sultan's sons, abruptly
expressed concern over the testament, the contents of which was
revealed shortly after the sultan's death, which gave the
impression that there was one party in the palace who was hungry
for power. "It is improper for Javanese to announce a successor
while people are still mourning the person's death," said
Dipokusumo.

Prince Hadiprabowo of the same camp as Dipokusumo accused Edy
of producing a fake testament. "The testament is fake because it
lacks the official palace seal," said Hadiprabowo.

The testament controversy has created further conflict among
rivals within Surakarta Palace.

Pakoeboewono had six consorts and 35 children. In Surakarta
Palace tradition, the oldest son of the consort of the sultan
will automatically become the sultan when the sultan dies, but a
sultan does have the authority to pick his own successor.

The issue has resulted in bitter conflict among two rival
camps in the palace.

One camp is led by Princess Koes Moertiyah, who is a
legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P). Supported by 10 brothers and sisters, mostly the daughters
and sons of the sultan's second consort Pradaningrum, Moertiyah
has expressed support for Prince Hangabehi.

The prince was installed as the sultan of Surakarta on June 24
on the grounds that he was the oldest son of the Surakarta Palace
family.

But another camp, headed by Prince Dipokusumo, rejected the
inauguration of Hangabehi, saying that the inauguration should
have been held with the consent and approval of all family
members of the sultan, because the sultan never expressed his
preference on who was to be the crown prince of Surakarta Palace.

The second group is supported by family members from the
remaining five consorts of the sultan.

"We uphold old traditions, but the public is hoping for a
capable and credible leader," said Dipokusumo, who is the leader
of the palace's administrative affairs body.

A series of talks has been held by the two rival camps, but
proved fruitless.

The dispute escalated on Monday, when three bodies within the
palace -- the palace's administrative affairs body, senior
members of Pakoeboewono XII's sons and senior members of the
Pakoeboewono XII's daughters -- installed Prince Tejowulan as the
crown prince. Shortly after he was installed as the crown prince,
Tejowulan declared himself the sultan of Surakarta.

However, the crowning ceremony was not held on the premises of
Surakarta Palace. Instead it was held at the residence of
Mooryati Soedibyo, a noted businesswoman and granddaughter of
Pakoeboewono X, because the palace doors had been closed by
Hangabehi's supporters.

The situation became tense after Moertiyah accused Tejowulan,
an active military colonel, of making political maneuvers ahead
of the presidential election runoff on Sept. 20.

Moertiyah, a supporter of Megawati Soekarnoputri, said
Tejowulan would campaign for Megawati's rival Gen. (ret) Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono after Tejowulan was installed as the sultan.

Tejowulan quickly denied the accusation.

"I am ready to serve the people as a sultan in order to
restore the prestige of Surakarta Palace, which has been
tarnished by irresponsible people," said Tejowulan.

The conflict is far from over. The Moertiyah camp is planning
to inaugurate Hangabehi as the sultan on Sept. 10 to publicly
proclaim Hangabehi the true sultan of Surakarta. The camp has ask
the police to safeguard the assets of Surakarta Palace from the
Tejowulan camp, which they have accused of trying to remove
property from the palace grounds.

However, Tejowulan claims that he went to the palace to save
the assets from the Moertiyah camp.

"They (the Moertiyah and Hangabehi camp) have repeatedly sold
palace assets. We have to save the remaining assets," said
Tejowulan.

Separately, Surakarta Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Lutfi
Lubhianto said that he would intervene in the conflict only if
there was a danger of it disrupting public order. "We will stay
neutral," he said.