Surakarta royals avoid succession talks
Sri Wahyuni and Blontank Poer, Surakarta/Yogyakarta
Thousands of people poured into Surakarta Palace to pay their last respects to traditional ruler Paku Buwono XII on Sunday while the royal family refrained from discussing the succession.
National red-and-white flags flew at half-mast across the Central Java town in a show of grief following the death of the sultan on Friday.
Mourners included President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu and a number of Cabinet ministers who visited the royal family on Saturday. Golkar Party presidential candidate Wiranto and leader Akbar Tandjung paid homage to the sultan on Friday.
It was business as usual at Klewer traditional market, located close to the palace, but some buyers from outside the town said they went shopping only after paying their last respects to Paku Buwono XII, who died aged 79.
"I often buy goods in the market, but today I spared some time to pay homage to the sultan," said Suryanto from the provincial capital, Semarang.
The royal family has allowed the general public to pay their last respects to the sultan, whose body was laid out at Parasedya Sasana Sewaka hall.
During a meeting on Saturday evening, the family avoided any discussion on the succession.
"Such talks will be held after the period of mourning," leader of the royal family Prince Hadi Prabowo said.
"We prefer to focus on preparations for the sultan's funeral. The announcement about the successor will be made 40 days after the sultan's death."
Paku Buwono XII, who rose to the throne on June 12, 1945, did not nominate any of his six concubines as queen; therefore there was no crown prince.
"Each of his sons stands an equal chance of succeeding the sultan," Prince Haryomataram, a son of the late Paku Buwono X, said.
Paku Buwono XII will be buried at the Astana Girimulya royal cemetery in Imogiri, some 20 kilometers southeast of the neighboring town, Yogyakarta, on Monday.
According to a royal employee at the cemetery, the sultan's body would moved from Surakarta Palace at around 8 a.m. on Monday in a special carriage before being taken to Imogori in a motor vehicle.
Before the funeral, the sultan's body will be laid out at Kotagede Grand Mosque, Kotagede, Yogyakarta, for prayers. Further prayers will be performed when the remains of the sultan are taken to the mosque inside the cemetery compound.
Paku Buwono XII will be buried next to the graves of his father Paku Buwono XI and grandfather Paku Buwono X.
"This will be a special ritual," said the palace official.
The last sultan to be buried in the royal cemetery was former vice president Hamengku Buwono IX, the father of Yogyakarta governor Hamengku Buwono X, who died in October 1988.
Imogiri royal cemetery is divided into eight different sections; each is allocated to the noble families of both the Yogyakarta and Surakarta palaces. The sections are for Kasultanan Agung, Paku Buwono, Kasuwarga Yogyakarta, Besiyaran Yogyakarta, Saptorenggo Yogyakarta, Kasuwarga Surakarta, Kapingsangan Surakarta and Girimulyo Surakarta.