Yogya’s queen wants royal blood separate from politics

The Regional Representatives Council deputy speaker Hemas, also widely known as Queen Hemas, since she is the wife of Yogya’s Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, revealed that she wanted all Yogyakarta Sultanate relatives free from politics.

“If it is up to me, then off course I want all Yogya Sultanate relatives to be separate from political parties. However, to be fair, I think it is Sultan Hamengkubuwono himself who should answer this question of political preference,” she told a press conference on Thursday.

She added as for the council, it had fully supported the idea of having Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Sri Pakualam IX as Yogyakarta’s governor and vice governor.

The statement was made in response to critics who accused Sultan Hamengkubuwono’s involvement as a member of the Golkar Party as a reason why Yogyakarta people should elect a new governor from outside the Yogyakarta Sultanate walls.  

Sultan Hamengkubuwono younger brother Prince Prabukusumo had stated his resignation from both the Democratic Party membership and as the party local head on Wednesday due to the current conflict regarding whether Yogyakarta people should elect  a new governor.

Prabukusumo reasoned that the fact that Yogyakarta’s governor seat was always spared for the Yogyakarta Sultanate families had been part of the gentlemen's agreement between Yogyakarta and Indonesia past leaders, and therefore it was final.