T

he protracted internal conflict within the Surakarta sultanate in Central Java took a new turn when Sultan Paku Buwono XIII Hangabehi threatened to oust his eldest daughter GKR Timoer Rumbai Kusuma Dewayani from the palace after she filed a lawsuit against him at the local district court.

GKR Timoer has sued the sultan for Rp 2.1 billion (US$157,500) for establishing the Panca Narendra task force, the team of five appointed to resolve the conflict. A similar lawsuit was also filed against the sultan by his nephew BRM Aditya Soerya Harbanu.

The plaintiffs argue the establishment of the task force violates the law because the sultan was declared permanently incapacitated and thus stripped of his position in 2014. The palace’s customary council, led by member of the royal family GKR Wandansasi, or Gusti Moeng, installed KGPH Puger as acting sultan.

The sultan’s lawyer Ferry Firman Nurwahyu has described the lawsuit as baseless, arguing that the policy did not violate any of the plaintiff’s rights.

Apart from that, Ferry said, as the highest ruler in the palace, the sultan had the full authority to issue policies based on the 1998 Presidential Decree (Keppres) on the status and management of the Surakarta sultanate.

“The sultan also has the right to clean the palace of dissidents who always create conflicts,” he said.

He added that Paku Buwono XIII Hangabehi would soon oust a number of the palace’s royal officials including his own daughter and all executives of the customary council.

The sultan was very disappointed with his daughter’s lawsuit, Ferry added.

Separately GKR Timoer’s attorney Sigit Sudibyanto said the sultan’s authority in the palace was still in dispute. Furthermore, the customary council as the holder of the highest authority in the palace had also appointed an acting sultan to perform the sultan’s tasks.

“Surakarta Sultan Paku Buwono XIII Hangabehi was considered incapable so the customary council appointed an acting sultan,” Sigit said.

He also said the sultan could not oust his daughter and the customary council’s ruling on the executorial authority was in the hands of the court, not the sultan.

The prolonged internal conflict in the Surakarta sultanate dates back to 2005. Each of the camps, that of the sultan and that of his daughter Gusti Moeng, have claimed that they have the highest claim to the sultanate.

Surakarta acting sultan and representative of the customary council KGPH Puger said a resolution of the conflict would be achieved, pending a mediator who was also an envoy of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“Hopefully it will get the best solution for the royal family,” Puger, who is a son of Paku Buwono XII, said on Wednesday.

He expressed the hope that his other siblings would also be able to accept the solution offered by the President’s envoy and called on the royal family members to be patient and remain calm in bringing the conflict into an end.