Cultural Leadership and Conflict Resolution: Sultan Hamengku Buwono X in the Lempuyangan Land Dispute

Abstract

Land disputes in Indonesia frequently involve tensions between formal legality, historical legitimacy, and social justice. While the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and the Policy Conflict Framework (PCF) provide important analytical tools for understanding policy conflict, limited attention has been given to the role of culturally embedded authority in shaping mediation and conflict de-escalation. This study examines the role of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X in mediating the Lempuyangan land dispute between PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) and local residents in Yogyakarta. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, this study analyzes media-based data collected from national and regional news sources published between 2020 and 2025, enhanced with articles published in the 2020-2025 period, with particular focus on the peak conflict period from April to July 2025. Data were collected through media scraping and analyzed using thematic coding informed by ACF, PCF, and concepts of cultural leadership. The findings identify two competing advocacy coalitions structured around fundamentally different belief systems regarding legality, fairness, and historical rights. The conflict intensified due to divergence of policy positions, perceived threats, and unwillingness to compromise. However, the intervention of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X as a culturally legitimate policy broker contributed to conflict de-escalation by facilitating dialogue, reframing the dispute through cultural values, and increasing trust between competing actors. This study contributes to policy process literature by integrating cultural leadership into the analysis of policy conflict. The findings suggest that symbolic legitimacy and culturally embedded authority can play significant roles in mediating high-intensity conflicts in governance contexts where traditional institutions remain influential.