The royal title was conferred by Sultan Manarfa during the opening ceremony of the Wonderful Festival and Expo (Wakatobi WAVE) 2015 held to celebrate the 12th anniversary of Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, recently.
"We call the honorary title being awarded to the coordinating minister as Kaogesana Lipu," Secretary of the Buton Sultanate Mustafa noted.
"Kaogesana Lipu" means someone who holds power in the country. A powerful persons statements and gestures are always followed, obeyed, and considered as a model by the community.
"After receiving this title, Maharani is now part of the Buton Sultanate family," Mustafa stated.
Waode is a royal title bestowed on women, while Laode is awarded to men in the Buton Sultanate.
Minister Maharani expressed appreciation and gratitude to the Buton Sultan for the royal title.
"By receiving this royal title of Buton, I have been accepted as a family member of the Buton Sultanate and the people of Wakatobi," she affirmed.
As a family member, she promised to help maintain, preserve, and promote the culture of Buton and Wakatobi in general.
The daughter of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri made assurance to support the development of the tourism industry in Wakatobi District to attract more tourists to the maritime tourism destination.
Maharani inaugurated the Wakatobi WAVE featuring a cultural parade and various traditional dance performances portraying the local culture, traditions, environmental wisdom, and biological diversity.
"I felt amazed while enjoying the cultural parade. The participants who were dressed to depict certain types of fish and the expressions on their faces really made them look like fish," she said in her opening remarks.
Born in Jakarta on September 6, 1973, Maharani was chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction in the Parliament for the 2009-2014 period.
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