The Ranariddh Syndrome

13th August, 2008
Opinion by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

“Prince Ranariddh’s behaviours can only be equated with the behaviours of a stray dog, running around with no sense of direction. His repeated betrayals of Mr. Sam Rainsy can only be termed “The Ranariddh Syndrome” - a term that should be coined permanently to refer to those who are obsessed with betraying his/her friends only to be repeatedly cheated, betrayed, used, abused and trashed by another friend. And Prince Ranariddh fits this description perfectly well.”

I was in the process of writing an editorial on how wonderful it was to hear the news of a possible merger between the three main opposition parties, including the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), when the news came that Prince Ranariddh, President of the NRP, had taken an about face U-turn by declaring a withdrawal from the Sam Rainsy-led opposition coalition to join the Cambodian People’s Party-led coalition government. And so, I have to abandon that article, re-write it, change it and modify it significantly.

I wasn’t surprised of Prince Ranariddh’s betrayal because this is not the first time, and probably not the last time, that he had behaved in this erratic and mercurial manner. But I was shocked, shocked because I believe that, after being used, abused and trashed repeatedly in the past by Mr. Hun Sen, he had learned his lessons. Prince Ranariddh’s behaviours prove correctly the old saying that “a leopard never changes its spots”.

I dare to predict that, like in the past, Prince Ranariddh has been duped by Mr. Hun Sen to be used as a political tool and then abused and trashed like rubbish. Mr. Hun Sen, well known as a master of tactician and a master of deception, is interested only in achieving his political supremacy and his ultimate immortal iron fist rule, through a carefully planned strategy and deception. And as I said, Prince Ranariddh, like many times before, has been duped and deceived one more time.

The coalition of the disunited, as I would like to call the Sam Rainsy-led opposition, is being significantly weakened by these desertions. One by one, his coalition partners had chosen to betray him and their supporters by joining Mr. Hun Sen’s coalition of evils. First the Funcinpec Party, who had briefly joined the oppositions in rejecting the election results. Two days later it withdrew from the oppositions and declared that it will maintain its long term alliance with the Cambodian People’s Party. Now, Prince Ranariddh had chosen personal interests over the interests of Cambodia by deciding to join Mr. Hun Sen’s coalition of evils and abandoning Mr. Sam Rainsy for the fourth times. Next, it could be Mr. Kem Sokha of the Human Right Party. Mr. Kem Sokha’s commitment to the Sam Rainsy-led opposition coalition is not very re-assuring. Since the election on 27th July, he had only appeared briefly in the public. Since then he had taken a back seat and retreated into the political wilderness, preferring to send his lieutenants to appear in public on his behalf.

Mr. Sam Rainsy is a man of principle and has never betrayed his supporters and his principle. But with people around him are enticed and lured by a possible plum job with the Hun Sen government, he would have an uphill battle to rally them to his cause, and that is denying the Hun Sen government its legitimacy by boycotting the swearing in ceremony. Mr. Hun Sen will employ all strategies and tactics, including using money, coercions and even threats to break up the Sam Rainsy-led coalition and he will employ all tactics and strategy to thwart Rainsy’s political advancement. I hope that his upcoming trip to protest the election results to the UN and to the international community will be a fruitful trip and somehow succeeding in convincing them to re-appraise the election results. But, frankly, with the international election observers declaring the election results acceptable, I doubt that Mr. Sam Rainsy is able to convince them otherwise.

Prince Ranariddh and Mr. Sam Rainsy are not strange political bedfellows. They have had an on-again off-again political love affairs for more than 15 years. But they are strange political bedfellows in the sense that they are politically and ideologically incompatible. One is a non-principled royal lame duck politician and the other is a patrician republican politician with strong conviction and a sense of political directions. And so, their political union is poised to fail from the start.

Prince Ranariddh’s behaviours can only be equated with the behaviours of a stray dog, running around with no sense of direction. His repeated betrayals of Mr. Sam Rainsy can only be termed “The Ranariddh Syndrome” - a term that should be coined permanently to refer to those who are obsessed with betraying his/her friends only to be repeatedly cheated, betrayed, used, abused and trashed by another friend. And Prince Ranariddh fits this description perfectly well. Not only that he suffers from the Ranariddh Syndrome but he is certainly fit to be called the Downs Syndrome Ranariddh.