Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 16/11/1991: Prince Ranariddh, attending his father's first press conference at the Royal Palace upon his return from exile. (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)25-12-2008
By Duong Sokha
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The political part played by princes and princesses of Cambodia has but sank over the past two years in the country. The crushing defeat of the royalist FUNCINPEC party, the withdrawal of its influential members, thus benefiting the ruling Cambodians People's Party (CPP) and the anaemic results of members of the Cambodian Royal family in the July 27th 2008 legislative elections added up to their weakening and slowly pushed them further away from power, wholly held by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his political group. Several important figures of the Royal family, among whom former “first Prime Minister” and Chairman of the National Assembly Norodom Ranariddh have made their exit from the political stage, and gladly accepted honorary positions within the Royal Palace, where they are now invited to “serve the nation and the people”... and in the meantime restore their image.
Disagreements among royalists
Several factors reduced the political influence of princes and princesses and led to their retirement from political life, starting with the emergence in 1995 of divisions within the FUNCINPEC and particularly the clash which eventually led to the creation of the Norodom Ranariddh party (NRP) in 2006. The dispute was followed by poor results for both parties in the 2008 legislative poll: today, not a single royal appears on the list of MPs and government members in the fourth mandate (2008-2013) led by prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP). With four seats only – two each – the two half-brothers respectively in charge of the FUNCINPEC and NRP are not any more in a position to claim anything in front of the CPP, and the latter intends to take advantage of its former FUNCINPEC governmental partner's weaknesses to extend the powers conferred to both the executive and legislative branches.
The Royal family's role on the political stage seems to be inexorably sliding into oblivion. This diminution was marked by the recent resignation of Prince Norodom Ranariddh from the position of president of the party he founded and named after himself , the NRP , and his following retirement from politics at the beginning of October after 25 years spent at the heart of power struggles. He justified his decision in public, saying he was “tired” and expressing his desire to “serve the king and the people”. The son of former King Norodom Sihanouk became the fourth royal figure to leave the political ring after Princes Norodom Sirivuddh, Sisowath Thomico and Norodom Vicheara.
Prince Ranariddh, who was not in Cambodia for the July 2008 election campaign due to his condemnation for Breach of Trust in the FUNCINPEC headquarters case, still won enough votes to be elected once again to represent his district of Kampong Cham as a deputy. Despite this small victory, he chose to hand over his legislative mandate to You Hockry, his personal secretary-general. After having acknowledged the results of the legislative elections and upon the head of government's request to the King, he was granted Royal Pardon, a decision which allowed him to return to Cambodia a free man at the end of September this year, after more than a year in exile.
“The number of voters in favour of these parties [FUNCINPEC and NRP] has decreased, which limits their political influence”, as pointed out by Koul Panha, executive director of the local NGO COMFREL defending free and fair elections. “Being involved in politics means taking big risks. Sometimes it gives good results, but sometimes it gives bad ones.”
The new rules of the political game
However, this loss of political influence and therefore of impact in the elections did not appear out of the blue. A constitutional bill was adopted in March 2006 after the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) presented it to the CPP, who validated it. The article changed the whole deal and stated that in order to form a government, the winning party only needed the support of half of the total number of MPs plus one, whereas previously, it needed the support of two thirds of MPs. The message was crystal-clear: with that bill, the CPP did not need a coalition involving a third political party to be able to rule. Shortly after the enforcement of the law, without even waiting for the new 2008 legislative poll, Prince Ranariddh resigned from his position as chairman of the National Assembly, a position he had taken at the beginning of the second legislature (1998-2003). Seven months later, he was dismissed from the FUNCINPEC leadership at a congress gathering his former followers.
“This bill is one of the reasons why the FUNCINPEC lost the political strength it had against the CPP. The '50% plus one' rule simply paved the way for the CPP”, Koul Panha observed. And indeed, the CPP came out as the outstanding winner of the July 2008 elections with 90 seats out of 123 in the National Assembly.
A year after the adoption of the bill, a new event came to revive the debate over the participation of princes and princesses in their country's political life: in a message published on his personal website, former King Norodom Sihanouk urged royals to give up any political activity to fully dedicate their time to social activities. The call was at that time heard by Prince Norodom Sirivuddh who was the first royal to step down from his position as FUNCINPEC MP for the Kandal province and make his way back to the Royal Palace.
A withdrawal meant to help restore royal reputation
Yet, according to some political observers in Cambodia, coming from politicians, whether they be royals or not, retiring from politics is absolutely normal and does not affect the Royal family's reputation. “It is their own choice, just like it could be that of politicians coming from ordinary families. When they do not score good results, they go back to neutral activities. Same as in the world of business! But it is true that those who are involved in politics do not generally retire easily”, Koul Panha remarked, yet stressing the fact that despite their absence from the political stage, princes and princesses could still remain influential. In other monarchical states like Thailand or Japan, as the COMFREL director emphasized, the Royal family, who hold honorary positions within the state, are encouraged to take care of more neutral activities rather than getting involved in politics. In such contexts, their aura remained quite significant.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, for his part, has been purposely abstaining from making any political comments for nine months after setting up in 2006 the Sangkum Cheat Niyum Front party, sealing an alliance with the NRP a year later and finally deciding to join the FUNCINPEC. Today, he strongly urges the Royal family to distance themselves from politics, even though the country's Constitution does not state that heirs of the Khmer monarchy cannot have any political activity. King Norodom Sihamoni 's cousin, who did not manage to politically gather all royalist forces as he once intended to, reckoned that “If they apply themselves to serving the people, the Nation and the King, the influence of Royal figures will be restored.”
Assessments needed for the royalist parties
Led today by Keo Puth Rasmey, the King-Father's son-in-law, the FUNCINPEC, founded by Norodom Sihanouk fifteen years ago, is one of the leading political parties in a country undergoing massive reconstruction but then suffered from its own internal divisions and the withdrawal of some of its members, in favour of the ruling political party. Recently, some forty members, including Serei Kosal, a fervent follower of the party, and Aok Socheat, the FUNCINPEC president's counsellor, rallied the CPP. The cocktail created by leadership issues, opportunism and the interference of other political parties considerably weakened the royalist party, who yet worked together with the CPP in the coalition government, Koul Panha explained. “Besides, some voters are said to feel dissatisfied about the fact that the FUNCINPEC did not keep the promises and commitments they made in the last elections, particularly regarding issues of territory integrity, immigration or the improvement of civil servants' standard of living”, the political analyst put forward.
Nhek Bun Chhay, secretary-general of the FUNCINPEC and one of the two MPs who were elected in July 2008 to represent the colours of the royalist party, was asked by Hun Sen to provide a list of FUNCINPEC members who could potentially hold the positions of under-secretary of state in the fourth mandate. He described as “normal” the withdrawal of several members from his political formation and declared he was not interested in the phenomenon. “Some left [the party] to satisfy their own interest and obtain positions. It is their right to do so. The political group will soon convene a seminar and re-examine the party's structure”, the deputy prime Minister promised. He expressed in reassuring words the idea that his party would keep going and rejected the information according to which he might be coveting party leadership...
“A return to pre-March 18th 1970 Khmer customs”
The retirement of certain royals from political life was welcomed, if not encouraged, by King Norodom Sihamoni. In early December, Prince Ranariddh was appointed to the honorary position of chief personal superior advisor to the King, a position which holds a rank equivalent to that of Prime Minister. This decision came after 26 princes and princesses were themselves appointed in early November to the King's advisory Council and Royal Secretariat, positions which also hold high ranks, similar to that of Prime Minister, secretary and under-secretary of state. Prince Sisowath Thomico, among the 26 appointees, welcomed the decision and insisted that it would allow princes and princesses to receive a salary. “Before March 18th 1970 [date of the military coup organised by general Lon Nol, after which Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then head of state, was overthrown], royals benefited from a salary given by the Royal Palace. But today, these appointments within the Royal Palace mean a return to Khmer traditions and are an honour for the Royal family”, Prince Thomico estimated. The latter pointed out that royals would therefore be able to serve the King and the people regarding “cultural, humanitarian and health issues”.
Koul Panha, for his part, reckoned that the appointments were above all the result of a deal made with the government and represented a test for the royals. “They must be aware that these positions are only granted to them because they said no to their political influence”, he observed.
Disagreements among royalists
Several factors reduced the political influence of princes and princesses and led to their retirement from political life, starting with the emergence in 1995 of divisions within the FUNCINPEC and particularly the clash which eventually led to the creation of the Norodom Ranariddh party (NRP) in 2006. The dispute was followed by poor results for both parties in the 2008 legislative poll: today, not a single royal appears on the list of MPs and government members in the fourth mandate (2008-2013) led by prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP). With four seats only – two each – the two half-brothers respectively in charge of the FUNCINPEC and NRP are not any more in a position to claim anything in front of the CPP, and the latter intends to take advantage of its former FUNCINPEC governmental partner's weaknesses to extend the powers conferred to both the executive and legislative branches.
The Royal family's role on the political stage seems to be inexorably sliding into oblivion. This diminution was marked by the recent resignation of Prince Norodom Ranariddh from the position of president of the party he founded and named after himself , the NRP , and his following retirement from politics at the beginning of October after 25 years spent at the heart of power struggles. He justified his decision in public, saying he was “tired” and expressing his desire to “serve the king and the people”. The son of former King Norodom Sihanouk became the fourth royal figure to leave the political ring after Princes Norodom Sirivuddh, Sisowath Thomico and Norodom Vicheara.
Prince Ranariddh, who was not in Cambodia for the July 2008 election campaign due to his condemnation for Breach of Trust in the FUNCINPEC headquarters case, still won enough votes to be elected once again to represent his district of Kampong Cham as a deputy. Despite this small victory, he chose to hand over his legislative mandate to You Hockry, his personal secretary-general. After having acknowledged the results of the legislative elections and upon the head of government's request to the King, he was granted Royal Pardon, a decision which allowed him to return to Cambodia a free man at the end of September this year, after more than a year in exile.
“The number of voters in favour of these parties [FUNCINPEC and NRP] has decreased, which limits their political influence”, as pointed out by Koul Panha, executive director of the local NGO COMFREL defending free and fair elections. “Being involved in politics means taking big risks. Sometimes it gives good results, but sometimes it gives bad ones.”
The new rules of the political game
However, this loss of political influence and therefore of impact in the elections did not appear out of the blue. A constitutional bill was adopted in March 2006 after the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) presented it to the CPP, who validated it. The article changed the whole deal and stated that in order to form a government, the winning party only needed the support of half of the total number of MPs plus one, whereas previously, it needed the support of two thirds of MPs. The message was crystal-clear: with that bill, the CPP did not need a coalition involving a third political party to be able to rule. Shortly after the enforcement of the law, without even waiting for the new 2008 legislative poll, Prince Ranariddh resigned from his position as chairman of the National Assembly, a position he had taken at the beginning of the second legislature (1998-2003). Seven months later, he was dismissed from the FUNCINPEC leadership at a congress gathering his former followers.
“This bill is one of the reasons why the FUNCINPEC lost the political strength it had against the CPP. The '50% plus one' rule simply paved the way for the CPP”, Koul Panha observed. And indeed, the CPP came out as the outstanding winner of the July 2008 elections with 90 seats out of 123 in the National Assembly.
A year after the adoption of the bill, a new event came to revive the debate over the participation of princes and princesses in their country's political life: in a message published on his personal website, former King Norodom Sihanouk urged royals to give up any political activity to fully dedicate their time to social activities. The call was at that time heard by Prince Norodom Sirivuddh who was the first royal to step down from his position as FUNCINPEC MP for the Kandal province and make his way back to the Royal Palace.
A withdrawal meant to help restore royal reputation
Yet, according to some political observers in Cambodia, coming from politicians, whether they be royals or not, retiring from politics is absolutely normal and does not affect the Royal family's reputation. “It is their own choice, just like it could be that of politicians coming from ordinary families. When they do not score good results, they go back to neutral activities. Same as in the world of business! But it is true that those who are involved in politics do not generally retire easily”, Koul Panha remarked, yet stressing the fact that despite their absence from the political stage, princes and princesses could still remain influential. In other monarchical states like Thailand or Japan, as the COMFREL director emphasized, the Royal family, who hold honorary positions within the state, are encouraged to take care of more neutral activities rather than getting involved in politics. In such contexts, their aura remained quite significant.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, for his part, has been purposely abstaining from making any political comments for nine months after setting up in 2006 the Sangkum Cheat Niyum Front party, sealing an alliance with the NRP a year later and finally deciding to join the FUNCINPEC. Today, he strongly urges the Royal family to distance themselves from politics, even though the country's Constitution does not state that heirs of the Khmer monarchy cannot have any political activity. King Norodom Sihamoni 's cousin, who did not manage to politically gather all royalist forces as he once intended to, reckoned that “If they apply themselves to serving the people, the Nation and the King, the influence of Royal figures will be restored.”
Assessments needed for the royalist parties
Led today by Keo Puth Rasmey, the King-Father's son-in-law, the FUNCINPEC, founded by Norodom Sihanouk fifteen years ago, is one of the leading political parties in a country undergoing massive reconstruction but then suffered from its own internal divisions and the withdrawal of some of its members, in favour of the ruling political party. Recently, some forty members, including Serei Kosal, a fervent follower of the party, and Aok Socheat, the FUNCINPEC president's counsellor, rallied the CPP. The cocktail created by leadership issues, opportunism and the interference of other political parties considerably weakened the royalist party, who yet worked together with the CPP in the coalition government, Koul Panha explained. “Besides, some voters are said to feel dissatisfied about the fact that the FUNCINPEC did not keep the promises and commitments they made in the last elections, particularly regarding issues of territory integrity, immigration or the improvement of civil servants' standard of living”, the political analyst put forward.
Nhek Bun Chhay, secretary-general of the FUNCINPEC and one of the two MPs who were elected in July 2008 to represent the colours of the royalist party, was asked by Hun Sen to provide a list of FUNCINPEC members who could potentially hold the positions of under-secretary of state in the fourth mandate. He described as “normal” the withdrawal of several members from his political formation and declared he was not interested in the phenomenon. “Some left [the party] to satisfy their own interest and obtain positions. It is their right to do so. The political group will soon convene a seminar and re-examine the party's structure”, the deputy prime Minister promised. He expressed in reassuring words the idea that his party would keep going and rejected the information according to which he might be coveting party leadership...
“A return to pre-March 18th 1970 Khmer customs”
The retirement of certain royals from political life was welcomed, if not encouraged, by King Norodom Sihamoni. In early December, Prince Ranariddh was appointed to the honorary position of chief personal superior advisor to the King, a position which holds a rank equivalent to that of Prime Minister. This decision came after 26 princes and princesses were themselves appointed in early November to the King's advisory Council and Royal Secretariat, positions which also hold high ranks, similar to that of Prime Minister, secretary and under-secretary of state. Prince Sisowath Thomico, among the 26 appointees, welcomed the decision and insisted that it would allow princes and princesses to receive a salary. “Before March 18th 1970 [date of the military coup organised by general Lon Nol, after which Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then head of state, was overthrown], royals benefited from a salary given by the Royal Palace. But today, these appointments within the Royal Palace mean a return to Khmer traditions and are an honour for the Royal family”, Prince Thomico estimated. The latter pointed out that royals would therefore be able to serve the King and the people regarding “cultural, humanitarian and health issues”.
Koul Panha, for his part, reckoned that the appointments were above all the result of a deal made with the government and represented a test for the royals. “They must be aware that these positions are only granted to them because they said no to their political influence”, he observed.
9 comments:
Ah nis Chhkout you mork hoeuy, anh smarn tha teub ning chhkout ឆ្កួត
The royal family definitely needs to leave politics all together. Their time is up. The have proven that they cannot stay united nor have the capacity to function. To them, it's always about fighting amongst each other like children. It's too bad because now a lot of royalist followers are flocking over to the CPP side.
I was so fed up to see his face...it is not talk of the town anymore...
Why Cambodia need monarchy in the first place.It is not necessary.HUN SEN is every thing already .He owned police,military,monks,court,sdach,roth saphea,and every thing else....you name it.He got them all.
Why waste money on something that not important.
3:31PM it may not important to you but it is important to Hun Sen!
And he need royal to help slavering you!
thx to Sam Rainsy whom had helped CPP to
annihilate Funcinpec.
Next step for CPP...
One nation, one party !!!
Supporter of CPP in PP...
Is Ranarith look that crazy now?
Look at the sky with no direction!
Good for you stupid price! after look up , look down for KANDOUY!
Is he was fired as a frech lwa teacher?
Sorry he try to keep that post without care about Cambodian and now he lost it too!
Neang BANDACHA!
Trey karouch, Tonsay karouch! Sii ey?
Fish is gone so the rabit, what would he eat?
Read the Khmere legend please!!!!
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