Friday, February 01, 2013

Sam Rainsy’s letter to the Queen Mother on the occasion of the funeral of the King Father

Official translation from French of Sam Rainsy’s letter to the Queen Mother on the occasion of the funeral of the King Father

To Her Majesty the Queen Mother [H.M. Norodom Monineath Sihanouk]
[Royal Palace, Phnom Penh]

Your Majesty,

On the eve of the cremation of our venerated Preak Karuna [His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk], I mourn the passing of the Father of our nation before Lord Buddha and an image of the late King Father. The distance that separates me from my country and the royal funeral can do nothing to blind me to the fact that his name will live forever in Cambodian history and in the hearts of all Khmers.

At this sad time, we are as orphans who have lost a loved one, a person beyond the realms of the ordinary who profoundly marked our life and who did much to determine our destiny as he incarnated and shaped modern Cambodia.

My family and I will be forever grateful to our venerated Preak Karuna, who always treated us with the greatest kindness and generosity.

On April 28, 2003, venerated Preak Karuna paid fitting tribute to the memory of my father Sam Sary, "a great and pure patriot who, by my side, gave his country proud service in my first reign and at the start of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum."

Personally, I have had the honour of serving venerated Preak Karuna throughout my political life, since the start of the struggle against foreign invasion during the 1980s, through the reestablishment of the monarchy with the creation of the second kingdom of Cambodia in the 1990s and beyond.
Inside and outside of government, I have always respected, defended and followed the recommendations of my beloved sovereign [H.M. Norodom Sihanouk], notably in the struggle against deforestation, against corruption and for the defense of Cambodia's territorial integrity. At the most difficult moments of my political life, when the vital interests of the nation had to be defended against brute force and the power of money, as has often been the case since the first coalition government, I have done nothing beyond following the recommendations of venerated Preak Karuna. My gratitude to our departed sovereign will stay intact for my whole life because, during these difficult moments, venerated Preak Karuna always sought by various means to come to my defense. At numerous audiences which he was kind enough to allow me at the royal palace in Phnom Penh and at the royal residence in Beijing, as well as in the numerous messages which he graciously sent me, His Majesty always encouraged me, through his illustrious example, to be tenacious in public action and to stay true to my principles and to my country.

I regret that not everyone has followed the recommendations of the Father of our Nation, which include national unity and national reconciliation as absolute priorities. Disregarding these essential recommendations at this highly symbolic time, which may also be a moment of truth, serves only to lead our country towards mortal danger.

Please allow me, your Majesty, this expression of my deepest gratitude and unshakeable devotion.

Paris, January 30, 2013

Sam Rainsy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crocodile tears of a traitor who never ceased trying to ruin the life and the legacy of Samdech Norodom Sihanouk

Anonymous said...

damn it Sam Rainsy's wife looks ugly man lolz