Funcinpec defections continue unabated, as six more jump ship [-Memberless royalist parties?]

Sun Chanthol defected from Funcinpec to the ruling CPP last week. (Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN)

Monday, 02 February 2009
Written by Vong Sokheng The Phnom Penh Post

Last week's defection of six senior Funcinpec officials to the ruling CPP points towards the party's total dissolution: analyst.

A RECENT string of high-level defections from Funcinpec to the ruling Cambodian People's Party could be the final nail in the coffin for the flagging royalist party, says one political observer.

"The latest series of Funcinpec political elites to join the CPP would be a concerning issue [for the party]," said Mar Sophal, an independent political analyst.

"I think that the defection of members of the Funcinpec elite - such as Sun Chanthol and Serey Kosal - could lead to the dissolving of the party."

In last July's national elections, Funcinpec won just two of the 123 seats in the National Assembly and has since held a tenuous position in a coalition government, losing ministerial posts to a government reshuffle.

And more senior Funcinpec officials are reportedly preparing to defect to the ruling party in the hope that their defection will help them retain posts in the current government.

Kampuchea Thmei reported last week that a further six Funcinpec members had announced their defections, with Sun Chanthol, former minister of transport and public works, the highest-ranking official named.

The list also included a former undersecretary and secretary of state, and a lawmaker from a Kampong Cham constituency.

Not dead yet

Funcinpec Deputy President Prince Sisowath Sirirath said Sunday that Sun Chanthol, the only defecting member of the standing committee of the party, had submitted his resignation to the party last week.

But he said that Funcinpec is a democratic entity that has never interfered with its members' rights of political expression, and that Sun Chanthol's departure would not deal it a fatal blow.

"I think that those defectors who have gone over to the CPP have no faith and defected to the CPP purely out of personal interest," he said.

"Funcinpec is still a key political party, and we will not surrender to personal interest."

Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, told the Post last week that the door of the ruling party was open for all politicians and political parties.

"The CPP remains open for any politicians who are faithful and respect the party's rules and work for the unity of the nation," he said.

The CPP has reiterated its commitment to keeping Funcinpec as its partner in the current coalition government, with shared positions in the government.

Sun Chanthol declined to comment Sunday.

F'pec dare opposing the CPP? That must be the biggest joke for 2008 ... unless it wants to quit politics with a big bang

Nhiek Bun Chhay (R) and Hun Sen (C)

Royal Parties To Oppose CPP in Local Elections

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 December 2008

Funcinpec and the Norodom Ranariddh Party announced Wednesday the formation of an alliance to compete with the ruling Cambodian People's Party in provincial and district elections scheduled to be held in the coming year.

Funcinpec Secretary-General Nhiek Bunchhay said party officials had met to establish a commission "to discuss the strategic formula for helping each other in the 2009 nationwide election."

Funcinpec remains a partner with the CPP, with some of its members holding seats in government, but the CPP dominated all other parties in this year's national election, winning 90 of 123 National Assembly seats. Funcinpec and the NRP won four seats each, compared to 26 for the Sam Rainsy Party and three for the Human Rights Party.

Party officials said Wednesday they were confident an alliance would bolster their political support in the provinces. Both Funcinpec and the NRP traditionally draw support from royalist bases.

"If we add the members of the commune councils from the two parties,we will win more than 10 provinces and municipalities, and more districts," said NRP spokesman Suth Dina. The two parties would cooperate with each other by seeking to transfer voters where one party might be weaker than the other, he said.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the alliance would not affect the CPP,"but we must all do our best to win the election."

Hang Puthea, director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections, called the alliance "a good sign" for the parties"for attracting the support of voters."

Party officials on both sides declined to speculate on future cooperation, with the next parliamentary election scheduled for 2013.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Adieu FUNCINPEC

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Voters give royalists a stiff dose of reality

Funcinpec parliamentary candidate Princess Norodom Arun Rasmey finds her name on the voter list at a polling station in Phnom Penh on July 27. (Photo: Vandy Ratanna)

The rise and demise of funcinpec
Funcinpec was founded by former King Norodom Sihanouk in Paris on March 26, 1981 with the aim of opposing the Vietnamese military occupation of Cambodia. Although Sihanouk resigned the party presidency in 1992 in order to be maintain his “neutrality” in the UN-sponsored 1993 elections, his son Prince Norodom Ranariddh led the party to a stunning victory on the back of his father’s popularity, clinching 45 percent of the popular vote and 58 seats in the National Assembly. But the party has lost ground at every election since, dropping from 43 seats in 1998 to 26 seats in 2003. According to preliminary election results released by the NEC Saturday, the party lost 24 of its remaining seats in 2008, winning just five percent of the national vote. ELECTION results, no matter how preliminary, have shown a dismal showing for Funcinpec, the Kingdom's once-dominant political force whose electoral popularity appears to have plummeted as Cambodians voted against royalists candidates, despite their enduring support for the monarchy.

Monday, 11 August 2008
Written by Sebastian Strangio and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Since scoring a substantial win in the national elections in 1993, beleaguered royalists now find themselves a spent political force despite the monarchy’s enduring popularity

The party lost 24 of its 26 National Assembly seats, gaining just five percent of the vote and being surpassed as the second most powerful political player by historic underdogs, the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, according to figures from the National Election Committee (NEC).

The aftermath of the July 27 parliamentary polls have revealed a party fractured by infighting, its factions pitted against one another by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the royalist's former coalition government partner.

But it is this closeness over the years - Funcinpec and the CPP first came together following the UN-sponsored 1993 elections - that is at the heart of the party's demise, some Funcinpec officials say, blaming the party for becoming "too comfortable" as the CPP's junior coalition partner, a role that gradually saw its power, and credibility disappear.

"I think that royalist supporters have lost confidence in [Funcinpec] because the party is too close to the CPP," said Monh Saphan, a Funcinpec parliamentary candidate for Kampong Cham province.

Prime Minister Hun Sen continues to play a divisive role in Funcinpec, offering another coalition deal to one faction inside the royalist party who remain loyal to his CPP, led by party secretary general Nhek Bun Chhay, while freezing out others who joined the opposition parties in condemning the election results.

"There is no space for you in our alliance and don't try to bargain for a power-sharing coalition government," Hun Sen told Funcinpec president Keo Puth Rasmey, its second secretary general Sisowath Sirirath and their followers during a speech last week in Kampong Speu province.

CPP spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith denied on Thursday that Hun Sen was deliberately encouraging a further splintering of the royalists.

"We do not want to see Funcinpec breaking up, but they were wrong in selecting their political strategy during the campaign period," he said, adding that those in Funcinpec who do find themselves in partnership with the CPP are likely to pick up 30 government positions, including a ministerial post.

Wrong political strategy has long been the problem with Funcinpec, say some observers, explaining that the party has failed to adapt to Cambodia's changing political times, instead clinging too much to its association to former King Norodom Sihanouk, Funcinpec's founder, rather than find policies that reflected the reality of what Cambodians wanted out of their government.

"The question is not whether the monarchy continues to be relevant, but whether the political parties that claim they are royalist continue to be relevant," said Prince Sisowath Thomico, the former personal secretary of King Father Sihanouk.

"I don't believe that the people of Cambodia do not support the monarchy and royalism as a political philosophy. Rather, I believe the people lack confidence in the leaders of the so-called royalist parties," he added.

"The biggest mistake the royalists made was to use the monarchy to lead their movements. The decline of the royalist parties is linked to the birth of the new regime."

Benny Widyono, a former representative of the UN secretary-general who was stationed in Siem Reap during the 1993 election campaign, also said that Funcinpec had previously benefited from its association with the former king, but that the lustre had faded since the 1990s.

"The reason that Funcinpec won in 1993 was personality recognition and name recognition. When [former Funcinpec president Prince Norodom] Ranariddh was campaigning in Siem Reap, we didn't allow him to use Sihanouk on his banners, but he was still wearing a t-shirt with Sihanouk's face," Widyono told the Post.

"Name recognition is one thing, but effective campaigning is another....The way I see it, this election will be the end of Funcinpec," he added.

Other royalists, however, maintain that their party's crashing performance in this year's elections was the fault of vote rigging committed by the CPP, rather than a devastating loss of popularity - a claim echoed by many of Cambodia's other opposition parties.

"The royalist parties failed because the election was not free and fair according to international standards," Prince Sisowath Sirirath, Funcinpec's second deputy secretary, told the Post shortly after the election, referring to both Funcinpec and the Norodom Ranariddh Party, led by Funcinpec's former president.

"The National Election Committee (NEC) has set the system up to benefit the CPP by confusing voters and removing their names from polling stations," he added.

NRP spokesman Muth Chantha also said that due to the manipulation of voter lists by the CPP, the Cambodian people were deprived of their opportunity to cast their ballots for royalist parties.

Once a CPP minion, always a CPP minion: Funcinpec's fate

F’pec is preparing for an alliance with the CPP

31 July 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Unofficial translation from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the original article in French

Party leaders have cut short rumors of party rift which circulated since the beginning of the week. With two seats at the National Assembly, the party bets its future on the political arena.

Inevitably, the issue of party rift, fed by the declarations by party members during the last few days, was on everyone’s mind. On this topic, Keo Puth Rasmey, Funcinpec president, and Nhiek Bun Chhay, the party secretary-general, said in a single voice that there is no separation in the work. Keo Puth Rasmey asked the audience to act as witness, while saying: “If we were separated, why are we joining this meeting together this morning?”

Several hundreds of party commune and provincial leaders met at party headquarters in Phnom Penh on Thursday morning, following an invitation issued by their leaders. This event was aimed at comforting and motivating the troops again following the party downfall after the election. Funcinpec only received 2 seats at the National Assembly.

The issue of an upcoming alliance with the CPP, the largest winner of the election, remains to be resolved. On Friday, the party permanent committee consisting of 13 members are planned to meet. However, the suspense is short lived, Keo Puth Rasmey did not hide the fact that the decision ahs already been made: “There wouldn’t be any surprise, we work with the CPP since the beginning.”

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Dog for Sale

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Some F'pec members may become rich if their party disintegrates

A quiet Funcinpec headquarters is pictured in Phnom Penh, May 28. Members of the once-influential royalist party are hoping to cash in on their movement’s unpopularity with voters by betting on how few Funcinpec leaders will be elected to parliament in the July elections. (Photo: TRACEY SHELTON)

Funcinpec members bet on own demise

Friday, 30 May 2008
Written by Sebastian Strangio and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

In the run-up to July’s general elections, Funcinpec supporters are betting on the royalist party’s political demise – quite literally.

One high-ranking party punter has wagered $3,000 that his once-powerful political machine will fail to secure even one parliamentary seat.

His gambling partner, Funcinpec activist Chhun Saron, is giving the party slightly better odds, and stands to win a few thousand dollars even if the royalists lose all but one of their 26 seats in the National Assembly.

“If Funcinpec wins one or more seats in this election, I will win $3,000 from him,” Saron said of his high-profile opponent, who did not want to be named.

“Maybe he’s stupid,” Saron said. “But I am sure I will win. Funcinpec is certainly not the worst party in the election.”

Although unofficial gambling is illegal under Cambodian law, informal wagers among friends and colleagues are becoming a popular activity in the capital’s cafés as the election approaches.

At the Olympic café on Sihanouk Boulevard, friends of all political persuasions meet to discuss politics over coffee and fried noodles, and informal wagers – of either cash or beer – have become a common means of settling disagreements.

Eang Khun, a supporter of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, and a group of friends have bet a group backing the opposition Sam Rainsy Party that the CPP will increase its share of National Assembly seats at the election.

If the CPP wins fewer than its current 73 seats, or the SRP more than 25, Khun’s group pledges to organize and pay for a lavish party for the entire group.

“No side will really lose in this game, because the winners and losers will all celebrate together at the party after the release of the election results,” Khun said.

Chan Pheakdie, who is rooting for the SRP, agrees that the bet is no more than a harmless game among friends.

“Even if we each support different parties, we are still Khmer and we will still remain friends,” he said.

At the Kirirom Café, 65-year-old bookie Phal is offering odds of almost two to one that either the Norodom Ranariddh Party – headed by Funcinpec’s ousted leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh – or civil society activist Kem Sokha’s Human Rights Party will win seats in the National Assembly in July.

“If you bet that the NRP or HRP will win one seat or more, or if you bet that the NRP or HRP will not win any seats, and the result is correct, you win,” he said, noting that the two minor parties had so far attracted little interest from gamblers.

Khan Keomono, chief of the Public Information Bureau at the National Election Committee, said he was not aware of any election-related betting but warned backyard operators that their activities were illegal.

“The Election Law does not allow or disallow betting on the election,” he said. “But these actions are illegal in Cambodia.”

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap also agreed that such activities were illegal without the approval of the Council of Ministers, adding that he disapproved of party members betting against their own party.

“Anyone who bets that the CPP will lose seats is not a true CPP activist,” he said.

However, Lu Laysreng, first deputy president of Funcinpec, was unsurprised by reports that party rank-and-file were betting on the outcome of the election, and admitted the party was powerless to stop it.

“Our Cambodia is a gambling country,” he told the Post by phone on May 22. “People here will even bet on whether the rain will fall.”