Cambodian prince Ranariddh plans to return to politics to reunite royalists
Former prime minister and ex-leader of the Cambodian royalist party Funcinpec, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, is to return to reunite royalists following a decade-long split in the party, its secretary-general Nhek Bunnchhay said yesterday.
Norodom Ranariddh, the son of Cambodia’s late king Norodom Sihanouk and the half-brother of the current King Norodom Sihamoni, was once a co-prime minister with Prime Minister Hun Sen from 1993 until a coup in 1997. In 2006, he resigned from his position as Funcinpec’s president after a scandal over a mistress. After the 2008 election, he said he would quit politics to help his half-brother reign.
In March, he announced his new political party, the Community of Royalist People Party. Prince Ranariddh said he was “honoured and happy” to accept the post in a statement released late on Thursday. Nhek Bunchhay said the main idea was to reunite royalists, currently divided between Funcinpec and the Community of Royalist People Party.
“His return to Funcinpec would not be interesting for people because in recent years he had changed [between] three political parties already,” said Pou Sovachana, senior researcher at Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace.
