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Cambodian Prince Ranariddh leads royalist Funcinpec again after 2006 ouster

Xinhua, January 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, a former prime minister of Cambodia, became the president of the royalist Funcinpec Party once again on Monday, eight years after he was ousted from the party in embezzlement charges.

He was unanimously elected as the party's president during a party congress, which was attended by some 2,000 party members from across the nation.

"My return to Funcinpec is to reunite the royalists and Sihanoukists to be a political power in settling national issues," the 71-year-old prince said. "From now on, the great family of the royalists and Sihanoukists is only one, Funcinpec."

He reiterated that the party will work closely with Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

At the congress, Ranariddh appointed his half-sister and party ex-president Princess Norodom Arun Rasmey as his first deputy president and party's secretary general Nhek Bun Chhay as his second deputy.

The prince was dismissed as the head of Funcinpec in 2006 following allegations that he embezzled 3.6 million U.S. dollars from the sale of the party's headquarters. Ranariddh, who fled the country, was convicted in 2007 on embezzlement charges and sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison. A year later, his half-brother, King Norodom Sihamoni, granted him a pardon for the embezzlement conviction.

Ranariddh, a son of late revered King Norodom Sihanouk, led Funcinpec to victory in the UN-run elections in 1993. He was former co-prime minister from 1993 to 1997, and ex-president of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2006. Currently, he is also the head of the Supreme Privy Advisory Council to King Norodom Sihamoni.

Analysts said the prince's return to Funcinpec was an effort initiated by Prime Minister Hun Sen to divide the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) ahead of the 2018 general elections. However, the prince denied the allegations.

Funcinpec, founded in 1981 by late King Norodom Sihanouk, was the country's largest party, but its popularity has gradually vanished due to internal rifts. The party failed to win a single seat in the 2013 polls.

Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP won 68 seats in the 123-seat parliament while the opposition CNRP garnered the remaining 55 seats. Endi