Norodom Ranariddh

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Norodom Ranariddh (2006)

Prince Norodom Ranariddh ( khm. នរោត្តម រណឫទ្ធិ; born January 2, 1944 in Phnom Penh ) is a Cambodian politician and lawyer. He is the second eldest son of the former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and a half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni . Ranariddh is president of FUNCINPEC , a Cambodian monarchist party. He was First Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1993 to 1997 after the restoration of the monarchy and then President of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2006.

Life

From 1962 studied Ranariddh Public Law at the University of Provence in France Aix-en-Provence and graduated in 1968 or 1969 with Bachelor and Master from. In 1970 he returned to Cambodia and worked in the Ministry of the Interior. After Lon Nol's coup against Norodom Sihanouk on March 18, 1970, Ranariddh was released and fled to the jungle. In 1971 he was captured along with several members of the royal family and imprisoned for six months and again in 1972 for three months. In 1973 Ranariddh returned to the University of Provence and received his Ph.D. in 1975. From 1976 to 1979 he worked at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) before returning to Provence University as an associate professor , where he taught constitutional law and political sociology . In 1983, at the request of his father, he returned to Cambodia to enter politics.

Norodom Ranariddh was first married to Eng Marie, with whom he has three children. He is married to Ouk Phalla in his second marriage and has two sons with her.

On June 17, 2018, Ranariddh and Ouk Phalla were seriously injured in a traffic accident, Ouk Phalla died shortly afterwards of their injuries. The Ranariddh family suspected that the accident was an attack.

Political career

In 1983 he joined FUNCINPEC (French for Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifique, et coopératif ). In 1986 he became Chief of Staff and Commander in Chief of the Sihanouk National Army. In 1989 Ranariddh became Secretary General of FUNCINPEC and in February 1992 its President. When FUNCINPEC won the Cambodian elections in 1993 , it formed a coalition government with the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which was jointly led by two prime ministers in office at the same time. Ranariddh became First Prime Minister and Hun Sen of the CPP became Second Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, Ranariddh promoted economic interests in Cambodia vis-à-vis heads of state from regional countries and founded the Cambodian Development Council (CDC).

Ranariddh with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Phnom Penh, 2003

Relations between Ranariddh and Hun Sen deteriorated in early 1996 when Ranariddh complained about the unequal distribution of governance between FUNCINPEC and CPP. In July 1997, there were bloody clashes between FUNCINPEC loyal and CPP-loyal troops, and Ranariddh had to flee to Paris. He was then deposed as Prime Minister and replaced by Ung Huot .

In March 1998 he returned to Cambodia and led FUNCINPEC in the Cambodian parliamentary elections . FUNCINPEC lost the election to the CPP, but Ranariddh was elected President of the National Assembly in November 1998 after initially contesting the results. Ranariddh could not prevent the further decline of FUNCINPEC, which lost 17 of its 43 seats in the 2003 general election . After his father abdicated in October 2004, due to his popularity, Norodom Ranariddh was expected to succeed him as king, which he refused. In the same month he appointed Norodom Sihamoni as the new king as a member of the nine-member Council of the Throne .

In March 2006, Ranariddh resigned as President of the National Assembly in protest against Hun Sen's dismissal of two FUNCINPEC ministers and went to France. In October 2006, at the request of the Secretary General of FUNCINPEC, Nhiek Bun Chhay , he was replaced by the latter as party president and charged with embezzlement. In mid-November he returned to Cambodia and announced the establishment of his own party, whereupon he and two supporters were expelled from parliament on December 12, 2006, lost his parliamentary immunity and immediately from his wife for adultery, based on a newly enacted one Law, was charged. He joined the relatively insignificant Khmer National Front Party (KFP), renamed the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) in November 2006 and elected Ranariddh as its president.

Norodom Ranariddh in conversation with journalists from Voice of America in February 2014

In March 2007, he fled into exile again, this time to Malaysia, after fear of being convicted of embezzlement. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In November 2007, while in exile, he proposed a merger of his party with the Sam Rainsy party and the human rights party of Kem Sokha , which they rejected. In the general election of July 2008 , in which FUNCINPEC fell from 26 to 2 seats, the NRP won two seats, but accused the National Election Committee along with the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights Parties , which had also won two and three seats respectively , the irregularities. Ranariddh dropped the accusation and accepted the election result after Hun Sen negotiated a pardon for Ranariddh with the king. After this, Ranariddh returned to Cambodia in September and announced his retirement from politics. At the end of 2010, NRP and FUNCINPEC leaders asked him to return to politics with the aim of merging the two parties and offering to become president of the merged party. After a year and a half of negotiations, an agreement to this effect fell through when Nhiek Bun accused Chhay Ranariddh of supporting other opposition parties. Ranariddh then again declared his withdrawal from politics and resigned as president of the NRP. The party was subsequently merged into FUNCINPEC at the end of 2012.

In March 2014, Ranariddh came back to his retirement from politics and launched the Community of Royalist People's Party (CRPP), which brought him the accusation of Sam Rainsy of trying to weaken the opposition in favor of the CPP. At the end of 2014, Hun Sen asked Ranariddh to return to FUNCINPEC. In January 2015, Ranariddh dissolved the CRPP, returned to FUNCINPEC and was re-elected President.

In November 2017, he returned as a member of parliament after 41 of the 55 seats of the disbanded National Rescue Party of Cambodia had been awarded to FUNCINPEC. In the 2018 elections , the CPP received all 125 seats in the National Assembly, meaning that FUNCINPEC is no longer represented in Parliament.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Prince Norodom Ranariddh in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely accessible).
  2. ↑ Kathrin Klette: People without a vote - the election in Cambodia has already been decided. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . July 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ Carol Livingston: Malaysia PM spurs investors. In: The Phnom Penh Post . April 22, 1994.
  4. ↑ Arrest warrant for Prince Ranariddh. In: The world . August 13, 1997.
  5. ↑ Monika Heupel: Peace Consolidation in the Age of the "New Wars". Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 978-3-531-14816-8 , p. 75 limited preview in the Google book search.
  6. ↑ Cambodia's political arch-rivals enter into a new forced alliance. In: Wiener Zeitung . November 16, 1998.
  7. ↑ Yun Samean: Suit Filed on Sale of F'pec Headquarters. In: Cambodia Daily . November 10, 2006.
  8. ↑ Vong Sokheng: Chakrapong says court tool of the ruling parties. In: The Phnom Penh Post. December 29, 2006.
  9. ↑ Yun Samean, Elizabeth Tomei: Court Sentences Ranariddh to 18 Months in Jail. In: Cambodia Daily. March 4, 2007
  10. ↑ Vong Sokheng: Rainsy says no thanks to merging his party. In: The Phnom Penh Post. November 30, 2007.
  11. ↑ Yun Samean: NRP Accepts Election Result, Shun SRP. In: Cambodia Daily. August 13, 2008.
  12. ↑ Yun Samean: Ranariddh Pardoned, Expected To Return Sunday. In: Cambodian Daily. September 26, 2008.
  13. ↑ Meas Sokchea: No fun in Funcinpec merger. In: The Phnom Penh Post. June 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ Vong Sokheng, Bridget Di Certo: Royal exits Cambodia's politics again. In: The Phnom Penh Post. August 13, 2012.
  15. ^ Royalist Parties to Merge. In: Radio Free Asia . August 13, 2012.
  16. ↑ Hul Reaksmey Colin Meyn: Ranariddh Plays Politics With New to Old Party. In: Cambodia Daily. 17th March 2014.
  17. ^ T. Mohan: Presidency of Funcinpec: Inevitable Says Prince Ranariddh. In: Khmer Times. 4th January 2015.
  18. ↑ Niem Chheng, Ananth Baliga: List of new National Assembly members approved. In: The Phnom Penh Post. November 24, 2017.
  19. ↑ Manfred Rist: The suspiciously high voter turnout in Cambodia is supposed to give the regime more legitimacy. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 29th July 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Norodom Ranariddh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cambodian politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Phnom Penh