Cambodian opposition joins calls for royalty to quit politics

Oct 4, 2006, 13:41 GMT

Phnom Penh - Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Wednesday joined calls for members of the country's royal family to keep out of politics.

The comments by the leader of the self-named Sam Rainsy Party followed similar calls by National Assembly President Heng Samrin on Tuesday.

'I want to see Cambodia with a strong and noble monarchy respected by all people,' Rainsy told reporters outside the National Assembly after an anti-corruption forum.

'I want Cambodia to have a monarchy like in Thailand, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Japan and so on. In those countries their people pay very high respect to the monarch and to the royal family.

'However, most countries have a stipulation for this respect - members of the royal family are not involved in politics. In the countries I have just mentioned, we never see the names of princes or princesses as politicians.

'For people to respect the royal family, the royal family must not participate in politics. If you want people to look to you as the symbol of national reconciliation and national dignity you must not dabble in politics.'

He said it was unseemly for royalty to publicly criticize people, and it was also uncomfortable for others to criticize royalty, but that this was unavoidable in the rough and tumble of political life if royalty insisted on being a part of it.

'My party and I myself want every Cambodian to respect our royal family (so) royalty must be out of politics,' he said.

In disarray internally and under attack from the CPP in particular, the royalist Funcinpec party, of which around a dozen members of the National Assembly and Senate have royal titles, has appeared increasingly marginalized in recent months.

Although former king Norodom Sihanouk once abdicated to rule the country as a politician, in recent months he has repeatedly said he will not get involved in politics again.

The constitution dictates that the Cambodian monarch reigns but does not rule. However, lesser royals have been heavily involved in politics in recent years and his former advisor, Prince Sisowath Thomico, has just set up a new party he hopes will contest commune elections scheduled for January.

In March, the president of the royalist Funcinpec party, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, resigned as head of the National Assembly after the dominant Cambodian People's Party (CPP) pushed through a new voting law which allowed motions to be passed with a simple majority instead of needing a two-thirds vote as previously, effectively making the coalition between those two parties redundant.

On Tuesday, Heng Samrin of the CPP was critical of royal MPs not turning up for work and suggested they find other careers outside of politics. Royal members of parliament include Ranariddh's daughter and Sihanouk's granddaughter Princess Norodom Rattana Devi and Ranariddh's aunt, Princess Norodom Vicheara.