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The Editor
Managing Editor
Cambodian Online
Information
24-Aug-2005
Last Edited
SIMON MONTLAKE IN PHNOM PENH
CAMBODIA’S mercurial King Norodom Sihanouk is
preparing to return home next week from self-imposed exile in China,
igniting a long-running row over who will succeed the ailing 81-year-old
monarch.
Speculation is growing that Sihanouk, who was restored to the throne in 1993 after UN-backed elections, wants to abdicate and hand the monarchy to his son Prince Sihamoni, Cambodia’s long-running ambassador to Unesco.
Sihamoni, 51, a trained ballet dancer who has spent much of his life in exile during Cambodia’s long decades of war and genocide, has reportedly quit his Unesco job in Paris and is ready to return home. His father has asked him to help stage a series of dances in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh set to music composed by the king.
Observers say Sihamoni is widely seen as apolitical and far less assertive than his father, whose testy relationship with Cambodia’s elected leaders has deteriorated in recent years.
On September 27 Sihanouk is set to return to Cambodia pending the results of last-minute medical tests by his doctors in Beijing.
The oldest son of Queen Monineath, Sihamoni was educated in Prague and spent a year studying film-making in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang before moving to Paris in the late 1970s to set up his own dance company.
His artistic career mirrors his father’s forays into movies, music and theatre, which often eclipsed his self-described role as "protector of rights and freedoms of citizens". King Sihanouk claims to have written hundreds of traditional songs in the local Khmer language.
During Cambodia’s protracted peace talks, he reportedly entertained diplomats with renditions of Tom Jones songs.
Under the post-1991 constitution, the monarchy is not hereditary and the role of selecting a new king falls to a nine-member throne council.
The council is supposed to name a male member of the royal family to assume the throne within seven days of the king’s death. But the government has not yet created the council, raising doubts over a smooth succession.
Prince Ranariddh, who leads a political party in the governing coalition and is half-brother to Sihamoni, has vowed not to contest the throne.
Royal-watchers had long suspected that Ranariddh, who was born to the King’s previous wife, was biding his time. Instead, he has thrown his support behind Sihamoni and warned that Cambodia needs to find a successor quickly.
But observers say a political stalemate can only be avoided with the backing of Hun Sen, who was recently reinstated as Prime Minister, a job he has held on and off since 1985.
"It’s all down to him, you can’t really expect anything to happen without his say-so," said a UN diplomat.
Hun Sen, a former Communist who the Francophone king calls "le strongman", has repeatedly clashed with Sihanouk over when and how the succession can take place.
Last month, he told him to stop talking openly about abdication, saying it could plunge the country into chaos and upset the people. "This is not about the king alone, but millions of people who would be affected politically and psychologically. Civil unrest could even occur," said Hun Sen.
Most Cambodians believe Sihanouk will be a difficult act to follow and warn that whoever takes over the crown may struggle to make his mark.
"It’s not impossible but it’s certainly difficult because of his stature," said Lao Mong Hay, a legal expert at the Centre for Social Development.
Sihanouk’s aides insist that many Cambodians fondly recall his rule as a golden era before the Vietnam War. Although in recent years, he has sought treatment in Beijing for cancer and has been out of the public eye, a daily barrage of hand-written notes from the king appearing on the internet, often delving into his past dealings with Western allies, Khmer Rouge cadres and old friends such as Kim Jong-Il, testifies to his determination to get his message out to the public.
He retains a team of North Korean bodyguards on loan from Pyongyang who reportedly carry their machine-guns in canvas violin cases.
Born in 1922 and crowned in 1941 by French colonisers eager to install a pliable puppet, Sihanouk abdicated the throne in 1955 to contest the country’s first elections. His party won by a landslide and launched him on an erratic career that ended in disaster as Cambodia became drawn into the war raging in neighbouring Vietnam.
In 1970, the US-backed army ousted the king and turned the country into a republic. He fled to Beijing and into the Communist camp. Brooding in his Beijing redoubt, Sihanouk penned a caustic memoir titled My War with the CIA. When the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Sihanouk sent congratulations and flew home, although the regime confined him to his palace.
Sihanouk’s dalliance with the Khmer Rouge, which continued into the 1990s with the connivance of Britain and other Western powers, has been a bone of contention for Cambodians who suffered at its hands.
However, Sihanouk’s own family were not spared the horrors of Cambodia’s Killing Fields. Many of his children and grandchildren were persecuted along with the 1.7 million who died of starvation, murder, malnutrition and war in 1975-79.
After his restoration in 1993, Sihanouk stirred more controversy by giving a royal pardon to Ieng Sary, one of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.
LIFE AND TIMES
Oct 31, 1922 Born in Phnom Penh.
1941 Crowned king, age 19.
1953 French withdrawal is followed by independence.
1955 Abdicates and becomes Prime Minister. His father is reinstated as king.
1960 King dies and Sihanouk names himself head of state.
1970 Deposed by US-backed army coup. Exile in China.
1975 Returns to Cambodia after Khmer Rouge seize power.
1979 Vietnam deposes Pol Pot, left. Sihanouk goes into exile.
1980s Forms government-in-exile with Khmer Rouge.
1991 Sihanouk named head of state under Paris peace deal.
1993 Sihanouk reinstated as constitutional monarch. Elections produce coalition government led by Hun Sen.
1998 Pol Pot dies, ending hopes of genocide trial.
2004 Sihanouk goes to Beijing, exasperated with political impasse at home. Threatens to abdicate throne.
Speculation is growing that Sihanouk, who was restored to the throne in 1993 after UN-backed elections, wants to abdicate and hand the monarchy to his son Prince Sihamoni, Cambodia’s long-running ambassador to Unesco.
Sihamoni, 51, a trained ballet dancer who has spent much of his life in exile during Cambodia’s long decades of war and genocide, has reportedly quit his Unesco job in Paris and is ready to return home. His father has asked him to help stage a series of dances in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh set to music composed by the king.
Observers say Sihamoni is widely seen as apolitical and far less assertive than his father, whose testy relationship with Cambodia’s elected leaders has deteriorated in recent years.
On September 27 Sihanouk is set to return to Cambodia pending the results of last-minute medical tests by his doctors in Beijing.
The oldest son of Queen Monineath, Sihamoni was educated in Prague and spent a year studying film-making in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang before moving to Paris in the late 1970s to set up his own dance company.
His artistic career mirrors his father’s forays into movies, music and theatre, which often eclipsed his self-described role as "protector of rights and freedoms of citizens". King Sihanouk claims to have written hundreds of traditional songs in the local Khmer language.
During Cambodia’s protracted peace talks, he reportedly entertained diplomats with renditions of Tom Jones songs.
Under the post-1991 constitution, the monarchy is not hereditary and the role of selecting a new king falls to a nine-member throne council.
The council is supposed to name a male member of the royal family to assume the throne within seven days of the king’s death. But the government has not yet created the council, raising doubts over a smooth succession.
Prince Ranariddh, who leads a political party in the governing coalition and is half-brother to Sihamoni, has vowed not to contest the throne.
Royal-watchers had long suspected that Ranariddh, who was born to the King’s previous wife, was biding his time. Instead, he has thrown his support behind Sihamoni and warned that Cambodia needs to find a successor quickly.
But observers say a political stalemate can only be avoided with the backing of Hun Sen, who was recently reinstated as Prime Minister, a job he has held on and off since 1985.
"It’s all down to him, you can’t really expect anything to happen without his say-so," said a UN diplomat.
Hun Sen, a former Communist who the Francophone king calls "le strongman", has repeatedly clashed with Sihanouk over when and how the succession can take place.
Last month, he told him to stop talking openly about abdication, saying it could plunge the country into chaos and upset the people. "This is not about the king alone, but millions of people who would be affected politically and psychologically. Civil unrest could even occur," said Hun Sen.
Most Cambodians believe Sihanouk will be a difficult act to follow and warn that whoever takes over the crown may struggle to make his mark.
"It’s not impossible but it’s certainly difficult because of his stature," said Lao Mong Hay, a legal expert at the Centre for Social Development.
Sihanouk’s aides insist that many Cambodians fondly recall his rule as a golden era before the Vietnam War. Although in recent years, he has sought treatment in Beijing for cancer and has been out of the public eye, a daily barrage of hand-written notes from the king appearing on the internet, often delving into his past dealings with Western allies, Khmer Rouge cadres and old friends such as Kim Jong-Il, testifies to his determination to get his message out to the public.
He retains a team of North Korean bodyguards on loan from Pyongyang who reportedly carry their machine-guns in canvas violin cases.
Born in 1922 and crowned in 1941 by French colonisers eager to install a pliable puppet, Sihanouk abdicated the throne in 1955 to contest the country’s first elections. His party won by a landslide and launched him on an erratic career that ended in disaster as Cambodia became drawn into the war raging in neighbouring Vietnam.
In 1970, the US-backed army ousted the king and turned the country into a republic. He fled to Beijing and into the Communist camp. Brooding in his Beijing redoubt, Sihanouk penned a caustic memoir titled My War with the CIA. When the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Sihanouk sent congratulations and flew home, although the regime confined him to his palace.
Sihanouk’s dalliance with the Khmer Rouge, which continued into the 1990s with the connivance of Britain and other Western powers, has been a bone of contention for Cambodians who suffered at its hands.
However, Sihanouk’s own family were not spared the horrors of Cambodia’s Killing Fields. Many of his children and grandchildren were persecuted along with the 1.7 million who died of starvation, murder, malnutrition and war in 1975-79.
After his restoration in 1993, Sihanouk stirred more controversy by giving a royal pardon to Ieng Sary, one of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.
LIFE AND TIMES
Oct 31, 1922 Born in Phnom Penh.
1941 Crowned king, age 19.
1953 French withdrawal is followed by independence.
1955 Abdicates and becomes Prime Minister. His father is reinstated as king.
1960 King dies and Sihanouk names himself head of state.
1970 Deposed by US-backed army coup. Exile in China.
1975 Returns to Cambodia after Khmer Rouge seize power.
1979 Vietnam deposes Pol Pot, left. Sihanouk goes into exile.
1980s Forms government-in-exile with Khmer Rouge.
1991 Sihanouk named head of state under Paris peace deal.
1993 Sihanouk reinstated as constitutional monarch. Elections produce coalition government led by Hun Sen.
1998 Pol Pot dies, ending hopes of genocide trial.
2004 Sihanouk goes to Beijing, exasperated with political impasse at home. Threatens to abdicate throne.
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