Prince Ranariddh: Hun Sen Should Stop Hindering the King

Hun Sen (left) and Prince Ranariddh (right).

17th March 2008
By San Suwit
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was forced to live in exile in a foreign country, said that Mr Hun Sen should be brave enough and stop hindering the king so that he (the king) can use his royal privilege to grant a royal pardon to him (Prince Ranariddh) to allow him to return home to Cambodia to compete in the upcoming election.
The Prince was speaking, through telephone, broadcast to 309 village chiefs and hundreds of supporters in three sub-districts: Sub-district Sena Reach Oudom, Sub-district Angkor Reach, Sub-district Rumchek of Preah Sdech District in Prey Veng Province, last Sunday in response to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s speech in Pursat province a day earlier.
In what people perceived as a reference to Prince Ranariddh, Prime Minister Hun Sen said: “Someone spoke from a foreign country that I am afraid to let him return home because I was afraid of his influence and popularity. Yes, everybody knew about your popularity. You received 26 parliamentary seats and I received 73 parliamentary seats. Even you used your father’s name to compete against me you cannot even beat me. How can you beat me by yourself. I am not afraid of you, even 100 of youse I will not be afraid of. But the thing (Ranariddh’s return) is not necessary. Now I already have a policy on education. Not only that I have a policy but I have already applied that policy like what I am doing today. I do not need to go and discuss anything with him just to waste my time. If I need to have a discussion forum I’d rather have it with the people. That’s when I will allocate my time. If I have free time I’d rather play chess instead. I do not need to sit down to discuss and argue with you because I am an incumbent prime minister. So, please debate it among yourself, ask questions among yourself on how many toilets you need to build etc.”
Prince Ranariddh who responded to Mr Hun Sen’s speech with the word “Amen” said that everything will be O.K if the prime minister does not interfere in the affairs of the king and allow the people to decide who they wanted to vote for.
Prince Ranariddh said: “Amen to the prime minister. If he thinks he is really good, he is not afraid of me, why did he need to use all sorts of dirty tricks. He did not need to use Nhiek Bunchhay to topple me. He did not need to use an unjust court to convict me. He should just let me return home by allowing His Majesty to use his royal privilege, which was inscribed in the constitution, to grant a royal pardon for Ranariddh to return home, everything is finished. And everybody just wait and see the people, who have patriotic conscience, who they will vote for. But please don’t cheat and don’t oppress (intimidate), don’t use power against the people.”
Prince Ranaridhh, who has repeated most of Prime Minister’s words, has responded to accusations of him using his father’s (Sihanouk) name by saying that Prime Minister Hun Sen has, numerous times in the past, used his father’s name for his own political gains also.
By quoting Mr Hun Sen‘s speech, Prince Ranaridhh said: “ ‘Don’t say that Hun Sen does not want you to return home. Hun Sen will allow you to return home, not only you, but 100 of youse I will not be afraid of because you always used your father’s name.’ I must say that when he used my father to ask me to share power with him (in 1993), why didn’t he accuse me of using my father’s name? And when he used my father in 1998, after the political impasse, when he wanted my father to appoint him once again as a prime minister, why didn’t he accuse me of using my father. And why he didn’t accuse me of always listening to my father. It was the same thing in 2003, 2004.”
However, in a speech reminding of the event of 18th March 1970, which was a day when the then Prince Sihanouk was deposed as the head of state in a coup d’etat, during an inauguration ceremony of Slat Rumchey temple, Chup Ta Trav Village, Svay Chek Sub-District, Angkor Thom District in Siem Reap province, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that current political stability and peace has come to fruition as a result of his win-win policy.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said: “Now, the day is very close to the day of the start of the destruction of the country, which is the 38th anniversary of the coup d’etat which toppled Prince Sihanouk. And since then our country was engulfed by wars. That was a tragedy which we should use as an experience of what had happened in the past. They have decided to topple Prince Sihanouk but the end result was that it was the people who were dying. So, that’s why I always said that we must maintain peace and stability that we have achieved with great sacrifices. There is no country in this world that can successfully achieve a win-win policy (like Cambodia).” //