By Khmerization
Talks for the merger of two royalist political parties, the Funcinpec Party and the Nationalist Party, formerly Norodom Ranariddh Party, have come to a standstill due to disagreements over protocol, the wording of the documents and the candidate lists for the upcoming 2012 commune and 2013 general elections, reports Reaksmei Kampuchea.
According to Reaksmei Kampuchea, Funcinpec Party wants the Nationalist Party to dissolve itself and merge under the banner of the Funcinpec Party, while the Nationalist Party wants only to merge for the election purpose only and both parties still retain their own political identity.
Mr. Keo Put Rasmey, president of the Funcinpec Party, said the hurdles are the wording of the documents. "It is about the wording of the protocol documents. "We (Funcinpec) want to use the words 'merger under the name of Funcipec', but the Nationalist Party wants to use the word 'merger' only and the name of the new party can be chosen later. So, it is a bit difficult for us because Funcinpec has a long history", he said.
Mr. You Hockry (pictured), Secretary General of the Nationalist Party, said his party wants only to merge by using a common candidate list for the purpose of competing in the election only. He said both parties have won seats in the national and commune elections, so the merger will lead to both parties losing their own identity.
Most leaders of the Nationalist Party were former leaders of the Funcinpec Party who splinted with Funcinpec when Prince Norodom Ranaridhh was ousted as president of the Funcinpec Party and formed his self-named Norodom Ranariddh Party in 2006. The name Norodom Ranariddh Party was changed to Nationalist Party in 2008 after Prince Ranariddh was appointed Privy Councillor to King Sihamoni.
Talks for the merger of two royalist political parties, the Funcinpec Party and the Nationalist Party, formerly Norodom Ranariddh Party, have come to a standstill due to disagreements over protocol, the wording of the documents and the candidate lists for the upcoming 2012 commune and 2013 general elections, reports Reaksmei Kampuchea.
According to Reaksmei Kampuchea, Funcinpec Party wants the Nationalist Party to dissolve itself and merge under the banner of the Funcinpec Party, while the Nationalist Party wants only to merge for the election purpose only and both parties still retain their own political identity.
Mr. Keo Put Rasmey, president of the Funcinpec Party, said the hurdles are the wording of the documents. "It is about the wording of the protocol documents. "We (Funcinpec) want to use the words 'merger under the name of Funcipec', but the Nationalist Party wants to use the word 'merger' only and the name of the new party can be chosen later. So, it is a bit difficult for us because Funcinpec has a long history", he said.
Mr. You Hockry (pictured), Secretary General of the Nationalist Party, said his party wants only to merge by using a common candidate list for the purpose of competing in the election only. He said both parties have won seats in the national and commune elections, so the merger will lead to both parties losing their own identity.
Most leaders of the Nationalist Party were former leaders of the Funcinpec Party who splinted with Funcinpec when Prince Norodom Ranaridhh was ousted as president of the Funcinpec Party and formed his self-named Norodom Ranariddh Party in 2006. The name Norodom Ranariddh Party was changed to Nationalist Party in 2008 after Prince Ranariddh was appointed Privy Councillor to King Sihamoni.
5 comments:
Can't see the two parties merge and become a stronger party.
Mistrust sentiments are still high among those members from both side and it would not be a good idea to delete FUNCIPEC name completely as it is a landmark name for decades as long as one can remember
True, the hurdles for the merger are mistrusts and vested interests. The Nationalist Party doesn't trust Funcinpec, but most importantly both parties are fighting to get good positions within the merged party and on the electoral candidate lists.
One thing for sure is that both parties will disappear after the 2013 election.
My prediction is that both parties will be still there after the 2013 election as a minor party in the parliament NOT the major party.
There are too much high stake for them to loose if they are giving politic completely. What they can do for themselves after leaving politic.
What I mean is that they will not win any seats and important leaders like Nhek Bunchhay and You Hockry will defect to the CPP to get a position within the government.
If they exist, they will exist in names only, but no activities. One more thing is that they will not be able to find any funds to keep the parties running. Members, lower-ranking and higher-ranking officials, will seek plum jobs with the ruling CPP government.
When too many important leaders left the parties, the parties will cease to exist or function effectively as political parties, so they will die a natural death by themselves.
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