Norodom Ranariddh
| Norodom Ranariddh នរោត្ដម រណឬទ្ធិ |
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| Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh
President of the Supreme Privy Council to HM the King of Kingdom of Cambodia with the rank of Prime Minister. |
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| Reign | 12 December 2008 – present |
| Spouse | Neak Moneang Ouk Phalla |
| Issue | |
| Prince Norodom Sothearidh | |
| Father | Norodom Sihanouk |
| Mother | Neak Moneang Phat Kanthol |
| Born | 2 January 1944 Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism |
Prince Norodom Ranariddh (born January 2, 1944) is the second son of former king Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.
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[edit] Biography
Prince Norodom Ranariddh grew up in Phnom Penh and he lived in France for many years. He was appointed a lecturer in law at the University of Aix en Provence, and remains one of the world experts in aspects of maritime law. Until recently he still gave lectures at the university, even when he was Prime Minister.
For most of the period of the Vietnamese Occupation of Cambodia 1979-1989, Prince Ranariddh led the Royalist movement, FUNCINPEC. When the monarchy was restored in 1993, his political party won the elections, the first free elections since 1972. As such he is regarded by many Cambodians as the man who brought democracy back to the country. He became Prime Minister, but had to serve jointly with his father's rival Hun Sen who had lost the 1993 elections but wanted to hang onto power and insisted that he remained in the government. By agreement, the two first shared the title of Prime Minister with Ranariddh as First Prime Minister, while Hun Sen became Second Prime Minister. Prince Ranarddh tried to reform the country but was obstructed by Hun Sen. These differences came to a head in July 1997 when Rannaridh was ousted by Hun Sen in a bloody coup d'etat which saw some of Prince Ranariddh's supporters being killed, and his house looted.
After initially fleeing the country, Prince Ranariddh returned to Cambodia to participate in the national elections held in 1998. Because it had not been allowed to campaign freely, his party suffered heavy losses but managed to form a new coalition with Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh became Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly.
When King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004, with Ranariddh being a likely choice for king owing to his popularity. However, he renounced his interest in the post, and later that month he was part of the nine-member throne council which convened and chose Norodom Sihamoni to be the next king.
He was chairman of the Funcinpec political party but was removed by a party vote on October 18, 2006, which was led by once his closest advisor and general Gen. Nhek Bun Chhay.
Subsequently he established the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), which outpolled Funcinpec and is currently the third largest party in Cambodia.[2] In the 2008 national election his new party won two seats in the national assembly.
[edit] Return from exile
| Monarchical styles of Norodom Ranariddh |
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| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
After Prime Minister Hun Sen was re-elected in the 2008 Cambodian elections, King Norodom Sihamoni granted a royal pardon upon the request of the re-elected Prime Minister. Ranariddh had been sentenced in absentia to 18 months imprisonment in March 2007 in a political show trial over a US$3.6 million property sale. The court ruled he improperly sold his former political party headquarters and used proceeds from the sale to purchase another property in his own name. The building had actually part of the house of his father-in-law, Eng Meas (who had been murdered by the Communists), and had been given to him and his wife in 1991 because his own house was occupied by a Russian diplomat who did not want to vaccate it.
When he returned, half of the house became the party headquarters, and he lived in the other half. All serious commentators on Cambodia viewed the court ruling as a political move to try to remove the influence of Prince Ranariddh and force him from the country, and this is what happened. Shortly after he was pardoned, he read out a letter on television thanking King Sihamoni, his half brother, for giving him "full freedom in order to join in the development of the nation." The prince also thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen for helping to arrange the royal pardon for him and said that he would return to Cambodia soon: he subsequently returned, and has retired from politics taking part in promoting charity work in the country partly through the Norodom Ranariddh Foundation.
On December 12, 2008, King Norodom Sihamoni selected him as chief advisor of his advisory court, the Privy Council.[3] His official title is Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh President of the Supreme Privy Council to HM the King of Kingdom of Cambodia with the rank of Prime Minister.[4]
[edit] Family
Ranariddh has two wives:
- Princess Marie to whom he was married in his youth, but the couple failed to re-certificate their wedding according to Cambodian law and this was used to claim that Princess Marie was not his legal wife and prevented her from using the title of Princess. Having two wives is illegal under Cambodian law.
- Ouk Phalla, a former royal ballet dancer (and a distant member of the Royal family through the Sisowath line) with whom he has a son.
Before he was pardoned, he was living in Kuala Lumpur with his second wife and his son, Prince Norodom Sothearidh. [1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Sen-Ranariddh Coalition |
Prime Minister of Cambodia 1993–1997 |
Succeeded by Ung Huot |
| Preceded by Chea Sim |
President of the National Assembly 1998–2006 |
Succeeded by Heng Samrin |
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