| English.news.cn 2014-02-26 14:37:33 |
 
 
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PHNOM PENH, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prince Norodom Ranariddh,
son of the late King Norodom Sihanouk, would re-enter politics by
forming a new royal party to contest in the 2018 general election,
Ranariddh's cabinet chief, Noranarith Anandayath, said Wednesday.
"The prince has planned to form a new party sometime this year under the name 'The Community of Royalist People Party'," he told Xinhua.
According to a media report on Tuesday, the 70-year-old prince said he decided the country needs a new party because the two current leading parties -- the ruling Cambodian People's Party ( CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) -- cannot resolve their political differences.
He said he would like to tap his father's political legacy and breathe new life into the royalists.
"I want to mobilize nationalism and Sihanoukism to form my party and restore the royal family," the prince said.
Prince Ranariddh is currently the president of the Supreme Privy Advisory Council to the King Norodom Sihamoni.
He was former co-prime minister and ex-president of the National Assembly of Cambodia.
He declared to quit politics for the first time in October 2008 after he received a royal pardon on fraud charges. Later, he re- entered politics in December 2010, and once again, he quit politics in August 2012 due to his Norodom Ranariddh Party's internal rifts.
Sok Touch, deputy director general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia's International Relations Institute, said since the prince has built a negative reputation in politics in the past, it seemed difficult for him to restore his popularity through forming a new party.
Cambodia is still trapped in political dispute after last July' s election results showed that Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP won 68 parliamentary seats, versus 55 seats for Sam Rainsy's CNRP.
Claiming serious irregularities during the poll, the CNRP refused to accept the outcome and has boycotted parliament and held many protests in order to demand the resignation of Hun Sen and a re-election.
Hun Sen has said he would neither step down nor call a re-vote.
"The prince has planned to form a new party sometime this year under the name 'The Community of Royalist People Party'," he told Xinhua.
According to a media report on Tuesday, the 70-year-old prince said he decided the country needs a new party because the two current leading parties -- the ruling Cambodian People's Party ( CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) -- cannot resolve their political differences.
He said he would like to tap his father's political legacy and breathe new life into the royalists.
"I want to mobilize nationalism and Sihanoukism to form my party and restore the royal family," the prince said.
Prince Ranariddh is currently the president of the Supreme Privy Advisory Council to the King Norodom Sihamoni.
He was former co-prime minister and ex-president of the National Assembly of Cambodia.
He declared to quit politics for the first time in October 2008 after he received a royal pardon on fraud charges. Later, he re- entered politics in December 2010, and once again, he quit politics in August 2012 due to his Norodom Ranariddh Party's internal rifts.
Sok Touch, deputy director general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia's International Relations Institute, said since the prince has built a negative reputation in politics in the past, it seemed difficult for him to restore his popularity through forming a new party.
Cambodia is still trapped in political dispute after last July' s election results showed that Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP won 68 parliamentary seats, versus 55 seats for Sam Rainsy's CNRP.
Claiming serious irregularities during the poll, the CNRP refused to accept the outcome and has boycotted parliament and held many protests in order to demand the resignation of Hun Sen and a re-election.
Hun Sen has said he would neither step down nor call a re-vote.
Editor:
Yang Yi
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