Ranariddh, the prince in the shadow of the king
Ranariddh, the prince in the shadow of the king
PHNOM PENH (Reuter): Prince Norodom Ranariddh emerged from the shadow of his charismatic father Sihanouk in 1993, joining a coalition government only to be eclipsed by the man with whom he had formed the world's only dual premiership.
The uneasy partnership with Second Prime Minister Hun Sen broke down last week as their troops clashed after Hun Sen's men attempted to disarm forces under Ranariddh's command. Fighting began in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday and intensified yesterday.
Ranariddh accused Hun Sen of attempting a coup but a radio station controlled by Hun Sen denied on Sunday that a coup was under way.
Hun Sen had accused Ranariddh of illegally negotiating with the Khmer Rouge guerrilla group and of bringing Khmer Rouge troops into the capital. Ranariddh has denied the charge.
The prince, who had spent much of his life as an academic in the south of France, agreed in 1993 under the threat of renewed war to form a government with Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) after his FUNCINPEC party narrowly won a U.N.-run poll.
Named first prime minister, with Hun Sen as second premier, Ranariddh's desire to preserve the coalition at all costs led his party on a helter-skelter path towards self-destruction while his rival dictated policy.
Master politician Hun Sen engineered the downfall of the two leading independent thinkers in FUNCINPEC, former finance minister Sam Rainsy and ex-foreign minister Prince Norodom Sirivudh.
On the ropes and with a dwindling number of reliable cornermen, Ranariddh hit back in March 1996, threatening to quit the government unless his party was given more power.
Strongman Hun Sen brushed aside the threat with a warning he would use force to prevent any break-up of the coalition.
The two sides made up briefly in August 1996 to broker the break-up of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement, persuading King Norodom Sihanouk to pardon former top Khmer Rouge cadre Ieng Sary who had split with Pol Pot.
Pol Pot led the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime that left more than one million people dead and which had been fighting the coalition government after reneging on a 1991 peace pact.
The rapprochement soured with the co-premiers vying to win the allegiance of thousands of Khmer Rouge defectors and with Ranariddh's January 1997 plans to form an alliance with Sam Rainsy's officially unrecognized opposition party and Khmer Rouge defectors.
Ranariddh, second son of King Norodom Sihanouk, was born in 1944 to one of the king's "unofficial wives," Moneang Kanhol.
He was educated exclusively in France, finishing with a doctorate in international law from Aix-en-Provence University.
He returned to Cambodia after his studies and taught law at Phnom Penh University before being placed under house arrest after General Lon Nol toppled Sihanouk with U.S. blessing in 1970.
The young prince was sent into French exile in 1973 and returned to his alma mater to teach law. Khmer Rouge guerrillas toppled the Lon Nol republic in April 1975.
Ranariddh's involvement in Cambodian politics began when the Vietnamese invaded the country in late 1978 to oust Pol Pot.
When FUNCINPEC was formed in 1981 he became the representative for France and two years later was sent to Bangkok to act as his father's link with the non-communist nations of Southeast Asia.
He later became commander in chief of the royalist army, was appointed FUNCINPEC secretary general in 1989 and finally became president of the party in 1992.
Ranariddh, who has always lived in the shadow of his domineering father, was criticized by associates in the 1980s for displaying much of Sihanouk's vanity and inconsistency.
"I'm not an actor or musician like my father," he said in 1989, in a clear attempt to assert his own character.
Though he inherited, and some say deliberately cultivated some of his father's mannerisms, analysts said he grew in confidence after becoming joint premier in 1993.
As a blue blood he was clearly unused to being advised by subordinates on shortcomings, but analysts reckon that the sobering lessons of the past three years have taught him how to listen to his real friends and added an edge to his leadership.
They say the general elections of 1998, if they come to pass, will give him his last real chance to stamp his mark on the destiny of Cambodia.