Cambodia’s King Under Criticism for Not Intervening in Election Dispute

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni has come under criticism for not intervening in the country’s election crisis after he ordered parliament to be convened despite allegations of voter fraud and other irregularities that the opposition wants investigated. But some experts said the monarch has limited influence in a political landscape dominated by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which was declared victor in the July 28 polls by the government-appointed National Election Committee (NEC). … Analysts said the king, despite his limited powers, can still play a critical role in defusing the crisis by using his influence to prod Hun Sen to forge a compromise with Sam Rainsy in the national interest. King Sihamoni said in a statement from China, where he has been for a medical check-up since Aug. 12, that he would return to Cambodia on Wednesday to convene the National Assembly, the country’s parliament, on Sept. 23, encouraging “all parties” to join the session. “The king must take action to seek national unity,” political analyst Sok Touch told RFA’s Khmer Service, hoping the monarch would emerge with a formula to break the political deadlock upon his return. … But Prince Sisowath Thomico, a CNRP member and former adviser to King Sihamoni, said the monarch may be wary of using his influence to break the deadlock as it may risk endangering the monarchy itself. The CPP, he said, has at least twice made direct threats against the institution of the monarchy—once in 2005, when Hun Sen warned the king his throne was at stake if he did not endorse Cambodia-Vietnam border treaties, and again in 2006, when senior party member Cheam Yeap said the CPP could abolish the monarchy just as it had reinstalled it. …

 Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/king-09102013181053.html