Norodom Ranariddh Returns to Politics: A political Therapist Perspective

Can you bend lower H.E. Chim Siek Leng?

Saturday, December 11, 2010
Op-Ed by Jaya Khmer

The news that Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh returns to politics almost surprises me. But not really. After all, the Cambodian people know their prince all too well. Taking politics out of the prince is like asking Samdech Krom Preah to stop breathing. If he has to breathe to survive, he must be in politics in order for life to make sense. Unfortunately, loving politics does not always correlate to being a good leader or an effective politician. He just loves politics. What can we say? The Cambodian people also know that when the going gets tough, the prince will once again bail out. There is nothing for us to worry. I talk too much about the prince’s good quality as a political leader already. Let’s get serious. A perspective is needed here.

One should not discriminate against a prince from participating in politics. As a Khmer, it is his prerogative. There is no provision in the Cambodian Constitution that prevents a member of the Khmer royal families from entering politics. For this reason, let us respect his rights.

Having said that, I could not help but wonder what is the prince’s rationale of his returning to politics. Politically, things just do not add up. As a politician the prince should know this by heart. Let’s look at this from a political calculation perspective. By this, I mean, let’s stick to the number. Prior to the constitutional amendment of 2006, forming a political party makes sense. To form a government the super majority (2/3) requirements forces political parties to form alliances. The super majority requirement was hard to achieve.

After the 2006 constitutional amendment, the requirement to form a government is much more relaxed. It only requires political party or parties to have a simple majority (50 + 1) in the National Assembly to form a government. If the trend from the last elections continues, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) does not need any other parties. The 2008 elections, CPP captured 90 out of 123 seats. The prince should know that in 2013, again if the trend continues, the prince’s newly formed Nationalist Party will get five seats, the most. Five is nothing in the current political climate.

If his rationale to enter politics for the purpose of uniting all the royalists, he must remember that the number one royalist party in the country already exists; that is the CPP. Furthermore, under the constitutional monarchy concept, everyone in the country is already a royalist whether they like it or not. For that reason, one can only speculate that prince just trying to use whatever popularity that left over by the former king Norodom Sihanouk. That move alone implies that the Nationalist Party will not go too far because of the good relationship between the former king and the prime minister. Anyone who support the former king, rather support CPP if they want a returned favor.

It appears that the prince is convinced that who could make a difference this time. The prince admitted that he is addicted to politics. It is hard to tell an addicted person from doing what they are doing. The best we can do is to give the prince a political therapy. As a non-licensed and unschooled political therapist, this is my perspective.