VZCZCXRO3973
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1899/01 2921020
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 191020Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7477
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0132

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 001899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM CB
SUBJECT: FUNCINPEC OUSTS RANARIDDH AS PARTY PRESIDENT 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 1821 
 
Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Margaret McKean; Reason:  1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  SBU)  Summary.  On October 18, a hurriedly convened 
FUNCINPEC party congress voted to remove Prince Norodom 
Ranariddh as party leader in favor of Keo Puth Rasmei, a 
relative by marriage to the royal family and most recently 
the RGC Ambassador to Germany.  Ranariddh, who is currently 
outside the country, has been given the ceremonial title of 
Historical President but will have no responsibilities or 
authority to run the party's internal affairs.  Ranariddh 
loyalists have cried foul and indicated a possible legal 
challenge.  Both the CPP and SRP have welcomed Ranariddh's 
removal.  FUNCINPEC Secretary General Nhek Bun Chhay is 
scheduled to leave for Beijing on October 20 for a meeting 
with former King Norodom Sihanouk.  Observers view the latest 
chapter in the party's internal disarray as a victory for PM 
Hun Sen, who has long sought to gain control over the 
royalist party from within FUNCINPEC's own ranks.  It also 
obviates any possibility of a pro-democracy alliance that 
would have united FUNCINPEC and the SRP against the CPP in 
¶2008.  End Summary. 
 
Ranariddh Out; Keo Puth Rasmei Appointed New Party Leader 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  An estimated 1,500 FUNCINPEC party members 
convened at FUNCINPEC's party headquarters on October 18, 
having been hastily invited to Phnom Penh by FUNCINPEC's 
Secretary General Nhek Bun Chhay to discuss the upcoming 
 
SIPDIS 
communal council elections in April 2007.  During the course 
of the party congress, FUNCINPEC party members voted to 
remove Prince Norodom Ranariddh as party leader and instead 
granted him the ceremonial title of Historical President. 
Ranariddh loyalists and critics of Nhek Bun Chhay -- such as 
Prince Norodom Chakrapong, Prince Norodom Sirivudh, Ok 
Socheat, You Hockry, Serei Kosal, and Princess Norodom 
Vacheahra -- were not invited and conspicuously absent from 
the proceedings. 
 
¶3.  (U)  The party congress agreed that Keo Puth Rasmei, a 
member by marriage of the royal family and Ambassador to 
Germany, would take over as party leader, with Minister of 
Rural Development Lu Lay Sreng and former co-Minister of 
Defense Sisowath Sirirath as first and second 
vice-presidents, respectively.  Nhek Bun Chhay will remain as 
the party's Secretary General.  A number of other royal 
family members will also hold positions with the party's 
53-member steering committee.  In accepting the leadership 
mantle of FUNCINPEC, Rasmei promised to restore the party's 
ability to defend its honor and dignity.  Rasmei underscored 
that FUNCINPEC will continue to seek cooperation with the 
CPP, and characterized the ruling party as FUNCINPEC's 
partner over the long term. 
 
¶4.  (U)  In defending the congress' actions and Ranariddh's 
removal as party president, Nhek Bun Chhay told reporters 
that a small group of party members had usurped control over 
the party for their own interests and endangered FUNCINPEC's 
integrity and reputation, thereby imperiling the party's 
relationship with the CPP.  He personally blamed Prince 
Ranariddh for creating problems between FUNCINPEC and the CPP 
through injudicious criticism of the Cambodia-Vietnam border 
agreement, a proposal to return the former King to lead the 
government, and discussions with the SRP over possible future 
collaboration against the CPP.  On behalf of the ruling 
party, CPP President Chea Sim warmly congratulated 
FUNCINPEC's new leadership, noting that the CPP would respect 
the decisions of the party congress.  He renewed the CPP's 
desire to work in a governing coalition partnership with 
FUNCINPEC.  Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy called the 
FUNCINPEC congress' decision an internal party matter, adding 
that this latest development would not affect his party's 
relations with the CPP or FUNCINPEC.  Even if Ranariddh 
launches his own party, declared Rainsy, the SRP will not 
work with him as Ranariddh has frequently changed his 
position and is not considered trustworthy. 
 
Ranariddh's Options 
------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  On October 17, several Ranariddh loyalists contacted 
the Embassy as well as the UN Human Rights Office regarding 
alleged security threats and intimidation in advance of the 
October 18 congress.  Pol/Econ Chief met with former 
FUNCINPEC Senior Minister Serei Kosal, who provided copies of 
the invitations sent to party members throughout the 
provinces, which stated that the purpose of the October 18 
meeting was to formulate plans for the upcoming communal 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001899  002 OF 003 
 
 
elections.  He also provided the memo from Nhek Bun Chhay to 
the Prime Minister requesting police security be provided to 
the party congress.  Serei Kosal noted that the invitation to 
party members did not characterize the meeting as a party 
congress, as only the party president (Ranariddh) is 
empowered by the party by-laws to convene a party congress. 
Yet the memo to the PM described the meeting as a party 
congress designed to select a new party leader. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Kosal noted that he and other Ranariddh loyalists 
did not receive invitations and the police presence was 
designed to prevent them from attending the congress and 
protesting the gathering.  He further added that FUNCINPEC 
members of the government had been instructed to attend the 
meeting and support Ranariddh's removal or else lose their 
jobs.  Kosal said Ranariddh has several options, and may 
launch a court case challenging the legality of the party 
congress.  In the aftermath of Ranariddh's removal, press 
reports suggest that Ranariddh is considering launching his 
own party.  As a final resort, the Prince may seek to legally 
dissolve FUNCINPEC and force Nhek Bun Chhay and the others to 
use a different party name.  Kosal lamented that Ranariddh 
did not remove Nhek Bun Chhay from the party earlier.  He 
said that he and others opposed Ranariddh's decision to keep 
Nhek Bun Chhay within the party, when it was apparent that 
Nhek Bun Chhay's loyalties were to Hun Sen and the CPP was 
using Nhek Bun Chhay to create divisions within FUNCINPEC. 
Ranariddh decided that maintaining Nhek Bun Chhay within the 
party would appease Hun Sen and ensure that the party did not 
splinter, said the FUNCINPEC official.  Instead, Nhek Bun 
Chhay has instigated a party coup and removed Ranariddh. 
 
¶7.  (C)  When asked if the timing of the party congress is 
related to Nhek Bun Chhay's scheduled trip on October 20 to 
meet with former King Sihanouk in Beijing, Serei Kosal 
answered in the affirmative.  Although the former King 
reportedly wants continued harmony between FUNCINPEC and the 
CPP, Kosal said that Nhek Bun Chhay will nevertheless seek to 
reassure Sihanouk that his actions are in the best interest 
of the party and royal family.  For that reason, there are a 
number of royal family members who will still have senior 
positions within the party.  (Comment:  In a separate meeting 
with SRP MP Keo Remy, Remy said that Keo Puth Rasmei and the 
other royalists who are going along with Nhek Bun Chhay are 
puppets.  Another source who recently had dinner with Prince 
Norodom Sirivudh described the feeling among many royalists 
as somber and defeated.  End Comment.) 
 
Winners and Losers 
------------------ 
 
¶8.  (C)  The biggest winner in the latest chapter of 
FUNCINPEC is PM Hun Sen, who has asserted his authority over 
FUNCINPEC and removed Ranariddh from the leadership of the 
royal family's own party.  The CPP-inspired takeover of 
FUNCINPEC will preclude an anti-CPP alliance from forming in 
the run up to the national elections in 2008.  SRP and 
FUNCINPEC members have said that such an alliance could be 
dangerous for Hun Sen not because FUNCINPEC and SRP would 
likely win, but that the Chea Sim faction within the CPP 
could use a united opposition as leverage to force Hun Sen to 
step down as PM in 2008 by threatening to break away and 
throw their support to the opposition.  There have been 
undercurrents of dissatisfaction from some within the CPP who 
reportedly are unhappy over the unequal sharing of political 
spoils within the party.  With FUNCINPEC safely within Hun 
Sen's pocket, the opposition will be effectively divided and 
the CPP will remain united as there will be no alternative 
for Chea Sim's group or any other disaffected portion of the 
party. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Sam Rainsy is the second big winner in Ranariddh's 
demise as the leader of FUNCINPEC.  The SRP hopes to be the 
recipient of FUNCINPEC members and voters seeking to defect 
from the party in the aftermath of the upheaval in party 
leadership.  The SRP leader advised his MPs to vote in 
support of the CPP's removal of 10 FUNCINPEC government 
officials and replacement by Nhek Bun Chhay loyalists during 
an October 16 National Assembly vote.  Rainsy told us that he 
supported the move, and alerted Hun Sen to that effect.  The 
benefit in playing along with such a move, Rainsy explained, 
was that it would provide breathing space and security for 
the SRP to be seen as supportive of the CPP, and hurt 
Ranariddh and FUNCINPEC.  FUNCINPEC voters will see that 
their party is increasingly under the CPP's thumb, he 
continued, and SRP will be the chief beneficiary by securing 
new supporters. 
 
¶10.  (C)  The biggest losers are the members of the royal 
family.  Ranariddh is the most immediate victim of Hun Sen's 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001899  003 OF 003 
 
 
political victory.  Even if Ranariddh returns to Cambodia to 
head his own party, it will split the opposition vote even 
further and he will amount to nothing more than a minor 
player.  The entire royal family, however, is likely to lose 
over the longer term.  Cambodian television station CTN 
journalist Soy Sopheap, who maintains personal communication 
with the PM, told us on October 18 that the CPP plans to 
resurrect an earlier draft law banning members of the royal 
family from participation in politics and from holding any 
government position.  The draft law will not go forward now, 
said Sopheap, but the CPP intends to seek its passage before 
the 2008 elections.  Hun Sen wants the royal family 
completely removed from Cambodia's political life, and 
prefers to relegate the royal family members to charitable 
work or informal work currying favor with diplomats and other 
donors on behalf of the RGC.  The PM will provide stipends to 
each royal family member, based on a scale determined by 
their title and rank within the monarchy.  But they are to 
have no role in any future Cambodian government, summed up 
Sopheap. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Ranariddh has clearly been outflanked by Hun Sen 
and Nhek Bun Chhay, despite the Prince's late September 
changes to the FUNCINPEC party structure (reftel) designed to 
keep the FUNCINPEC Secretary General in check.  The former 
FUNCINPEC leader has no one to blame but himself, as he 
allowed his lifestyle and extensive absences from the country 
to play into the hands of political enemies.  Even FUNCINPEC 
loyalists opposed to Nhek Bun Chhay's cozy relationship with 
the CPP despaired over Ranariddh's flaccid leadership.  As a 
result, the political playing field in Cambodia has narrowed 
with CPP covering most of the bases.  End Comment. 
MUSSOMELI