VZCZCXRO8697
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0327/01 1400801
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200801Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0725
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000327 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM CB
SUBJECT: ROYALIST PARTIES PLAN TO MERGE FOR 2013 NATIONAL ELECTION 
 
REF: 08 PHNOM PENH 881 
 
¶1. (U) National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, 
and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) and Norodom Ranariddh Party 
(NRP) officials announced May 15 that the two royalist parties had 
set aside their differences and planned to formally merge under the 
FUNCINPEC name and brand.  FUNCINPEC Secretary General Nhek Bun 
Chhay told the press that the creation of the new, single party 
would wait until the run-up to the 2013 national election, so that 
FUNCINPEC and NRP officials would avoid having to forfeit existing 
government positions.  He added that the parties would act as a 
single unit but maintain their separate names until the merger. 
 
COOPERATION IN LOCAL ELECTIONS A PRECURSOR TO MERGER 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) FUNCINPEC and NRP officials had hinted for months that a 
merger was in development, and the parties took a small step towards 
reunification by cooperating in the May 17 provincial, district and 
local elections.  The parties submitted a joint list of candidates 
in 14 provinces for the election, in which Cambodia's 11,353 commune 
councilors voted for provincial, district and municipal councils. 
Royalist candidates in each district ran under the banner of the 
party that had the most commune councilors.  FUNCINPEC's official in 
charge of election affairs, Kem Kosal, told us in March that the 
parties had had no issues coordinating on the candidate lists. 
However, in spite of the public emphasis placed on the royalist 
parties' cooperation, FUNCINPEC President Keo Puth Rasmey admitted 
to the Ambassador in February that the local elections were not a 
high priority for his party, as no one expected a drastic change in 
any party's representation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Koul Panha, Executive Director of the Committee for Free 
and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), similarly told Poloff that 
the royalist party alliance had made little difference in the May 17 
election results, as the commune councilors had tended to vote along 
party lines.  However he speculated that a full merger could improve 
the royalist parties' chances of picking up additional National 
Assembly (NA) seats in the 2013 national elections.  The parties' 
challenges, he added, would be to put aside past disputes and figure 
out how to blend their respective structures and institutions.  He 
observed that FUNCINPEC officials seemed to be more eager to merge 
than NRP officials, who still distrusted FUNCINPEC's leadership, 
specifically Secretary General Nhek Bun Chhay.  Puthea Hang, the 
Executive Director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free 
and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), raised similar concerns 
about the merger, saying that he feared the parties could end up 
splitting again. 
 
CPP, SRP UNIMPRESSED 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) 
officials have shown little reaction so far to the royalist party 
merger announcement.  CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap told the press May 18 
that his party was not concerned about the merger because the 
strength of the royalist parties' support was known.  SRP spokesman 
Yim Sovann added that FUNCINPEC and the NRP had compromised their 
credentials by aligning themselves with the ruling party, and 
suggested that the Cambodian people would no longer trust the 
royalist parties.  (NOTE:  FUNCINPEC still declares itself to be in 
coalition with the CPP, and Nhek Bun Chhay is a Deputy Prime 
Minister.  However, FUNCINPEC Deputy President Prince Sisowath 
Sirirath admitted to Poloff in January that since the 2008 national 
elections there is no longer a Memorandum of Understanding between 
the two parties to formalize this coalition.  END NOTE.) 
 
SOME NRP MEMBERS ALSO UNIMPRESSED 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The proposed royalist merger has failed to inspire some of 
the NRP's officials, as well.  Internal NRP rifts that surfaced in 
February reappeared on May 14, just prior to the provincial and 
district elections, when NRP Spokesman Suth Dina called for NRP 
commune councilors to vote for the CPP.  Suth Dina praised the CPP 
for improving the country's prosperity and criticized the NRP for 
lacking a political structure and policies.  (NOTE: NRP Secretary 
General You Hockry has admitted these same faults about his party 
privately to Poloff, but has never publicly acknowledged them.  END 
NOTE.)  Suth Dina was temporarily expelled from the NRP in February 
for allegedly trying to stage a takeover of the party with fellow 
members of his political activist group, the Democratic Front of 
Khmer Students and Intellectuals.  NRP leadership made a show of 
reconciliation with Suth Dina later that month, but he now appears 
to have set himself up to defect to the CPP. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) FUNCINPEC and the NRP's latest move was long predicted by 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000327  002 OF 002 
 
 
independent observers and represents the royalist movement's natural 
last-ditch effort to maintain its political relevance.  If the 
parties can truly overcome their turbulent pasts, identify strong 
and charismatic leaders, and outline a solid political platform, 
they may be able to inspire enough support to pick up additional NA 
seats in the 2013 national election.  However, given royalist party 
officials' outsized egos, coupled with their tendencies to reflect 
on their glory days of yore rather than a clear message for the 
future, a merger may be their last significant political act. 
 
 
 
RODLEY