Posted on 10/14/2004 4:39:05 PM PDT by angkor
PHNOM PENH - Politically fractious and still traumatised by Pol Pot's brutal 1970s rule, Cambodia moved smoothly into a new royal era yesterday by choosing one of Norodom Sihanouk's sons to take the throne following the king's shock abdication last week.
Prague-educated prince is a unanimous choice. -- AFP
The nine-member Royal Throne Council announced after meeting in the royal palace that it had approved 51-year-old Prince Norodom Sihamoni, a Prague-educated dance teacher who until recently was Cambodia's ambassador to Unesco, the United Nations cultural organisation, in Paris.
The statement did not say how many council members - who included Prime Minister Hun Sen and King Sihamoni's half brother Prince Norodom Ranariddh - voted for the prince, but two palace officials said on condition of anonymity that the secret ballot was unanimous.
The council said Prince Sihamoni, a bachelor, should be referred to as king with immediate effect. He is currently with his father in Beijing, where the former monarch has been receiving medical treatment.
They are expected to return to Cambodia next Wednesday and a low-key coronation ceremony is planned for Oct 29, said Prince Ranariddh, who also heads the National Assembly.
The former king had said 'we should save the nation's money' rather than splash on an elaborate ceremony, he said.
Prince Ranariddh, who has repeatedly said he would rather stay in politics than be crowned king, had signalled the deal was done before the meeting.
'All nine members of the Royal Throne Council support Sihamoni as the new king,' he told reporters after a self-declared 'mission impossible' to Beijing to persuade Sihanouk, 81, to change his mind. The former monarch told Cambodians on Tuesday that he wanted the succession determined before he died, even though the constitution says the monarch rules for life, because he feared another bloodbath.
King Sihamoni has none of the vast experience of his father, who led his country to independence from France, tried to keep it out of the Vietnam War and survived the Khmer Rouge.
'He's very much an unknown quantity, but he's certainly no fool,' said one Western diplomat. -- AP, Reuters
How very "King and I" of them.
Wow. I never thought I'd see the day Cambodia could give the United States tips on executing a smooth and un-criminal "transfer of power".
The Democrats will turn this place upside down if Bush wins. It's unacceptable.
Transferring kingship is one thing. Both the Thai and the Cambodians really do worship the king.
The civil elections in Cambodia are a bit more rough-and-ready.
So, what if? What if they bring it all together for the 2004 race. Remember JFK 1.0 won dirty, with his daddy paying for ballot stuffing in Dallas and Chicago. JFK 2.0 has sought to model his career on JFK 1.0, so would a dirty victory really be a surprise?
Just to point out that the Dems are not the only ones who might turn the place upside down after a loss.
Concur.
Will the Kerrys spend Christmas Eve with him?
RE: Prague-educated dance teacher who until recently was Cambodia's ambassador to Unesco
Allow me to translate. He went to school in the Soviet Bloc and is a globalist.
If the Prince is 51, he would have been 18 in 1971, the year after his father was ousted from power and threw in his lot with the Khmer Rouge, so it isn't surprising he would have been educated in a Soviet-bloc country.
I'm shocked by that. I never would have guessed that from this:
a Prague-educated dance teacher
Ouch, the news just keeps on getting worse for Asia.
Good point. Maybe he's a marvelous dancer, who knows? Russian ballet, and all that.
"Transferring kingship is one thing. Both the Thai and the Cambodians really do worship the king."
Point well taken - I would rephrase, after living there and in the area for 15 or so years, that they love their Kings and Royal Families.
I had never heard of Ankor Wat till Sihanouk took Jackie on a tour of the place - I got there in '68 and again in '69 - before the fit hit the shan ...
safe to go back now - but dont wander off the paths as landmines are still about.
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