Full article: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... es-away-77Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the second son of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk and former First Prime Minister of Cambodia, has passed away in France at the age of 77.
“Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh has passed away this morning in France just after 9am Paris-time,” confirmed Oum Daravuth, adviser to the secretariat of Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.
Born in 1944, Prince Ranariddh was the leader of the royalist FUNCINPEC party and served as the First Prime Minister from 1993 until 1997 following Cambodia’s first democratic elections organised by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia.
Prime Minister Hun Sen – who served as the Second Prime Minister during that four-year period in a two-party coalition government – wrote a letter of condolences to the Prince’s family, friends and supporters on November 28.
Prince Ranariddh then went on to serve as the president of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2006, following the 1998 elections when his party was runner-up in the vote to the Cambodian People’s Party.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh passes away at 77
- Lucky Lucan
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Prince Norodom Ranariddh passes away at 77
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
Condolences to his family.
Even though border camp returnees were but a tiny fraction of the electorate, Prince Ranariddh was the unequivocal winner of the 1993 UNTAC election. So that is something good, a lot of people believed in him.
However, he could never effectively control his party, they were very quickly at least as corrupt as those under the other guy. Indeed, it felt worse, because whatever one asked or paid, his party could not deliver. It isn't fair to put all this on him, UNTAC never disarmed the pre-Paris accord combatants, and the other guy kept the most guns, but as early as mid- '94 almost everyone, friend and foe alike, gave a little, ironic, smile when they said, 'First' PM. (Post coup and before the '98 elections, this became simply ridiculous.)
I heard a few election speeches in '98, and he had a good chunk of the crowd with him. However to me, he didn't seem a great politician. Of course many great politicians are not great humans. Perhaps it was his humanity, rather than brute power, that held his true supporters close?
The end of the Khmer Rouge as a political and military force would have also been quite different without him. For example, the other guy might not have been so proud to host Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary at the beach, or at least it wouldn't have happened so early, saving many, many Khmer lives in Dry Season Offences and Wet Season guerrilla attacks.
I am keen to read some more professional biographies and assessments.
Even though border camp returnees were but a tiny fraction of the electorate, Prince Ranariddh was the unequivocal winner of the 1993 UNTAC election. So that is something good, a lot of people believed in him.
However, he could never effectively control his party, they were very quickly at least as corrupt as those under the other guy. Indeed, it felt worse, because whatever one asked or paid, his party could not deliver. It isn't fair to put all this on him, UNTAC never disarmed the pre-Paris accord combatants, and the other guy kept the most guns, but as early as mid- '94 almost everyone, friend and foe alike, gave a little, ironic, smile when they said, 'First' PM. (Post coup and before the '98 elections, this became simply ridiculous.)
I heard a few election speeches in '98, and he had a good chunk of the crowd with him. However to me, he didn't seem a great politician. Of course many great politicians are not great humans. Perhaps it was his humanity, rather than brute power, that held his true supporters close?
The end of the Khmer Rouge as a political and military force would have also been quite different without him. For example, the other guy might not have been so proud to host Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary at the beach, or at least it wouldn't have happened so early, saving many, many Khmer lives in Dry Season Offences and Wet Season guerrilla attacks.
I am keen to read some more professional biographies and assessments.
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Well considering his ANS and also the KPNLF gave legitimacy to the Khmer Rouge throughout the 1980s under the CDGK umbrella it would have been quite different.Guest9999 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:15 am
The end of the Khmer Rouge as a political and military force would have also been quite different without him.
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
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#CGDK
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
I remember that accident with his wife. Massive scrum to drag her out of the car and throw her into a car to get her to hospital, or w helicopter.
That’s what probably killed her not the actual impact.
That’s what probably killed her not the actual impact.
pew, pew, pew, pew!
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