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Ranariddh, Prince Norodom
Prince Norodom Ranariddh became First prime minister of
Cambodia in October 1993in the wake of national elections in May in which his
party, FUNCINPEC
(National United Front for an independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative
Cambodia), secured a plurality of votes. He shared power in a coalition with the
Cambodian People's Party (CPP), with the former incumbent and adversary Hun
Sen assuming the office of Second prime minister. Prince Ranariddh, who is
the eldest son of King Norodom Sihanouk by a minor wife, was born in
Phnom Penh in 1944. he showed intellectual promise as a young man and studied
law at the University of Aixen-Provence, where he eventually obtained a
doctorate in public international law with a special interest in the law of the
sea. he joined the faculty of his alma mater in 1976 but in 1983 was
drawn into Cambodian politics when his father appointed him as his personal
representative based in Bangkok. He played a prominent representative role in
the protracted negotiations over a political settlement from the late 1980s
until the Paris accord at the International Conference on Cambodia
in October 1991. when Prince Sihanouk became chairman of the four-party Supreme
National Council in mid-1991, Prince Ranariddh assumed an even more
prominent profile, succeeding his father ashe head of FUNCINPEC. In that role,
he has demonstrated qualities of leadership and statesmanship that have
attracted both domestic and international confidence. His position owes much to
his royal provenance but he enjoys a combination of intellect and charm which
serve him well politically. Prince Ranariddh's relationship with his
temperamental father has not been easy, while that with king Sihanouk's
consort, Queen Monique, is believed to be even more difficult. In office, he has
alienated party loyalists by his close working relationship with second prime
minister Hun Sen as well as a willingness to tolerate abuses of political power
and corruption. In March 1996 his father expressed the wish that Ranariddh
should succeed him as king.
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