Logo rhythms: Prince seeks to change party’s look

FUNCINPEC heavyweight Nhek Bun Chhay has made his internal feud with party president Prince Norodom Ranariddh personal.

In a letter sent to the prince on Monday, Bun Chhay said the recently returned royalist’s move to change the party logo, which features Independence Monument, was diminishing the man who secured the Kingdom’s independence in 1953, Ranariddh’s father, the late King Norodom Sihanouk.

He also “reminded” Ranariddh of how Sihanouk had reacted when the prince, prior to his 2006 ouster from Funcinpec, changed the party’s logo by replacing Sihanouk’s face with his own.

“Personally, I would not like to support the elimination or changing of the history of our party,” Bun Chhay wrote.

Ranariddh’s spokesman, Nhep Bun Chin, said yesterday that Bun Chhay had actually agreed to the logo change. But Bun Chhay said he stood by his letter though said he had agreed yesterday to allow the party to decide at a congress on March 12.