Funcinpec follies continue

Long-time senior Funcinpec figure Nhek Bun Chhay yesterday warned the embattled royalist party could split yet again if an ongoing dispute between his and recently returned party president Prince Norodom Ranarridh’s factions is not resolved.

At a press conference in his Phnom Penh home, Bun Chhay, the second deputy president of the party, accused Ranariddh of removing large numbers of veterans from the party’s decision-making committees while appointing new officials from his short-lived Community of Royalist People’s Party.

He also claimed Ranariddh had ordered the party’s logo to be changed and for all Funcinpec signs in the country to be taken down in the meantime without approval from other party leaders.

“I think that if the Prince continues doing like this and does not listen to us, we will not be able to reunite the royalists and Sihanoukists, and instead it will cause Funcinpec to be split into many parts again,” Bun Chhay said.

Bun Chhay said he would meet with Ranariddh today in a bid to ease tensions.

Ranariddh’s spokesman Nhep Bun Chin denied Bun Chhay’s allegations, adding that he “always” violated the party’s internal rules.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/funcinpec-follies-continue