King Sihanouk says he is ready to abdicate over accusations that he is trying to run Cambodia
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Your support makes all the difference.The ageing King Norodom Sihanouk said yesterday he was ready to abdicate "without delay", threatening to throw his country's already tense pre-election politics into even greater turmoil.
The 80-year-old monarch, who officially plays no part in politics under a 1993 constitution whereby he "reigns but does not rule", said he wanted to stand down because he was being unfairly accused of trying to run the country.
"I am ready to abdicate without delay as soon as I get authorisation from [a majority of] the members of the national assembly," King Sihanouk said in a palace statement, written in French. The King, who commands wide respect as the "father of national reconciliation", said some of his countrymen as well as foreigners had unjustly accused him of harbouring lingering political ambitions. "[They] are attributing to me the desire to rule Cambodia above and beyond the throne, which is unjust and totally disrespectful towards me," he said.
A Western diplomat said the abdication threat looked like an appeal for people to rally round the throne at a time when its influence over the hearts and minds of Cambodians appeared to be on the wane. Despite his official constitutional position, King Sihanouk has become embroiled in a deepening political crisis started by anti-Thai riots in January and the murder of a senior royalist politician.
Last month, he cancelled a scheduled medical trip to Beijing. He was then firmly rebuked by the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, for appealing for the release of a student who, the King said, had been unfairly arrested after the riots that had left the Thai embassy ablaze.
It is not the first time King Sihanouk has raised the possibility of giving up the throne he regained in 1993 after a United Nations-run election that marked the start of the country's emergence from decades of war, revolution and occupation.
He abdicated in 1955 to enter politics and led Cambodia as Prince Sihanouk until he was overthrown in a right-wing coup in 1970. But this time he said he had no intention of re-entering the fray.
A quixotic figure with a passion for jazz and cinema, the King has also recently increased his public profile, notably in an hour-long broadcast on state television last week of him singing a medley of French and Cambodian songs at a New Year concert.
King Sihanouk said he wanted to seek the permission of the National Assembly because he did not want to be accused of souring the political climate before the general election in July, and tensions are already high. In 1993 and 1998, he helped broker coalition agreements between bitter rivals after disputed elections. Last week, the King refused a request by the nation's sole opposition party to meditate peace talks between prominent party leaders.
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