Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh this week resigned his post and the National Assembly seat he won in the July 26 elections, government officials said Tuesday.
Cham Prasidh submitted his resignation Sunday, citing “personal reasons,” said Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman.
Cham Prasidh could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Khieu Kanharith said he is in Bangkok with his family.
Several other high-ranking CPP officials said Cham Prasidh had resigned for health reasons. But one government adviser said it is more likely the 47-year-old CPP central committee member was displeased with the role being mapped out for him in the next government.
“It appears he’s angry…. He wants to be the finance minister but I don’t think he’s going to get it,” said the adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The adviser also said Cham Prasidh has been ill, but said he did not believe that was the reason for his resignation.
Khieu Kanharith downplayed suggestions that Cham Prasidh had quit for political reasons. “He used to tell me he didn’t want the post [of finance minister],” he said, but “I don’t know his heart.”
A senior Asian diplomat said Cham Prasidh was widely known to be coveting the finance portfolio in the next government, but the CPP was now considering him for the Foreign Affairs Ministry instead. Finance UnderSecretary of State Chhay Than has been rumored to be aiming for the finance post.
Another Phnom Penh diplomat, while agreeing that Cham Prasidh “holds strict to the party line,” said the timing of the resignation was “very strange.”
Cham Prasidh became commerce minister in 1994, moving over from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he was secretary of state since 1993.
The Commerce Ministry registers all foreign and locally owned businesses, registers trademarks and issues trade licenses.
Cham Prasidh began his government career in 1980 as an interpreter for the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He rose through the ranks before joining the Council of Ministers, where he eventually became deputy cabinet chief in charge of foreign affairs and economic issues.
Diplomats said Cham Prasidh has had little influence in the CPP and has not been critical of party leadership. Behind the scenes, however, one economic analyst said there was occasional friction between Cham Prasidh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen over the way economic policies were carried out.
Business executives and economic analysts on Tuesday gave positive reviews of Cham Prasidh’s four years as commerce minister, particularly for his free market outlook and for pushing for extended trade privileges with the European Union and the US.
“He’s done a reasonable job,” said Craig Martin, executive director of International Management & Investment Consultants Ltd.
Martin said Cham Prasidh managed to keep Commerce a key ministry at a time when many believed it would be sidelined by the Council for the Development of Cambodia, which approves all new investment.
“It would be a shame if he is not involved in one of the key ministries,” Martin said.
(Reported by Debra Boyce, Chris Decherd and Touch Rotha)
