The CPP will “stay neutral” in Funcinpec’s bid to replace co-Minister of Interior You Hockry with RCAF Deputy Commander-in-Chief Khan Savoeun, despite assurances made Monday by National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh that the general has the support of parliament, senior CPP official Heng Samrin said.
Heng Samrin, who serves as the National Assembly’s first vice president, said Tuesday he and his legislators “don’t hate either Khan Savoeun or You Hockry.”
“If we don’t hate anyone, let’s stay neutral,” he told reporters.
Khan Savoeun has led a push inside Funcinpec to oust You Hockry, who has been accused of corruption and nepotism.
Though he has the support of several top party officials and former royalist resistance fighters, Khan Savoeun’s move has further damaged an already fracturing Funcinpec.
CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said he wasn’t opposed to Khan Savoeun’s candidacy, but said lawmakers from the ruling party have not made any decision about supporting him. “It is up to the party to decide before the vote,” he said.
Khan Savoeun’s appointment will go to the Assembly’s Permanent Committee today before being placed on the full Assembly’s agenda. A CPP official said the ruling party will pass judgment on Khan Savoeun after the committee’s decision.
Khan Savoeun has reportedly threatened to withdraw himself if the CPP fails to support him.
Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday it could be the former resistance general’s popularity that will doom efforts to place him in the royalists’ highest government seat.
“I bet that Khan Savoeun will never get elected because the CPP…only takes an official that serves them like a scarecrow,” Sam Rainsy said.
