The president of the Khmer Farmer’s Party, stripped of his position due to mismanagement of party funds earlier this week, reconciled with his party members, the party officials confirmed Thursday.
Var Chhuok, the former first vice president, said Wednesday that he took the helm of the CPP-aligned, anti-royalist party after a Tuesday meeting that saw the ouster of party president Pon Pisith.
But Thursday, he confirmed that all was well with the party.
“Now we have fixed the problem. We will all work to enhance the party and strengthen the party,” Var Chhuok said.
Var Chhuok had alleged that Pon Pisith had taken party money and used it for personal reasons.
Another party member, Uk Hai Seila, alleged that the CPP had on June 4 given Pon Pisith $5,000 for the upcoming July elections, but the money had never been deposited in the Farmer’s Party’s account.
Pon Pisith had confessed his guilt at the meeting and claimed that his memory was getting poor, Var Chhuok said Wednesday.
After the confession, the members, who numbered in the hundreds according to the two party members, voted Pon Pisith out of the post.
“The problem is solved since those who attempted to remove me have come back. They cannot continue without my leadership, they told me,” Pon Pisith said Thursday.
He declined to answer questions about the party’s finances. However, he said the party’s top officials were not in the office more than once or twice a month because there was no money to pay them.
The misunderstanding grew because he had to make all the decisions on his own, Pon Pisith said.
The Khmer Farmer’s Party ran in the 1993 elections after being formed in 1988, but failed to win any seats.
The party is running in 17 constituencies in the upcoming election.
