Funcinpec will move today to strip Ministry of Interior Secretary of State Kieng Vang of his party membership and will withdraw him from his post, top Funcinpec officials said Sunday.
Kieng Vang confirmed last week that he plans to defect to the Sam Rainsy Party, saying at the time he did not like the leadership of Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh. He is the most senior Funcinpec official to defect to the opposition party.
“Kieng Vang will be canceled as a member of Funcinpec, and his position in government will be withdrawn as well,” Funcinpec Deputy Secretary-General Nhiek Bun Chhay said Sunday.
Some Funcinpec members said Kieng Vang’s departure is more for personal reasons than for the good of the party. “Kieng Vang left Funcinpec because he was not listed as the first candidate [for the upcoming national elections] for Kampot province,” said Funcinpec lawmaker Ok Socheat. “He is withdrawn from his position because he strongly and openly criticized the prince through newspapers and the radio.”
A Funcinpec official said on condition of anonymity that Funcinpec co-Minister of Interior You Hockry asked Prince Ranariddh to appoint two-star Funcinpec General Po Lida, a former resistance leader, to replace Kieng Vang and to downgrade the position to undersecretary of state. The prince agreed to the proposed change, the official said.
Funcinpec will hold its annual party congress March 21. But, for the first time in the party‘s history, members are not required to come to Phnom Penh but instead can hold meetings at the provincial, district and commune level.
“The congress will be held on March 21, but we changed some of the ceremony by allowing commune, district and provinces to organize meetings in their own places,” Nhiek Bun Chhay said.
He called the change a strengthening tactic because “we want [Funcinpec members] to be close to their people and members.”
