King Norodom Sihanouk on Wednesday announced he will remain abroad until the country’s politicians resolve the ongoing government deadlock, which has continued for more than eight months.
“I have to stay outside the Motherland for a while until they solve the political crisis 100 percent…then I’ll repatriate,” King Sihanouk wrote in an open letter posted on his Web site.
The 81-year-old monarch left Cambodia in late January for a medical checkup in Beijing. Before his departure, he said he would be back in Phnom Penh before the Khmer New Year celebrations next week.
His return has been widely anticipated to mediate the formation of a new government and National Assembly.
But in his letter Wednesday, the King repeated his earlier assertion last month that he was traveling to North Korea, and would return to Beijing again before coming back to Cambodia. He did not specify the dates of his travels.
Last month, the King wrote that he would make no further comments about the country’s political situation to avoid being criticized for meddling.
On Wednesday, he cited this as a reason for not returning.
“I have to avoid some politicians who accuse me that I put pressure on them [and] force them to accept a solution that is different from what they want,” King Sihanouk said.
The King said he also needed to remain in China for further medical tests.
“I have health problems such as liver disease, withered blood vessels, poor circulation and a number of other problems. These problems are getting more serious because I’m getting older and older,” he said.
A copy of the King’s medical test results last month showed a number of ailments, ranging from chronic pharyngitis, or sore throat, to Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells, which was now in remission.
After reviewing a copy of the results, one Western doctor in Phnom Penh, however, said the King’s health appeared normal for a man of the King’s age, and most of his ailments did not appear to be serious.
