Kep Chuktema will remain Phnom Penh governor for the next five years, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Monday.
The minister, however, added that the reappointment is not yet final. Officials at the Interior Ministry, which handles the assignment of governor and deputy governor positions, also said that no formal decision had been made on the capital’s governorship.
But the statement by Khieu Kanharith, who is also a spokesman for the CPP, indicates that, at the least, Kep Chuktema is the frontrunner for the country’s most coveted governorship posting.
Previously governor of Ratanakkiri and then Takeo provinces, Kep Chuktema has held the position in Phnom Penh since February 2003, when Prime Minister Hun Sen sacked then-governor Chea Sophara in the wake of the anti-Thai riots and reassigned him as an adviser.
Informed of Khieu Kanharith’s comments on Monday afternoon, Kep Chuktema said he put no stock in them and refused to speculate on his future. He said he had no information on a future appointment. “My boss is the Ministry of Interior,” the governor said. Khieu Kanharith “is a spokesman only for the government. I think that maybe we cannot discuss this matter,” he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak also refused to comment on governor appointments, saying, “It is outside my knowledge.”
The CPP and Funcinpec have been engaged in negotiations over governor appointments and their respective lists of candidates since the political deadlock born of last year’s parliamentary elections.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the royalist party, told reporters on Monday that Funcinpec will keep all its current governor slots except for the posting in Prey Veng province.
But Khieu Kanharith said the CPP was still asking for control of two other provinces—Siem Reap and Kandal.
An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said governor postings could be finalized as early as late November.
(Additional reporting by Lor Chandara)
