King Norodom Sihanouk announced Thursday that he would delay his departure to China amid growing political tension following the alleged assassination of senior Funcinpec adviser Om Radsady.
Royalist party officials welcomed the King’s continued presence in the country, saying it could avert further disasters, while opposition party leader Sam Rainsy characterized the current political atmosphere as being at its lowest point since the 1997 factional fighting.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and members of the ruling CPP government, however, said they were standing by the Interior Ministry’s assessment that Om Radsady was killed during an armed robbery and accused Funcinpec of using the incident for political ends ahead of the July general elections.
“Because the political situation in our country has intensified, and many compatriots asked me to stay with them and not leave for Beijing…. I agreed to delay my trip,” King Sihanouk declared in a statement on Thursday.
King Sihanouk was scheduled to depart on Friday with Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk for medical treatment in China.
Rejecting the Interior Ministry’s assessment of the killing, Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh told reporters on Wednesday that Om Radsady—his senior adviser and a widely liked and respected politician—was slain for political reasons.
Hun Sen said on Thursday the royalist party should not “hurry to conclusions.”
“I do not think it is a political issue. I think it is unreasonable to connect it to politics,” Hun Sen said following a ceremony the Faculty of Pedagogy in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia is not the only country affected by violent crime, Hun Sen said.
Both Municipal Police and Interior Ministry officials said on Thursday that no suspects have yet been apprehended in connection with the killing.
CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith also scolded Funcinpec for branding the killing a political act, saying such a position had “shut doors” on other possibilities.
The haphazard nature of the attack—Om Radsady being shot in the thigh—proved that it was not a professional assassination, he said.
A doctor at Calmette has said Om Radsady was shot in the lower back.
“When you say political motivation you shut all the doors,” Khieu Kanharith said, adding that calling the killing political will be used later as an excuse by parties if they fare poorly in the elections.
“Many people try to insert this political [dimension] to justify their loss. It’s not a good [election] strategy…. They want to create a climate of terror,” he said.
The US-based political advocacy organization International Republican Institute said in a statement on Wednesday that the killing “has had a chilling effect on the political climate in Cambodia.”
Om Radsady’s killing “had every appearance of politically motivated crime” and Cambodian authorities must conduct a full investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice, the IRI said.
Senior Funcinpec officials gathered for a second day of vigil on Thursday at party headquarters where Om Radsady’s body will be removed today and brought to the park in front of the National Assembly for cremation.
Paying respects to his slain royalist colleague, Funcinpec General Khan Savoeun, one of RCAF’s four deputy commander-in-chiefs, welcomed King Sihanouk’s decision to remain in the country.
“I raised my hands in prayer when I heard the King would not leave,” Khan Savoeun said.
“Only the King can work out the political situation,” Khan Savoeun said, adding, “Everybody knows what happened and who was involved.”
Funcinpec Minister of Information Lu Laysreng also said many people were grateful for the King’s decision.
Lu Laysreng said royalist officials and supporters were saddened by the shooting of Om Radsady, but Funcinpec would not be intimidated or frightened by his killing.
“We feel sorry but not frightened,” said Lu Laysreng. He noted that the royalist party fought for over a decade on the Thai border to bring democracy to Cambodia.
“And we will continue to fight for democracy,” Lu Laysreng said.
“We Funcinpec have suffered a great loss. [Om Radsady] was a very talented person and the most humble,” he said.
Funcinpec Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua also said Om Radsady’s death would not deter Funcinpec’s work or the democratic process.
Paying his respects to the slain Funcinpec official, opposition leader Sam Rainsy made his first visit to the royalist headquarters in more than four years when both parties joined together to denounce irregularities during the 1998 general election.
Sam Rainsy—who is scheduled to meet King Sihanouk today—said the King will also call Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh to talks in an effort to defuse the tense political situation.
Neither Hun Sen’s nor Prince Ranariddh’s meeting with the King could be confirmed on Thursday.
Om Radsady’s death was not a “normal robbery,” Sam Rainsy said.
“I can say the situation could return to a degree as serious as the 1997 events if we are not careful and prevent against the illegal and barbarous acts,” he said.
Khieu Kanharith denied that Cambodia was at its most tense period in years, but welcomed the King’s decision to remain in the country if it brought people a sense of security.
“It’s better that everyone feels secure,” Khieu Kanharith said.
Western and Asian diplomats said on Thursday that reports on the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Om Radsady would indicate it was an assassination, poorly concealed as a robbery.
However, the motive for the killing and who would benefit, politically, from the adviser’s death do not make sense, they said.
“I am at a loss,” said one Western diplomat.
(Additional reporting by Thet Sambath)
