Prince Norodom Ranariddh will not return to Cambodia before the end of Khmer New Year festivities on April 17, aides to the prince said Thursday.
“The prince was planning to come on the 10th, but now we have changed the arrival and he can only come after the New Year,” senior aide to the prince May Sam Oeun said.
He explained that the deposed first prime minister was previously scheduled to fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap today, in order to welcome his father King Norodom Sihanouk, scheduled to arrive Saturday after three months in Beijing.
But a late confirmation of the King’s return date left little time for aides to prepare the prince’s return, May Sam Oeun said.
Another royalist official added that the King had agreed to give an audience to the prince in Siem Reap, but the meeting could not take place until after the holiday.
Other officials said the meeting was tentatively scheduled for April 22. They added that the prince was contemplating a return to Cambodia on the 17th.
The prince returned here March 30 after an absence of nine months but stayed only four days before returning to his residence in Bangkok.
During his visit, the prince said he will be unable to return permanently until he finds a new residence in Phnom Penh, but he added that his father had invited him to stay at the royal residence in Siem Reap for the New Year.
Observers expressed reservations about the wisdom of the move, noting that such an invitation might call into question the King’s neutrality.
One political analyst speculated Thursday that the change in plans may have arisen from political tensions and controversy over the royal pardon granted to the prince last month.
A letter from Justice Minister Chem Snguon claiming the King’s pardon to his son was unconstitutional was broadcast at prime time Wednesday night on state radio and television stations.
And an anti-royalist demonstration scheduled for today was only called off at the last minute when the Interior Ministry withdrew its permission because the protest was to be led by a monk.
“I think the King understood the message; the announcement of the demonstration and the letter by Chem Snguon,” the analyst said.
“The CPP was unhappy with the way the King looked to be accepting to give special treatment to his son,” he added. “They think it’s unfair that he is using his father to try to influence voters as the King’s son.” (Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse)
