Prince Norodom Ranariddh will depart at 10 am today for a medical checkup in France, National Assembly Secretary-General Kol Pheng said Sunday.
Kol Pheng said he did not know how long the prince, who is president of the assembly and head of Funcinpec, will be gone.
The prince has been sharply criticized since the Feb 3 election for Funcinpec’s poor showing. He issued a news release Friday saying he plans to form a committee to study what the voters need and how Funcinpec can better respond to those needs.
The release said Funcinpec must fulfill its duties so voters “will not be disappointed again in the future.”
The prince also criticized the National Election Committee for bias in favor of the CPP.
Despite all the problems, he wrote, “I still regard [the election] as a victorious step towards democracy.”
Speaking with reporters Friday at the National Assembly, the prince said Funcinpec will “neither refuse nor accept” the election results until the final count is made and complaints are resolved. “We will wait for the [NEC to act] on the complaints we sent in,” he said.