Funcinpec lawmaker Keo Remy is in trouble with his increasingly fractured party, several party officials said Monday.
The Steering Committee met Friday to discuss a comment made by Keo Remy that party leaders found unacceptable, according to one committee member.
Funcinpec lawmaker Nan Sy, a member of the committee, acknowledged Monday that Keo Remy was discussed but said the meeting focused on party strategy for next year’s elections. Other committee members, however, said the Keo Remy issue dominated the meeting.
At issue is a statement Keo Remy—also a Steering Committee member—made to The Cambodia Daily last week.
Upset that his name had been left off a list of potential candidates for next summer’s legislative elections, he said, “I don’t want to meet the prince,” referring to party President Prince Norodom Ranariddh. “He never talks with us unless he has bad things to raise up with me.”
One committee member said Monday that discussion in the meeting centered on the article’s characterization of Keo Remy’s attitude—it described the lawmaker as “[showing] his disdain…by refusing to meet with the prince.”
The meaning of the word “disdain” was analyzed at length, committee members said. Co-Minister of Interior You Hockry, who has US citizenship, explained the English word.
You Hockry, Siem Reap provincial Governor Chap Nhalyvuth and others agreed that “disdain” was a disrespectful attitude, the committee member said.
Throughout the meeting, Keo Remy sat silently. Since he did not respond to the accusations, committee members said he will be asked to defend himself at meeting scheduled for July 25.
Keo Remy also declined to comment when approached by a reporter Monday.
While the fuss over Keo Remy’s “disdain” has set party insiders abuzz and highlighted the royalist party’s continuing internal turmoil, party officials said he was not in danger of dismissal.
It also highlighted Funcinpec’s recent troubles with the press. Last Wednesday, Prince Ranariddh lashed out at the media, calling journalists “unfair.”
Funcinpec parliamentarian Khek Vandy said Monday that the party is considering appointing a spokesperson to deal exclusively with the media. He said the lack of a unified public voice for the party was the source of its problems.
In an unusual move, journalists were kept away from Prince Ranariddh after Monday’s session of the National Assembly. Assembly security guards prevented journalists from gathering near the front door as lawmakers exited and allowed only some reporters, including television cameramen, to go up the stairs to where they often wait outside the prince’s office.
