Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the ousted president of the co-ruling Funcinpec Party, returned to Cambodian on Sunday from France to drum up support for his new party to participate the ongoing commune councils elections.

The prince's aid Muth Channtha told reporters that he would concentrate on his political career from now on and did not care about other things.

The prince's Norodom Ranariddh Party is one of the four parties registered for the election whose outcome is due in April.

Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had issued summons to the prince, asking him to appear in court on January 5 next year to defend himself.

The court charged Ranariddh last week with abuse of confidence, after Funcinpec filed a lawsuit to accuse him of selling the headquarters' real estate without the party's permission and pocketing the 3.6 million U.S. dollars from the sale.

The prince dismissed the allegations.

Ranariddh, son of former king Norodom Sihanouk, could be sentenced up to five years in jail if found guilty.

Funcinpec elected Sihanouk's son-in-law Keo Puth Rasmey as new president on October 18 to replace Ranariddh, on grounds that he stayed overseas too long to neglect party affairs and couldn't cooperation with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Source: Xinhua