Co-ruling party Funcinpec's Secretary-General Nhiek Bun Chhay has publicly announced that Prince Norodom Ranariddh could return as its president, with the party's current president Keo Puth Rasmey offering to step down to deputy if he agrees, local media said on Tuesday.
"Although Prince Norodom Ranariddh side closes its door, we still don't close our door. Our door remains open," he told Cambodian-language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea.
"Funcinpec offers to appoint Prince Norodom Ranarridh president of the party with a mandate lasting for five years, and then ( after the mandate ends) a new election will be held," the secretary general added.
Nhiek Bun Chhay added that Funcinpec can't erase the extraordinary party congress held on Oct. 18 at which Ranariddh was ousted as party president, claiming it was held to put in place reforms.
The reforms mean party presidents can only hold five-year mandates and that each party task, including the nomination of officials, must be decided by the party's permanent committee and not the president alone. Moreover, candidates to become lawmakers must be chosen through elections, he said.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh's previous demands that he would only return if granted absolute power have been a major stalling block in reconciliation negotiations between Funcinpec and the prince, he added.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh in late August wrote a letter denying both the offer and accusations he can only return to Cambodia if he agrees to be the president of Funcinpec.
"With or without conditions, Prince Norodom Ranariddh will not return to Funcinpec," said Norodom Ranariddh Party's (NRP) spokesman Muth Chantha.
When asked if rejoining Funcinpec is the sole means for the prince to return to Cambodia, the spokesman responded that the NRP will discuss the issue with the court, not with Funcinpec.
Ranariddhe was sentenced to 18 months in jail due to a lawsuit filed by Funcinpec to accuse him of corruption. He has to serve his term or receives a royal pardon, if he wants to end his current overseas exile and return to the political arena in Cambodia.
Source: Xinhua
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