Funeral procession of the deceased Norodom Sihanouk, who will be cremated Monday, February 4 in Phnom Penh (Heng Sinith / AP).

  • The remains of King-Father Norodom Sihanoukwill be incinerated in Phnom Penh on Monday, February 4.
  • Although highly respected by Cambodians, the royal institution has no power.
  • The country is dominated by the party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

02/03/13
Jerome Boruszewski (Phnom Penh)
La Croix (France)
(Translated from French by KI-Media)
“Hun Sen rules by fear.”
For more than three months, Cambodians of all ages from all over the country gather in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. They pray before the remains of Norodom Sihanouk, who died October 15, 2012 in Beijing at the age of 89, and he will be cremated on Monday 04 February on the courtyard located in front of the National Museum where the ruling regime has built a large building funeral crematorium. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will be present. At time King, Head of State, and allied, then prisoner of the Khmer Rouge, Sihanouk has dominated Cambodian politics for over sixty years. He abdicated in 2004 in favor of his son, Norodom Sihamoni.
" King Sihamoni is not interested in politics,” says Riya, a 25-year-old Cambodia who came to pray in front of the royal palace. “He is not as knowledgeable as His Majesty Grandfather (Norodom Sihanouk)." Kunthea, 29, left a bouquet of lotus flowers at the base of a national flagpole and a portrait of the deceased king. "Norodom Sihamoni is neutral, he loves his people, he helps his people and that's it," she said.
In reality, it is a symbolic role
For nearly nine years, Sihamoni, the constitutional monarch, is happy to receive foreign guests and visiting the poor. His subjects rarely see him on television. The 1993 Constitution states that the king is "the protector of the rights and freedoms of all citizens." In theory, his role is not merely symbolic. "But he has no power,” Son Soubert lamented. He is the king’s Privy Councilor. “He did not want to be king. I think he is bored. He reads a lot.”

Born in May 1953, Norodom Sihamoni spent part of his youth in Czechoslovakia before settling in Paris in the early 1980s. In October 2004, he was elected king by political and religious officials loyal to the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the ruling political party. Sihamoni then arrived in a Cambodia political scene that is dominated by Hun Sen who is prime minister since 1985. Hun Sen has never hesitated to use force, and in 1997, he did just that to defeat his political opponents.
The CPP fully controls the Cambodian political scene. "The government ministries are useless in Cambodia. Here, the Prime Minister manages everything," Son Soubert criticized. The judiciary is not independent and the Parliament is merely a rubber stamp. The opposition has very limited access to the press. "This regime is not a dictatorship. But it is close to be one,” said Ou Virak, the president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights. “Hun Sen rules by fear.”
A regime "close to a dictatorship"
In anticipation of the upcoming July elections, the country’s two main opposition parties announced that they will merge to gain weight. But their main figure, Sam Rainsy, is still in exile in France. If he returns to the kingdom, the opposition leader will face a 12-year prison sentence after he was charged with disinformation and destruction of public property.
If Cambodians have shown in recent months, their respect for the royal institution, they are more likely to challenge and exceed the limits tolerated by the Hun Sen regime. Protesters realize that neither the authorities, nor the opposition can solve their problems. The protest movements are now beginning to organize and unite.