![]() ![]() During his early years Cambodia saw much political turbulence, as his father, King Sihanouk, under Japanese occupation power, proclaimed Cambodia to be an independent nation on March 13, 1945. Some deep ambivalances in life values helped shape Rannaridh's youth. But Sihanouk did not prove malleable to French rule, scheming early on to restore Cambodia's independence and upsetting the delicate power balances at the Cambodian court. Although in the royal line, he was only 20 years old and without government experience. France, which since the 1860s had progressively imposed colonial power upon Cambodia, chose Prince Norodom Sihanouk to succeed him. In 1941 King Monivong, Rannaridh's grandfather, had died. Rannaridh's formative years were spent at the Royal Khmer court in the turbulent years at the end and during the aftermath of World War II. He was the second child and the first son of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and of Sihanouk's first wife, Neak Moneang Phat Kanhol (died 1969). Prince Norodom Rannaridh was born on January 2, 1944, in the royal palace in Phnom Penh. Diplomatic, political, and- eventually-military experience allowed Rannaridh to enter more and more into domestic Cambodian politics and its internal rivalries for power. ![]() During the 1980s the ANS was a 30,000 member armed faction operating in Cambodia. As a result, Rannaridh himself was increasingly drawn into work on his father's behalf, including leading the political and combat organizations of Sihanouk supporters, known as the ANS (Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste). By the late 1980s, however, international efforts provided a settlement that gave a new formal position and legitimacy to Prince Norodom Sihanouk as head of Cambodia. Having received much of his advanced education abroad, and with Cambodia falling under the control of rival communist regimes during much of the 1970s and 1980s, Prince Norodom Rannaridh seemed at one point inclined to accept a comfortable life in exile. Prince Norodom Rannaridh's career was as a politician, lawyer, professor, journalist, military commander, and aide and confidant of his father, Prince (onetime King) Norodom Sihanouk. He came to the government along with his father, Prince Sihanouk, restored to rule after 23 years in exile. ![]() Prince Norodom Rannaridh (born 1944) became first prime minister of Cambodia in 1993. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |