Cambodian Strongman Calls for Coalition

Strongman Hun Sen continued Thursday to pressure opponents into accepting his election victory, claiming to have won the blessing of this country’s influential monarch to form a coalition government.

Emerging from a meeting with King Norodom Sihanouk, Hun Sen said he had royal backing for a three-way coalition government, under which his Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, will still control all the important levers of power.

But Cambodia’s two main opposition leaders--Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the king’s son, and Sam Rainsy--said it is too early to discuss a coalition. They are disputing the results of Sunday’s election and have demanded a recount of some ballots.

“As long as we have not yet received the results, we cannot yet say anything about the coalition,” Ranariddh said. However, analysts believe that Ranariddh will eventually have to agree to a coalition.

Before the election, Ranariddh said he would not prevent his royalist party--called the United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia, or FUNCINPEC--from joining a CPP-led coalition, but the prince said he would not take a government position.

Tioulong Samoura, who is Rainsy’s wife and a senior official of the Sam Rainsy Party, said his response to the coalition proposal would depend on the political agenda of such a government.

While the constitutional monarch is largely a figurehead, Sihanouk’s popularity among Cambodians and high international profile make his blessing vital for Hun Sen, who is keen to win back international legitimacy and aid lost after he ousted Ranariddh as co-premier in a bloody coup last year.