The National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia, commonly referred to as FUNCINPEC, is a royalist political party in Cambodia. Founded in 1981 by Norodom Sihanouk, it began as a resistance movement against the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) government. In 1982, it formed a resistance pact with the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), together with the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) and the Khmer Rouge. It became a political party in 1992.
FUNCINPEC was one of the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, which paved the way for the formation of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). The party participated in the 1993 general elections organised by UNTAC. It won a plurality in the elections, and formed a coalition government with the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), with which it jointly headed. Norodom Ranariddh, Sihanouk's son who had succeeded him as the party president, became First Prime Minister while Hun Sen, who was from the CPP, became Second Prime Minister.
In July 1997, violent clashes occurred between factional forces separately allied to FUNCINPEC and the CPP, leading to Ranariddh's ouster from his position as First Prime Minister. Ranariddh subsequently returned from exile in March 1998 and led the party to the 1998 general elections, which was won by CPP with FUNCINPEC as the first runner-up. Subsequently, FUNCINPEC joined CPP again, this time as a junior partner in a coalition government. Ranariddh was appointed as the President of the National Assembly, a post which he held until 2006 when he was ousted from FUNCINPEC by the party's former secretary-general Nhek Bun Chhay.
FUNCINPEC saw its share of voters and seats in the national assembly drop over the general elections of 2003, 2008 and 2013, with the party failing to win a single seat in the National Assembly at the 2013 general elections. In January 2015, Ranariddh returned to FUNCINPEC, and was reappointed as the party's president. The current acting president is Norodom Ranariddh's son, Prince Norodom Chakravuth.
Name
"FUNCINPEC" is a French acronym for "Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifique, et coopératif", which translates as "National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia" in English.Widyono (2008), p. xii It is commonly known by its acronym, used in the form of a word.
History
1980s
On 21 March 1981, Sihanouk founded FUNCINPEC, a royalist resistance movement, from Pyongyang, North Korea.Jeldres (2005), p. 235 Over the next few months, Sihanouk forged closer ties with the Chinese government as he saw the need of gathering resistance armies sympathetic to FUNCINPEC,Jeldres (2005), p. 236 such as MOULINAKA (Movement for the National Liberation of Kampuchea). He had resisted earlier attempts between 1979 till 1981 by the Chinese government for him to forge political alliances with the Khmer Rouge, whom he had accused of killing his own family members during the Cambodian genocide.Jeldres (2005), pp. 218–9 He reconsidered his position over allying with the Khmer Rouge, with whom they shared a common goal of ousting the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) government, which was under Vietnam's influence. In September 1981, Sihanouk met with Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) leader Son Sann and Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan to establish the framework for a coalition government-in-exile. Subsequently, on 22 June 1982, the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed, and Sihanouk was made its president.Jeldres (2005), p. 238
In September 1982, (ANS) was formed by the merger of several pro-FUNCINPEC resistance armies, including MOULINAKA.Mehta (2001), p. 69 Ties between FUNCINPEC with the KPNLF and Khmer Rouge remained tenuous. On the one hand, Son Sann publicly criticised Sihanouk on several occasions, while on the other hand, the Khmer Rouge army periodically attacked the ANS, prompting Sihanouk in threatening to quit as CGDK's president on at least two occasions in June 1983Mehta (2001), p. 73 and July 1985.Mehta (2001), p. 74 In December 1987, Sihanouk met with the Prime Minister of the PRK government, Hun Sen in France.Widyono (2008), p. 33 The following year in July 1988, the first informal meeting was held in Jakarta, Indonesia between the four warring Cambodian factions consisting of FUNCINPEC, Khmer Rouge, KPNLF and the PRK government. The meetings were held with a view to end the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, and two additional meetings were later held which became known as the Jakarta Informal Meetings (JIM).Widyono (2008), p. 34
In August 1989, Sihanouk stepped down as the President of FUNCINPEC and was succeeded by Nhiek Tioulong. At the same time, Ranariddh was made the Secretary-General of the party.Mehta (2001), p. 82 In September 1990, the four warring Cambodian factions reached an agreement to form the Supreme National Council (SNC), an organisation designed to oversee Cambodia's sovereign affairs in the United Nations on an interim basis. The SNC consisted of twelve members from the four warring Cambodian factions, with two seats going to FUNCINPEC. Sihanouk negotiated to become the 13th member of the SNC, a proposal which Hun Sen initially rejected,Findlay (1995), p. 8 but later acceded after Sihanouk relinquished his FUNCINPEC party membership in July 1991. Sihanouk was elected as the chairman of the SNC,Findlay (1995), p. 9 and the SNC seats under FUNCINPEC's quota were filled up by Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy.Findlay (1995), p. 58 When the Paris Peace Accords were signed in October 1991, Ranariddh represented the party as its signatory.Secretariat of the United Nations (1991), p. 300
1993 elections
Ranariddh was elected as FUNCINPEC's president in February 1992.Widyono (2008), p. 154 Subsequently, in August 1992, FUNCINPEC formally registered itself as a political party under the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) administration, and started opening party offices across Cambodia the following month.Widyono (2008), p. 116 Party offices and officials were harassed and attacked by State of Cambodia (SOC) secret police and military intelligence officials.Hughes (1996), p. 33 Between November 1992 and January 1993, 18 FUNCINPEC officials were killed and another 22 officials wounded, prompting Ranariddh to call on UNTAC to intervene and end the violence. UNTAC responded by setting up a special prosecutor's office to investigate cases of political violence,Hughes (1996), p. 50 but faced resistance from the SOC police in arresting and prosecuting offenders.Heder & Ledgerwood (1995), pp. 125, 127 Most of the violent attacks occurred in the Kampong Cham and Battambang provinces,Heder & Ledgerwood (1995), p. 120 whereby the governor in the latter province, Ung Sami was found to have been directly involved in the attacks.Hughes (1996), p. 51 When UNTAC allowed election campaigns to start in April 1993, FUNCINPEC held few election rallies due to intimidations from SOC police.Heder & Ledgerwood (1995), p. 198 They campaigned through low-key methods, such as using pick-up trucks to travel around the country and broadcast political messages as well as sending party workers to visit villages in the countryside.Heder & Ledgerwood (1995), p. 199
FUNCINPEC had 400,000 membersMehta (2001), p. 93 by the time UNTAC allowed political parties to start election campaigns on 7 April 1993.Mehta (2001), p. 91 They campaigned on the party's historical relations with SihanoukHeder & Ledgerwood (1995), p. 63 as well as Ranariddh's blood ties to his father. Party supporters wore yellow T-shirts depicting Sihanouk,Mehta (2001), p. 92 and made rallying calls that "a vote for FUNCINPEC was a vote for Sihanouk".Widyono (2008), p. 118 Sihanouk remained popular with the majority of the Cambodian electorate, and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the successor party to the PRK and SOC governments, was aware of such voter sentiments. In their editorials, the CPP emphasised their efforts to bring about Sihanouk's return to the country in 1991, as well as policy parallels between the CPP and the Sangkum, the political organisation which Sihanouk had led in the 1950s and 1960s.Heder & Ledgerwood (1995), p. 193
Voting was carried out between 23 and 28 May 1993Findlay (1995), p. 82 and FUNCINPEC secured 45.47% of all valid votes cast, which entitled them to take up 58 out of 120 seats in the constituent assemblyFindlay (1995), p. 84 FUNCINPEC obtained the most seats in Kampong Cham, Kandal and Phnom Penh.Mehta (2001), p. 123 The CPP came in second place and secured 38.23% of valid votes, and were unhappy with the outcome of the elections. On 3 June 1993, CPP leaders Chea Sim and Hun Sen met with Sihanouk to propose that he should lead a new interim government, and also demanding power-sharing for the CPP with FUNCINPEC on a fifty-fifty basis. Sihanouk agreed to the CPP's proposal and announced the formation of an interim government that evening.Widyono (2008), p. 124 Ranariddh and other FUNCINPEC leaders were not consulted over Sihanouk's proposal, and the announcement caught them by surprise. Ranariddh sent a fax to his father to disapprove of the CPP's proposal,Mehta (2001), p. 99 and the United States expressed a similar stance. Sihanouk publicly rescinded his earlier announcement of the interim government's formation the following day.Widyono (2008), p. 125
On 10 June 1993, Chakrapong led a secession movement and threatened to form a breakaway state consisting of seven eastern Cambodian provinces. Chakrapong had by then joined the CPP was supported by the interior minister, General Sin SongWidyono (2008), p. 128 and Hun Sen's older brother, Hun Neng. The secession movement pressured Ranariddh to accede to CPP's request for power-sharing, and Hun Sen subsequently persuaded his brother to drop the secession movement.Mehta (2001), p. 102 Four days later, the first constituent assembly meeting was held which saw an interim government being formed, with Hun Sen and Ranariddh serving as co-Prime MinistersWidyono (2008), p. 129 in a dual Prime Ministership arrangement.Mehta (2001), p. 104 There were a total of thirty-three cabinet posts available, while the CPP got sixteen, FUNCINPEC got thirteen and the other coalition partners got the four remaining posts available.Widyono (2008), p. 130 When Sihanouk was re-instated as the King of Cambodia on 24 September 1993, he formalised the power-sharing arrangement by appointing Ranariddh as the First Prime Minister and Hun Sen as the Second Prime Minister in the new government.Widyono (2008), p. 131
Ranariddh's co-premiership