Nation farewells Sihanouk: 'Godfather of Cambodia'
Date October 18, 2012
Final journey ... a phoenix float carries the casket with the body of Norodom Sihanouk through Phnom Penh Photo: AP
PHNOM PENH: Tens of thousands of mourners have packed the roadsides of Phnom Penh to witness the final return of Norodom Sihanouk, the former Cambodian king who was a pivotal figure through much of the country’s troubled recent history.
The body of King Sihanouk, who died Monday in China, arrived from Beijing yesterday aboard an Air China jumbo and was driven through the streets of the Cambodian capital under a scorching tropical sun.
"He was the father, and we are the children."
‘‘He was the father, and we are the children,’’ said Pich Ravy, a vegetable seller who travelled to the Royal Palace, where King Sihanouk’s body will lie in state for the next three months. ‘‘He was one of Cambodia’s greatest kings.’’
Mourners burn incense and offer prayers at the Royal Palace. Photo: AFP
King Sihanouk’s death at 89, after six decades of deep involvement in Cambodia’s often devastating post-independence politics — marked by long years of war and the bloody rule of the Khmer Rouge — signalled the end of an era for Cambodia. But what the new era, and the monarchy, will look like is a subject of heated debate. Amid the official praise and remembrances, Cambodians discussed competing visions for the role of future kings.
To some, King Sihanouk’s death underscored the end of an activist monarchy where the lines between king and politician were blurred, and where a monarch could use the prestige of the throne to exert influence and power, as King Sihanouk, who ceded the throne to his son in 2004, often did.
To others, his death highlighted a vacuum of moral authority and the highly concentrated and lopsided power of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has presided over the Cambodian government for the past 33 years, making him one of the longest-serving leaders in the world.
‘‘This is a new era for Hun Sen,’’ said Lao Moung Hay, a former civil servant and professor of law and economics. ‘‘There is no force to restrain him any more — there are risks for the country.’’
King Sihanouk, who was crowned in 1941, had gradually withdrawn from public life in recent years. In his long, colourful and complex rule as king and politician, he was praised by historians for his role in obtaining independence from France and criticised for providing legitimacy to the Khmer Rouge and assisting their rise to power. Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have died under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.
But among mourners in Phnom Penh yesterday, King Sihanouk was remembered mostly as someone concerned with the plight of the poor and powerless.
‘‘The king did everything for the people,’’ said Som Srey Pao, 49, who travelled to the Royal Palace with her three children yesterday. ‘‘He sacrificed himself for the people.’’
The king’s elaborate coffin was placed on a gilded carriage shaped to represent a mythical birdlike creature. Mourners remained quiet and reverential, many of them kneeling as the carriage wheeled past.
Trailing it was the black Mercedes of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni, who reluctantly took the throne when his father abdicated in 2004. King Sihamoni, 59, is a former ballet instructor who remains under the long shadow of his father. He is unmarried and seen as unlikely to produce an heir.
Although kings can be chosen from among hundreds of descendants of prior kings, the lack of an obvious successor to King Sihamoni has raised anxiety among some royalists.
‘‘The king should be away from political activity,’’ said Cambodia’s Secretary of State Phay Siphan. ‘‘The king does not rule the people — the king is respected by the people.’’
He called King Sihanouk a ‘‘well-respected politician’’ and suggested he be described as the ‘‘godfather of Cambodia.’’ But he said the nation had moved on.
‘‘The king played two roles, one as a king and one as a politician,’’ he said. ‘‘This was a mixed message for the nation.’’
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