CAMBODIA-UN: Stalemate Over Cambodian Recognition at UN

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 1997 (IPS) - The chances for a swift resolution to Cambodia’s government crisis by the United Nations dwindled Wednesday, with a key U.N. committee divided over whether to recognise Prince Norodom Ranariddh’s royalists or Hun Sen’s de facto regime.

The nine-member U.N. Credentials Committee postponed a decision on which of the two leaders would be allowed to speak for Cambodia on Sept. 29, during the second week of the General Assembly’s plenary session. The committee is expected to take up the matter again on Friday, but already there are signs that neither Ranariddh nor Hun Sen may prevail before the Assembly begins.

Of the nine countries on the committee, two – the United States and Norway – are opposed to conferring recognition to Hun Sen, while two others – Russia and China – support him, according to informed sources here. With the other five members undecided, the stand-off seems evenly matched for now, and may remain that way for several weeks, one U.N. official said on condition of anonymity.

The two sides have been battling for recognition here ever since Second Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) ousted First Prime Minister Ranariddh early in June. Since then, some of the prince’s royalist FUNCINPEC coalition hastried to set up a government in exile, while others have joined a new, CPP-dominated coalition under a newly-selected first prime minister, FUNCINPEC member and former Foreign Minister Ung Huot.

In recent days, the Ung Huot-Hun Sen team has made headway in its bid to win the recognition needed to appear before other world leaders at the General Assembly plenary, which begins officially next Monday. The two leaders were appointed to head Cambodia’s delegation to the Assembly in a letter signed by the country’s monarch, King Norodom Sihanouk – Ranariddh’s father.

Ranariddh’s supporters “cannot dispute the legitimacy of the Cambodian delegation whose credentials have been duly endorsed by His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk,” argued Ouch Borith, a CPP appointee who is one of two competing ambassadors in Cambodia’s U.N. mission.

Ouch criticised the attempts by Ranariddh’s supporters to portray themselves as a government in exile, saying, “This group has no legal authority and represent only themselves.”

Some of the evidence Ouch put forward to bolster his own credentials and those of Hun Sen’s delegation, however, appear unimpressive. A letter from Sihanouk in response to Hun Sen’s request to install Ouch as the chief U.N. envoy simply states, “I have no opinion on the above request.” But Sihanouk’s Sep. 2 letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan clearly designates Ung Huot and Hun Sen as the chief representatives of the Cambodian government – leaving Ranariddh conspicuously absent.

Unch Kim An, secretary of state for foreign affairs in the Hun Sen government, disputed the idea that any overthrow had taken place, saying on Wednesday only that “there has been a small reshuffle of the government recently.”

His version of events was disputed by the U.N. human rights rapporteur in Cambodia, Thomas Hammarberg, who reported this week that at least 40 Ranariddh supporters had been killed in the aftermath of the June coup.

Ranariddh’s side has drawn support from the lingering outrage that the prime minister – elected overwhelmingly in a 1993 U.N.- monitored poll, but forced to share power with Hun Sen afterward – was overthrown and many of his top aides killed.

In recent days, however, the prince has seemed to realise that many countries already accept Hun Sen as the de facto leader of Cambodia. As a result, rather than asking to be recognised now himself, Ranariddh Wednesday only advised that “the United Nations should delay recognising any delegation for a mere eight months, until (May) elections.”

The current Phnom Penh government finds that compromise unacceptable, even though both sides have mutually agreed not to occupy Cambodia’s U.N. seat until the Credentials Committee makes its decision. A decision could be long in coming.

China – where Sihanouk resides for most of the year, and a longtime supporter of FUNCINPEC – has swung behind Hun Sen in recent months, and is unlikely to accept Ranariddh as prime minister any longer. But U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin argued this week that Washington would only recognise a government that was democratically elected, and refused to grant that status to the Ung Huot-Hun Sen regime.

With that stalemate in place, some U.N. officials have noted that sometimes world leaders have addressed the General Assembly even before their credentials have been formally recognised. Unch told IPS that Hun Sen and Ung Huot were prepared to seek Assembly approval to speak even if the Credentials Committee were undecided, but added that they would regard refusal to grant them recognition as “unacceptable interference.”

Even elections slated for next May, for which the United Nations intends to provide assistance, may not resolve the matter.