Norodom Chakravuth ( ; born 13 January 1970) is a Cambodian politician, member of the Cambodian royal family and the current president of the
FUNCINPEC
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 again ...
.
Name
Norodom Chakravuth is a descendant of the Norodom branch of the Cambodian monarchy. His name Chakravuth literally translates from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
as the one who has the ''
chakra
A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...
'' as a weapon, and refers to the ''Chakravarti'', an ancient Indian term used to refer to an ideal universal ruler.
Biography
From royal to exile
Norodom Chakravuth was born 13 January 1970, as the first-born of Prince
Norodom Ranariddh
Norodom Ranariddh (; 2 January 1944 – 28 November 2021, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ) was a Cambodian politician and law academic. He was the second son of King Norodom S ...
and Eng Marie.
When
Lon Nol
Marshal Lon Nol (, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), as well as serving repeatedly as defence minister and provi ...
staged a successful coup against Sihanouk in March 1970, his father Ranariddh was dismissed from his position in government, sent his family to France and fled into the jungle where he was a close associate of resistance leaders.
In 1973, Chakravuth was reunited with his father Ranariddh who sought asylum in France and studied law at the
University of Provence
The University of Provence Aix-Marseille I () was a Public university, public research university mostly located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It was one of the three University of Aix-Marseille, Universities of Aix-Marseille and was part of t ...
, before also teaching there.
Chakravuth lived with his family in Aix-en-Provence until moving to Paris to further his studies. After graduating in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
in Paris, Chakravuth set up his own business in Cambodia in 1994, where he started dating a French doctor at the ''Institut Pasteur''.
Returning to the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1994
As a high-ranking member of the royal family of Cambodia, Prince Chakravuth regularly participated in official events of the Royal Palace such as the
Royal Ploughing Ceremony
Royal Ploughing Ceremony (, ; , ; , ), also known as The Ploughing Festival, is an ancient royal rite held in many Asian countries to mark the traditional beginning of the rice growing season. The royal ploughing ceremony, called (, ) or (), was ...
.
On 11 August 2018, the Funcinpec Party appointed Prince Norodom Chakravuth as its acting president when Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the party's head since 1992, was out of the country. Prince Ranariddh himself hand-picked his oldest son to take over the party in his absence, as his health dwindled. Quickly after being appointed, Chakravuth removed three senior party officials from their positions, among which
You Hockry
You Hockry (, born 20 August 1944) is a Cambodian politician. He belongs to the Funcinpec party and was elected to represent Kampong Cham Province, Kampong Cham in the National Assembly of Cambodia in 2003.Wat Botum, under the auspices of the Queen Mother Monique of Cambodia and the reigning king Sihamoni; as Khmer tradition prescribes, after the body of the deceased was cremated, Prince Chakravuth picked up from the ashes the gold coin which had been placed in the mouth of the deceased.
In 2022, three months after the FUNCINPEC president, Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh, passed away on 28 November 2021, Cambodian Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng encouraged the FUNCINPEC to elect a new leader in late January 2022. Against supporters of his aunt Princess Norodom Arunrasmy who had already been president of Funcinpec between 2013 and 2015 and had not left behind her an imperishable memory, Prince Norodom Chakravuth was elected unanimously by the FUNCINPEC Congress to be the party president on 9 February 2022. Chakravuth has been able to build a strong
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
winning the support of elderly advisers and long-time gone members of his party. After being critical at first, to the point of being excluded of the party and of their government positions, senior members finally showed Prince Chakravuth their full
endorsement Endorsement (alternatively spelled "indorsement") may refer to a:
* testimonial, a written or spoken statement promoting or advertising a product
* political endorsement, publicly declaring support for a candidate
* form added to an insurance poli ...
:
Since the
Cambodian National Rescue Party
The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; , UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party.
The party believed in the strengthening of freedom ...
, the country’s main opposition party, was dissolved in 2017 by the Supreme Court of Cambodia, the FUNCINPEC of Chakravuth has a chance of becoming a major player once again in Khmer politics as Cambodia will hold the commune election in June 2022 and the
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...