U.S. Keeps Distance From New Cambodian Leader Reports Of Intimidation Cloud Prime Minister’s Election

The Clinton administration announced Wednesday it will not recognize the parliamentary election of Ung Huot as Cambodia’s first prime minister because of the “great atmosphere of intimidation” that prevented about 20 percent of the nation’s legislators from voting, according to senior U.S. officials.

But the statement fell short of a formal rejection of Cambodia’s new co-leader. Washington even held out the possibility of eventual recognition of Ung Huot if certain conditions, including the return of exiled politicians, are met in a new vote.

In a secret ballot Wednesday, Ung Huot won 86 of 99 votes in Cambodia’s 120-seat Parliament. However, about 20 members of Parliament remain outside the country in the wake of last month’s virtual coup d’etat by second Prime Minister Hun Sen against first Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh. A subsequent purge included the murder of at least 40 royalist supporters.

The prince is the son of longtime Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk.

Prince Ranariddh was not formally impeached, nor did he face a no-confidence vote before being replaced, raising a constitutional dilemma concerning Wednesday’s vote, in the view of the United States. “There is … a serious question about the legitimacy of the process,” the U.S. official said.

In the meantime, the current 30-day suspension of U.S. aid to the Cambodian government, due to expire later this week, probably will be renewed, the official said. But humanitarian aid will almost certainly continue through nongovernment organizations.

The administration also announced it is dispatching diplomat Desaix Anderson to talk with allies in Southeast Asia, visit the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, and assess the next U.S. step.

From abroad, Cambodia’s weakened opposition rejected the vote. “The appointment … by the National Assembly in an atmosphere of intimidation and fear of Mr. Ung Huot is totally illegal and can mislead only people who do not pay any attention at all to the rule of law,” the Union of Cambodian Democrats said in a statement.

The Cambodian legislature voted Wednesday to strip Prince Ranariddh of parliamentary immunity, which opens the way for him to face prosecution if he returns on charges of illegal negotiating with the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement responsible for more than a million deaths in Cambodia in the 1970s.