Funcinpec plans to sell its party headquarters on Norodom Boulevard, party officials have said, as the planned merger with the Nationalist Party moves a step closer.

Lu Laysreng, the party’s deputy president, confirmed yesterday that the party had put the building on the market, and was hoping to net around US$4 million in the sale.

“We will sell it if there is a profit, and in case we cannot find new headquarters, we will go to work at a pagoda,” he said.

Funcinpec President Keo Puth Reaksmey said that the planned merger of Funcinpec and the NP – which split acrimoniously in 2006 – would happen in time for the 2012 commune elections and 2013 national elections. When it did, he said, the party would require a larger headquarters, and leaders are hoping to find a new site on the outskirts of the city.