The royalist Funcinpec party yesterday denied local media reports that it had appointed a Chinese national as vice president.
Rasmei Kampuchea on Sunday put up an online story, quoting an anonymous Funcinpec official, alleging the party had appointed a Chinese man named Jack Kise to the post of party vice president – a move that would be illegal under the Law on Political Parties.
“A senior Funcinpec party [member] leaked to Reaksmey Kampuchea on 13 January that Samdech Krom Prah Norodom [Ranariddh], president of the Funcinpec party, has appointed Jack Kise, who is a Chinese citizen, as deputy president,” the Rasmei Kampuchea story reads, with a similar story appearing in the Khmer Times as well.
The story comes just weeks after Funcinpec President Norodom Ranariddh said he had requested Chinese funding from a visiting diplomat, again in apparent violation of the Political Parties Law.
Despite a recording existing of the prince saying he made the request, it was quickly and repeatedly denied by a party spokesman.
Ranariddh yesterday denied the reports, saying the party had made no such appointments.
“I heard it; it is impossible. We can promote [someone] only if he is a Cambodian citizen,” Ranariddh said on the sidelines of a National Assembly plenary session today.
Party spokesman Nheb Bun Chin said that there was a long-time adviser named “Jackie”, but he was a Cambodian citizen, not a Chinese national.
