Norodom Ranariddh (2 January 1944-28 November 2021) was Prime Minister of Cambodia from 2 July 1993 to 6 August 1997, succeeding Hun Sen and preceding Ung Huot.
Biography[]
Norodom Ranariddh was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 2 January 1944, and he graduated from the University of Provence before becoming a law researcher and lecturer in France. He joined FUNCINPEC in 1983 and became commander-in-chief of the royalist army fighting against the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Civil War in 1986; in 1989, he became Secretary-General of FUNCINPEC and its president in 1992. After FUNCINPEC won the 1993 general election, Ranariddh became co-ruler of Cambodia alongside Cambodian People's Party leader Hun Sen. Relations between the two deteriorated due to Hun Sen's domination of the country, and clashes between FUNCINPEC and CPP troops in July 1997 forced Ranariddh to go into exile. He returned to Cambodia in March 1998, and, while his party lost that year's election, he served as President of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2006. In 2006, he was ousted as President of FUNCINPEC and founded the Norodom Ranariddh Party, but he was again driven into exile due to allegations of embezzlement on his party. He returned to Cambodia after being pardoned in 2008, and he failed to merge his party with FUNCINPEC from 2010 to 2012. He briefly launched the Community of Royalist People's Party in 2014 before returning to the FUNCINPEC in January 2015, and he died in Paris in 2021 at the age of 77.