King abdicates

last updated 8 January 2015

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

King Norodom Sihanouk gave up the Cambodian throne this week—through a posting on his Web site. The 81-year-old king has often threatened to resign, saying his lack of real power means he can do little for his poor and unstable country. His son Prince Norodom Ranariddh, speaker of the National Assembly, said, “We still hope that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the king will agree to be the king again.” But Sihanouk, who was installed by the French during colonial rule in 1941, said he was tired. “Allow me, in waiting for my death, a tranquil life, in serenity, which I have not had since 1940,” he said on his Web site. The king is believed to prefer as successor his other son, Prince Norodom Sihamoni, a dancer in Paris.