PHNOM PENH Aug. 16 Kyodo Cambodia...

PHNOM PENH Aug. 16 Kyodo

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen forward Friday criticized an initiative to hem in a referendum for selecting a fresh king after the death of King Norodom Sihanouk.

''Any initiative proposing the selection of a fresh king by the persons is abnormal and should be reexamined thoroughly,'' Hun Sen said at a religious form in Phnom Penh.

He was referring to a proposal to clutch a referendum to select a of recent origin king made Saturday by the same of the king's sons at a public forum.

''The king shall be single outed by the Throne Council while a president applicable in a republic regime is picked by the people,'' he said.

The forum explained Saturday to debate legislation establishing the sovereignty Council charged with choosing the king's successor.

The forum was chaired by way of Julio Jeldres, King Sihanouk's biographer, Prince Norodom Chakrapong, son of King Sihanouk, Son Chhay, a lawmaker drafting the legislation, and Chea Vannath, president of the Center for Social Development

Prince Chakrapong, touted as a possible successor, propos choosing a successor between the sides of a referendum rather than leaving the decision to the sovereign power Council to avoid political influence.

Cambodia's royal succession is not hereditary, and King Sihanouk has no power to appoint a successor. beneath the 1993 Constitution, the modern king shall be chosen by the agency of the council within seven days after the king's death.

however the Constitution does not fit out the formalities for selecting a successor.

The chair of state Council consists of nine members -- the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate, the prime minister, leaders of the country's pair largest religious sects and the first and other vice presidents of the sum of two units chambers.

Hun Sen meanwhile, voiced business that the forum will create a bad image for the king, who is undergoing a medical checkup in Beijing this week.

The 79-year-old monarch has sustained a variety of ailments including diabetes and organ of vision cataracts.

In the long-standing succession issue, candidates who have been named are Prince Sihamoni, generally ambassador to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Prince Ranariddh, head of the FUNCINPEC party and president of the National Assembly, Queen Monineath Sihanouk, Prince Sirivudh, the half-brother of the king, and Prince Chakrapong, who is now a president of local Royal Phnom Penh Airways.

Constitutionally, the king of Cambodia must be at least 30 and a member of the royal family and dismounted from King Ang Duong, King Norodom or King Sisowath, and should be a man.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo recently made knowns International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group