CAMBODIA: Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk offered to abdicate yesterday, saying he was too old to continue as head of the country that is still struggling to recover from the "Killing Fields" era.
"I hope this is not a permanent abdication," Norodom Ranariddh, president of the National Assembly, said of his ailing father, who has threatened abdication many times although the constitution does not permit it.
Some analysts say the 83-year-old king's new declaration may be designed to force the government to choose a successor before he dies.
In a message that was posted to his website, King Sihanouk told Cambodians that he was too old, sick and tired to carry on.
"I have had the great honour to serve the nation and people for more than half century. I am too old now," he said.
"I can not continue my mission and activities as king and head of state to serve the needs of the nation any longer," he said. "As I am getting old, my body and my pulse is getting weaker." "It is up to the Royal Throne Council to decide whether Prince Sihamoni or someone else will be an appropriate successor to Norodom Sihanouk."
Analysts said his words were taken as a strong signal of this preference for this 51-year-old son, who lives in France, to succeed him.
The monarch was scheduled to return to Phnom Penh on Thursday after undergoing medical treatment for several months in Beijing, but had postponed his trip and abdicated, authorities told reporters.
"This is a serious situation for Cambodia," said Mr Ranariddh, adding that the country's leaders would try to persuade him not to stand down.
Last week, King Sihanouk attended a reception in Beijing marking the 55th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Republic.
The king has threatened repeatedly to abdicate because political wrangling has upset him, particularly when parties took a year to form a government after indecisive elections in 2003.