Prince Norodom Ranariddh (born January 2, 1944) is the second son of King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.
When the monarchy was restored in 1993, he became Prime Minister, jointly with his father's rival Hun Sen. The two first shared equal status, but in September Ranariddh asserted his primacy as First Prime Minister, while Hun Sen remained Second Prime Minister. In July 1997 Rannaridh was ousted by Hun Sen. After initially fleeing the country, he later returned to Cambodia and became Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly.
When King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004, Ranariddh was suspected of being a candidate to succeed him, and a likely choice for king due to his popularity. He himself claimed, however, that he did not want the post. Later that month he was part of the nine-member throne council which convened and chose Norodom Sihamoni to be the next king.
He was chairman of the Funcinpec political party but was removed by party vote on October 18, 2006.
Subsequently he established the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), which is currently the third largest party in Cambodia.http://english.people.com.cn/200704/19/eng20070419_368025.html
After Prime Minister Hun Sen was re-elected during the 2008 Cambodian elections, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni granted a royal pardon upon the request of the re-elected Prime Minister. Ranariddh had been sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail in March of 2007 over a 3.6 million dollar illegal property sale. The court ruled he improperly sold his former political party headquarters and used proceeds from the sale to purchase another property in his own name. Shortly after he was pardoned, he read out a letter on television thanking King Sihamoni, who is also his half brother, for giving him "full freedom in order to join in the development of the nation." The prince also thanked Prime Misiter Hun Sen for helping to arrange the royal pardon for him and said that he would return to Cambodia soon. He has now returned to Cambodia and has retired from politics.
In December 12, 2008, King Norodom Sihamoni selected him as chief advisor of his advisory court. http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008121223190/National-news/More-royals-could-face-political-exit.html
Ranariddh has two wives:
Before he was pardoned, he was living in Kuala Lumpur with his second wife and his little son Sothearidh.[1]