Phnom Penh Cambodge Soir, an independent daily in French, carries in its 17-19 March issue a report by Sothanarith and Leang Delux saying day after day, Prime Minister Hun Sen "exhorts" FUNCINPEC [National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia] to work within the coalition government, while dispensing information about irregularities that Prince Ranariddh's coalition government members are blamed for in the performance of their duties."

"Only two and half years are still left [before the next election]. They should run and adapt to the situation. Otherwise, I will not wait for them. It should not be said that I abandon them," Hun Sen pointed out at an inaugural ceremony for a monastery in Kampong Thum Province on 16 March, the report adds.

After demanding a probe into corruption committed by the Cambodian National Olympic Committee headed by Prince Ranariddh, Hun Sen blamed FUNCINPEC publicly for mismanagement of farming equipment that had been misappropriated. He said that 100 water pumps, 50 cultivators and excavators, and gas given to FUNCINPEC had never been used to benefit the people. "The equipment has probably been sold out. I assist them in their work, but if that serves nothing, what is the good to continue," he commented, adding the criticism was only aimed waking FUNCINPEC up.

Just two days earlier, before leaving for France, Prince Ranariddh expressed his wish to reform FUNCINPEC so that to prevent the crumbling of its electoral base. "The reform will not work if one does not work," pointed out Hun Sen, for whom the "exclusion of it [FUNCINPEC] from the incumbent coalition government would not be ruled out if nothing were changed."