Self-exile and Abdication
Sihanouk went into self-imposed exile in January 2004, taking up residence in Pyongyang, North Korea, and later in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Citing reasons of ill health, he announced his abdication from the throne on 7 October 2004. Sihanouk was diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma in his prostate in 1993; the disease recurred in his stomach in 2005, and a new cancer was found in December 2008. Sihanouk also suffered from diabetes and hypertension.
The constitution of Cambodia has no provision for an abdication. Chea Sim, the President of the Senate, assumed the title of acting Head of State (a title he has held many times before), until the Throne Council met on 14 October and appointed Norodom Sihamoni, one of Sihanouk's sons, as the new king. The elderly Sihanouk was then proclaimed as His Majesty The King Father of Cambodia.
Read more about this topic: Norodom Sihanouk
Famous quotes containing the word abdication:
“The abdication of Belief
Makes the Behavior small—
Better an ignis fatuus
Than no illume at all.”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)