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dated March 4, 1955: King Norodom abdicates

King Norodom Sahanouk, 34-year-old soldier-monarch of Cambodia, who won a "vote of confidence" from his people last month, has abdicated, it was officially announced in Phnom Penh on March 2. He has handed over powers to his father, Prince Suramarit. The reason officially given for the King's abdication was that the application of projected constitutional reforms had been "obstructed." King Norodom led his army against the Viet Minh during the Indo-China war which ended with the armistice agreed to by the big powers at Geneva last June. He conducted the recent referendum on his personal rule to fulfil a pledge made in June 1952 when he dissolved the National Assembly on the ground that it was paralysed by party bickering. Norodom was named King of Cambodia in 1941 at the age of 19 on the death of his grandfather. Under the laws of succession the sovereign's title is not strictly hereditary. The King is designated by his predecessor or elected by a Royal Council. During the Japanese occupation he was a virtual prisoner.

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