Heng Samrin: A Man Man of the Peop People le ហង សំររន ៈ បុរសរបស់ រសរបស់ជន
Inside cover
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Heng Samrin: A Man Man of the Peop People le ហង សំររន ៈ បុរសរបស់ រសរបស់ជន EDITOR : PETER S TARR PHOTOS: R USSIAN USSIAN NEWS EWS AND AND INFORMATION AGENCY (RIA-NOVOSTI), AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE (AFP), C AMBODIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION (CPA), N ATIONAL B ANK OF C AMBODIA , PRACHEACHUN M AGAZINE, CHHUT CHHEANA, LEM CHAMNAP AND S AMDECH HENG S AMRIN ARCHIVES DESIGNER : CHHUT CHHEANA
First published in 2011 by GENERAL SECRETARIAT, SECRETARIAT, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA Ratsaphea Street, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamcarmon, Phnom Penh Designed by RED LOTUS PUBLISHING Printed in Takhmao by COLOR PRINTING HOUSE
The opinions and interpretations expressed in this book do not necessarily represent the of ficial viewpoint of the Cambodian People’s People’s Party. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978–999–63–643 978–999–63–643–0–3 –0–3
The People’s People’s Republic of Kampuchea “was fortunate … to have had in Heng Samrin, party leader and head of state, a ‘man of the people’, devoid devoid of personal ambition ambition and motivated motivated primarily by the needs of the people and the defense of his nation’s nation’s sovereignty.” sovereignty.” — Margaret Slocomb
Acknowledgments Much of the text in this book comes comes from of ficial documents in the National Archives of Cambodia that were made available to Australian historian historian Margaret Slocomb. She translated them into English for her book The People’s Republic of Kampuchea 1979-1989 , published by Silkworm Books in Bangkok in 2003. Additional sources include other of ficial documents cited by American lawyer and researcher Evan Gottesman in Cambodia After the Khmer Rouge, published by Silkworm Books the following year. Coverage of the Khmer Rouge period from 1975 to 1979 relies on journalists rather than academics, especially Nayan Chanda of the now defunct Far Eastern Economic Review who who wrote Brother Enemy: The War After the War , published by Harcourt in 1986. Additional credit goes to fellow Indian journalists Harish and Julie Mehta, authors of Hun Sen: Strongma Strongmann of Cambo Cambodia dia , published by Graham Brash in Singapore in 1999. The T he section on relaunching the currency is based on material in Monnaie et Souverainete: Elements pour une histoire economique, politique et monetaire du Cambodge by Jean-Daniel Gardère. Special thanks to Roseanna Barbero, Margaret Bywater, Darryl Collins, Craig Etcheson, Luke Hunt, Helen Jarvis, Lem Oudom (ឡម ឧត្ម), Elizabeth Pisani, Prak Boraly (ក់ បូ Quinn, Ambassador Truong Mealy ( ឿង លី), Sum Sannisith (ស៊ លី ល ី), Thou Phearum (ធូ ភរម), Fergal Quinn, Ambassador ស៊ ុ ុម ននិស ស ិត), Suy Se (ស៊ ស៊ ុ ុយ ), Yin Socheat, (យិន សុតិ តិ) and Tang Chhin Sothy, (ំង ឈិន សុធីធី). Finally,, the Cambodian National Assembly needs to be acknowledged for supporting the idea for a book, especially His Excellency Korm Kosal (គំម Finally Heng Samrin, and His Excellency Dr Pen Pen Pannha (៉ន ប), the chairman of the assembly’s assembly’s Legislation and កុសល សល), chief of cabinet for Samdech Heng Justice Commission Commission who is also a member of the Permanent Committee Committee of the Central Committee of the Cambodian People’ People’ss Party and a member of the National Council of the United Front Front for the Development Development of the Cambodian Motherland. Motherland.
Foreword which has no intention of being a biography of Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Ponhea Chakrei Heng Samrin: A Man of of the People People is the title of a compilation which Kittipribandittt Heng Samrin, of ficial or otherwise. Nor does it intend to be an academic work or a journalistic narrative. Kittipribandit Many of the original quotations from Samdech have been documented by Australian historian historian Margaret Slocomb, author of The People’s Republic of Slocomb, the country “was fortunate … to have had in Heng Samrin, party leader and head of state, a ‘man of Kampuchea 1979-1989 . According to Slocomb, the people’, devoid of personal ambition and motivated motivated primarily by the needs of the people and the defense of his nation’s nation’s sovereignty.” sovereignty.” With this in mind, Peter Starr, Starr, senior advisor for the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has put together a signi ficant compendium of text, photographs and other images which highlight important episodes in Samdech’s Samdech’s life. As a revolutionary soldier, Heng Samrin broke away from the Khmer Rouge to become become the leader of the United Front for for the National Salvation Salvation of Kampuchea, head of state, leader of the Khmer People’ People’ss Revolutionary Revolut ionary Party, Party, senior privy councillor to the king and ultimately president of the National Assembly. Assembly. Both the work of Slocomb and this book have rendered well the just values of Samdech Heng Samrin. His life has been devoted to loyalty and deep sacrifice for the cause of national liberation, liberation, the rebirth of the people and the nation, the consolidation consolidation of security and peace, the defense of sover sover-eignty and and the development of the motherland. As the son of a humble Khmer farmer, Samdech Samdech has lived, struggled for and served ser ved the nation justly and heroically under several flags. He continues to do so with the deepest love for the people and profound patriotism under the national motto “Nation – Religion Religion – King” of the Kingdom of Cambodia. In this new era, Cambodia is truly fortunate to have had a number of outstanding persons emerge on her territory. This compilation illustrates the personality of Samdech Heng Samrin as a modest Khmer son who has performed great merit for the people and the nation, a “well-known man of the people” among those illustrious illustrious persons of Cambodia.
Dr Pen Pannha
Contents 1. CHILDHOOD ........................ .................................................. .................................................... .................................................... ................................................ ...................... 8 2. PARTY MEMBER ....................... ................................................. .................................................... .................................................... ........................................ ..............12 12 3. REVOLUTIONA REVOLUTIONARY RY SOLDIER ....................... ................................................. .................................................... .......................................... ................ 18 4. UNITED FRONT LEADER ....................... ................................................. .................................................... ............................................... ..................... 36 5. LIBERATION ......................... ................................................... .................................................... .................................................... .............................................. ....................46 46 6. PRO PROVISIONAL VISIONAL GO GOVERNMENT VERNMENT LEADER ........................ .................................................. ........................................... ................. 52 7. HEAD OF STA STATE TE AND PARTY LEADER ..................................................................... ............................................... ...................... 64 8. SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL ......................... ............................. ....86 86 9. SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR FIVE-STAR GENERAL .......................... .................................... ..........90 90 10. POSTSCRIPT .........................................................................................................................104
CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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Cambodia’s first motor vehicle to travel from Phnom Penh to Kampot. Here the car is crossing the bridge over the Oknha Phlong Canal near Wat Phnom in 1912. Although the canal was filled in and the bridge removed, the Municipality of Phnom Penh recently recently recreated the bridge, now known as spean neak.
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CHILDHOOD
កុរព រព
Bamboo plantation workers in Kompong Cham in the early 20th centur y
H
eng Samrin was born in the eastern Cambodian province of Kompong Cham on May May 25, 1934, as the third of six children. His father Sam Hen and his mother Heng Sim were farmers. The village where he was born, Anlong Kres (now known as Anlong Chrey), is located in Kak commune in i n the province’s Ponhea Ponhea Krek district (southeast of Kratie in the map on the left). At the time, Cambodia and Laos were French protectorates within a the larger federation of French Indochina Indochina ( Union Indochinoise ) which also included the northern northern,, central and southern regions of Vietnam, known as Tonkin, Annam and Cochinchine. 10
កុរព រព
Protectorate of France (1863-1945, (1863-1945, 1945-48)
Autonomous Province of Japan (1942-45)
CHILDHOOD
Kingdom of Cambodia C ambodia (1948-70) (1948-70)
By the time he was 19 years old, Heng Samrin had lived under three flags. During World War II, German-occupied France allowed Japanese troops to enter Cambodia in 1940 and the kingdom spent most of the rest of the war as an autonomous province of the Empire of Japan. Although Japan’s annexation of Cambodia in early 1945 allowed King Norodom Sihanouk to declare an end to the French protectorate, this was overturned by the Allied victory in the war and the return of French. Cambodia had to wait until 1953 to achieve independence
Students from Kompong Cham school visiting Siem Reap in t he early 20th century. Although it is not clear exactly when this photograph was taken, the students are said to be awaiting the arrival of King Sisowath, who died in 1927, seven years before before Heng Samrin was born.
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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Achar Mean, the founding leader of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party in 1951 13
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សជិកបក កបក
P ARTY ARTY MEMBER MEMBER
After undertaking advanced political studies, Heng Samrin began working for the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party in 1959, eight years after the party was founded in 1951. The establishment of the KPRP followed the dissolution of the Indochina Communist Party founded by Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong in 1930. The other two other parties formed after the ICP was dissolved were the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and the Workers Party of Vietnam.
This photograph dated 1950 appears to show a meeting of the Indochina Communist Party. Party. The Workers flags at the back were later adopted by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (left), the Workers Party of Vietnam (center) and the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party (right).
Opposite: Cambodian freedom fighters during the str uggle for independence from France in the early 1950s (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)
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P ARTY ARTY MEMBER MEMBER
សជិកបក កបក
Heng Samrin became a full member of the party in 1961, the year after its Second Congress. At the time, the secretary general was Tou Samouth, one of the party’s founding members in 1951. He had also served as a deputy to Achar Mean in the Provisional People’s Liberation Committee of the United Issarak Front established in 1950 as part of the struggle for independence. In 1962, Tou Samouth disappeared, paving the way for Pol Pot to gain control of the party.
Tou Samouth, leader of the Khmer People’s Tou People’s Revolutionary Party when Heng Samrin became a member in 1961
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សជិកបក កបក
P ARTY ARTY MEMBER MEMBER
Achar Mean was a former Buddhist monk who taught Pali at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh. While born in southern Vietnam, where he was known as Son Ngoc Minh, he was ethnically Khmer and a key figure in the Khmer Issarak movement which began fighting for independence in 1944. Members of the KPRP would later become known as the Khmers Rouges.
Portrait of Achar Mean during a parade in the early 1950s 1950s
Khmer Issarak flag
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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A B-52 Stratofortress bombing an undisclosed target. The T he United States Air Force used these long-range jet-powered strategic bombers in secret missions over Cambodia in 1969.
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R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន៍ន៍
A
s America was preparing to launch its secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos as part its war in Vietnam, Heng Samrin joined the People’ People’ss Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea as a section chief in 1968. Based in Region 20 of the Eastern Zone, he was promoted to sergeant in 1970, the year Prince Norodom Sihanouk was overthrown in an American-backed coup which replaced the Kingdom of Cambodia with a new Khmer Republic. In 1972, Heng Samrin rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was promoted to colonel in charge of a full regiment in 1973, the year America carried out its most intense bombing of the Cambodian countryside, causing tens of thousands of rural people to flee to Phnom Penh. US President Richard Nixon announcing the invasion invasion of Cambodia by American and South Vietnamese forces in a nationally-televised address on April 30, 1970. A year earlier, Nixon ordered secret bombing missions over Cambodia. The first American attacks on Cambodia started in 1966 (NATIONAL ARCHIVES/AFP).
Khmer Republic (1970-75)
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Khmer Republic coat of ar ar ms
Opposite: International protest against the US invasion of Cambodia at the Order of Lenin Power Power Engineering Institute in Moscow on May 7, 1970 (VLADIMIR (V LADIMIR AKIMOV/RIA-NOVOSTI)
ឆ ំដំដំបូបងូ
Early years
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យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន ៍ ៍
R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
On April 17, 1975, victorious Khmer Rouge guerillas entered Phnom Penh. Before anyone had time to celebrate celebrate the end of more than war, the soldiers started fi ve years of civil war, evacuating the entire city, city, warning of an imminent American attack. Controlled by the secretive secr etive Communist Party Party of Kampuchea led by Pol Pot, Pot, many of the guerillas were loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk, ousted in an American-backed coup in 1970. The prince had since been living in exile in Beijing and had formed an alliance with the Khmer Rouge.
Liberation of Phnom Penh, April 17, 1975 (AFP)
(RIA-NOVOSTI) Opposite page: American forces in Cambodia in 1970 (RIA-NOVOSTI)
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យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន ៍ ៍
R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
According to Heng Samrin, a colonel in the People’s Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea at the time, trouble began “a few days after liberation” as hundreds of thousa thousands nds of city dwellers dwellers were being forced into the countryside. countryside. Revolutionary aspirations for a new “era of independence, freedom and socialism” soon gave way way to a reign of terror that lasted almost four years and frequently extended into Vietnam. Less than two weeks after the Khmer Rouge victory, Saigon was liberated by the People’ss Army of Vietnam (Viet Minh) and the National Liberation Front (Viet People’ Cong) on April 30. In early May, Khmer Rouge forces landed on Phu Quoc island and Tho Chu island in Vietnam, abducting and killing more than 500 residents of the latter.
Khmer Rouge soldiers guarding the Ministry of National Defense, April 30, 1975 (AFP)
Opposite: Evacuation from Phnom Penh, April 17, 1975 (AFP)
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R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន៍ន៍
Prince Sihanouk returned to Phnom Penh in September, 1975, with Princess Monineath and their two sons, including the future King Norodom Sihamoni. In April, Prince Sihanouk resigned as head of state and his family were placed under palace arrest. A government was then announced with Pol Pot Pot as prime minister and Khieu Samphan as the new head of state. Ieng Sary Sary was named deputy prime minister in charge of foreign affairs. The announcement followed the inaugural meeting of the 250-member Kampuchean People’s People’s Representative Assembly chaired by Nuon Chea. The assembly never met again.
Pol Pot
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Nuon Chea
Ieng Sary
Khieu Samphan
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន ៍ ៍
R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
By late 1976, there was was growing concern about the fate of Cambodian diplomats previously associated with Prince Sihanouk in Beijing who had disappeared after returning to Phnom Penh. A Vietnamese diplomat subsequently disclosed that a “serious fight” had broken out within the Communist Comm unist Party Party of Kampuch Kampuchea. ea. It later emerged that senior party veteran Keo Meas and his colleague Nay Sarang had been arrested for seeking to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party, Party, which was founded in 1951. Pol Pot is believed to have considered 1960 a more important date since this is when he joined the central committee and the party dropped its original name. Keo Meas and Nay Sarang were interrogated at Tuol Sleng prison for a month before being put to death. Hundreds of party members and their family members were executed e xecuted at Tuol Sleng over the next six months, growing to thousands over the next two years.
Keo Meas, a veteran of both the Indochina Communist Party and the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party, was arrested in 1976 on suspicion of being pro-Vietnamese. He was interrogated at Tuol Sleng prison where he died. Kea Meas is said to have been one of the founding editors of the party newspaper Pracheachun in the 1950s. Democratic Kampuchea (1976-79)
Coat of arms of Demo Democratic cratic Kampuchea
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R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន៍ន៍
In April, 1977, Radio Phnom Penh called for the “extermination” “exte rmination” of all Vietnamese Vietnamese still in Cambod Cambodia ia as well as Vietnamese-speaking Khmers and Khmers with Vietnamese friends. On April 30, Khmer Rouge forces attacked villages in Vietnam’s Vietnam’s An Giang province, killing hundreds of civilians. Cross-border attacks resumed in June, when Hun Sen, commander of a border regiment in Kompong Cham and Kratie provinces, fled to the jungle after refusing orders to prepare an attack on Tay Ninh near Ho Chi Minh City City.. Hun Sen later crossed into Vietnam where he warned of the impending attacks by Pol Pot Pot forces (see box opposite page).
Chan Kim Sron, a textile factory chief, and her one-year-old son at the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Her husband was a party secretary who worked in Takhmao. Takhmao. All three were arrested in 1978 and later executed.
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R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន៍ន៍
Launched on September 24, 1977, the attack on Tay Ninh killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians, prompting dissident Cambodians in the Eastern Zone to start accumulating secret food reserves in the jungle. When Vietnam launched a retaliatory attack on December 25, regional units including the Fourth Division under Heng Samrin dispersed. As they withdrew withdrew,, Vietnamese troops were accompanied by about 60,000 Cambodians. Heng Samkai
“It was impossible to ov overthrow erthrow Pol Pot on our own”
Leave space for caption to come.......
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It was around this time that party veterans Hem Samin and Yos Y os Por also escaped to Vietnam where they were joined joi ned by other defectors including incl uding Heng Samrin’s Samrin’s older brother Samkai, head of the military courier courier service in the Eastern Zone. “We had come to realize,” Heng Samkai later told a journalist “We from Hong Kong, “that it was impossible to overthrow Pol Pot on our own.” Heng Sam Tal, a younger brother who commanded an infantry division, was arrested and executed in 1978, the same year as the execution of a brother-in-law who was married to Heng Samrin’s Samrin’s younger sister Sam Seng.
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន ៍ ៍
R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
The Khmer Rouge severed diplomatic relations with Vietnam at the end of 1977. After further cross-border attacks by Pol Pot’ss forces in April, 1978, Radio Phnom Penh reiterated Pot’ the call to exterminate Vietnamese and to “purify our armed forces, our party and the masses of people.” In May, May, Pol Pot Pot began a purge of the party in the Eastern Zone and seized the regional party headquarters. According to Hen Sen, “the forces in the eastern part of the country, country, including the forces of Heng Samrin, no longer enjoyed the confidence of the Angkar (the Khmer Rouge).” Rouge).” Kratie Kompong Cham
Liberated zones were located near the Vietnamese border i n Memot and Krek districts in Kompong Cham province and Snoul district in Kratie province
Following the execution of regimental commanders called to a conference in Phnom Penh, Heng Samrin headed to the jungle with 1,000 troops. Chea Chea Sim, a district chief in the Eastern Zone, joined others such as Mat Ly, Ly, Men Chhan, Ouk Bun B un Chhouen and Sim Kar in the jungle with about 3,000 other troops and 30,000 civilians. As a result, liberated zones emerged in Kampong Cham and Kratie provinces. “Heng Samrin and Chea Sim were the leaders in these liberated areas. At the time, we did not have direct contact with them, but we established indirect contact through their forces,” Hun Sen told Indian journalists in 1997. 31
R EVOLUTIONARY EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER
យុទទជនបដិ ជនបដិវត វតន៍ន៍
In July, July, 1978, Pol Pot launched vengeance killings in the Eastern Zone, with massacres of the rebels and their families as well as entire villages which sheltered them. The carnage claimed about 100,000 lives and led to a third of the zone’s zone’s population being moved to western western Cambodia where about half would die. Around this time, Heng Samrin sent emissaries to Vietnam for assistance.
“I was so happy not only to see se e them but also also to hear hear news of the uprising in Cambodia”
Amid fighting between Eastern Zone defectors and Central Zone forces loyal to Pol Pot, Vietnam launched an operation inside Cambodia to contact Heng Samrin, Chea Sim and others in the jungle and escort them to Vietnam. “I was so happy not only to see them but also to hear news of the uprising in Cambodia,” Hun Sen later recalled. On September 21 and 22, about 200 Cambodians attended a two-day conference at the former police academy at Thu Duc in Ho Chi Minh City. The meeting brought defectors together with Cambodian residents of Vietnam such as Chea Soth, who had been working for the Vietnam News Agency in Hanoi, and Bou Thong, a member of the Tapuon Tapuon ethnic minority in northeast Cambodia.
MAGAZINE) Opposite: Chea Sim visiting a liberated zone in 1978 (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)
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Next two pages: Hun Sen visiting a liberated zone in 1978 ((PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE) (page 34) and military training for Cambodians preparing to attack Pol Pot’s Pot’s forces (AFP) (page 35)
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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The fi ve-tower temple flag revived by the United Front Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរណសិ រណសិរមគ្ រមគ្ ី
UNITED FRONT LEADER
O
n December 2, 1978, Cambodians trained in Vietnam and more recent defectors from the Khmer Rouge gathered at a clearing in a rubber plantation in Snoul district in Kratie province, a few kilometers from the Vietnamese border. Snoul was part of the new liberated zone that also comprised Memot and Krek districts.
“A dictatorial and militarist regimee of unequa regim unequalled lled ferocity ferocity has been installed in Cambodia” “Dear and respected compatriots, dear cadres and combatants, dear compatriots abroad,” Heng Samrin began in his inaugural address as as chairman of the Central Central Committee Committee of the new United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea. “A “A dictatorial and militarist regime of unequalled ferocity has been installed in Cambodia. The reactionary Pol Pot — Ieng Sary clique and their families have totally usurped power, betrayed the country and harmed the people.” The backdrop behind him featured the fi ve-tower temple flag of the Khmer Issarak Issarak forces who fought the French for independence in the 1950s. Opposite: Heng Samrin (top left) with Hun Sen (bottom left). The three people in white shirts (from left) are Mat Ly Ly,, Chey Kanha K anha and Chan Ven (RIA-NOVOSTI).
Heng Samrin (right) with United Front soldiers (CPA)
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរណសិ រណសិរមគ្ រមគ្ ី
UNITED FRONT LEADER
“Our people have witnessed massacres more mor e atrocious, more barbarous than the Middle Ages or perpetuated by the Hitlerite fascists, fasci sts,”” Heng Samrin said.
“All Cambodians have the right to return to their old nativ nativee land and to t o rebuild their family life in happiness.” “How many cadres, party members, authentic revolutionaries and patriots, and how many cadres and combatants in the armed forces who had contributed to the liberation of the country and proved absolute loyalty loyalty to the motherland have been killed en masse at all levels and in all places for the sole reason that they did not approvee of the reactionary approv reactionary and barbarous barbarous policy policy of the Pol Pot Pot — Ieng Sary Sar y clique?”
Heng Samrin presents a flag to General Kieng Savouth Savouth ahead of the military offensive to free Cambodia from Pol Pot (CPA) (CPA) Opposite: Heng Samrin reviewing soldiers of the United Front (CPA)
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UNITED FRONT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរណសិ រណសិរមគ្ រមគ្ ី
Other members of the front’s front’s central committee included fellow defectors and former Khmer Issarak fighters as well as three civilians and a Buddhist monk. The defectors included two women and a member member of the Cham Muslim minority which had been particularly terrorized by the Pol Pot regime.
United Front Central Committee Chairman Heng Samrin Deputy Chairman Chea Sim Secretary General Ros Samay Member Mat Ly Member Bun Mi Member Hun Sen Member Mean Soman Member Meas Samang Member Neou Samon Member Ven. Long Sim Member Hem Samin Member Chey Kanha Member Chan Ven Member Prach Sun
During his address, Heng Samrin announced an 11-point program for a people’s democratic government that would restore families, markets, money and religion, which had all been abolished under the Pol Pot regime. Under the program “all Cambodians have the right to return to their old native land and to rebuild their family life in happiness, happiness,”” he said. “All Cambodians have freedom freedo m of residence, the right to stand for election and to vote, freedom of thought, association and religion, and the right to work, recreation and education.”
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Ly, Bun My, Opposite: The 14 founding members of the United Front at their meeting in Snoul on December 2, 1978. From left to right: Neou S amon, Mat Ly, Hem Samin, Hun Sen, Chea Sim, Si m, Heng Samrin, Ros Samay, Samay, Venerable Long Sim, Prak Sun, Chey Kanha, Mean Soman, Chan Ven and Meas Samang (CPA) (CPA)
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UNITED FRONT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរណសិ រណសិរមគ្ រមគ្ ី
The 11-point program of the United Front for the National National Salvation of Kampuchea
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរណសិ រណសិរមគ្ រមគ្ ី
The new government, Heng Samrin said, aimed “to develop the Angkor traditions, to make Cambodia a truly peaceful, independent, democratic and neutral and non-aligned country advancing to socialism, thus contributing actively to the common struggle for peace and stability in Southeast Asia.”
UNITED FRONT LEADER
Stung Treng ( )
Jan 3
៣ មក
Kratie (
On December 25, 1978, about 100,000 Vietnamese troops and 20,000 Cambodian soldiers from the United Front advanced into Cambodia.
Dec 30
៣០ ធធ )
Kompong Cham ( )
៦ មក
Phnom Penh Jan 7 ( )
៧ មក
Neak Loung Jan 5
៥ មក)
(
Kompong Som Jan 7 ( )
៧ មក
In less than two weeks, weeks, United Front forces and Vietnamese volunteers liberated more than a third of the country
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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United Front forces entering Phnom Penh 47
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រះ ះ
LIBERATION
T
he Khmer Rouge regime fell so quickly that a congress to rebuild the party was still taking place in Memot district in Kompong Cham province when Phnom Penh was liberated on on January 7, less than two weeks after the offensive began. “When the fighting stopped, the 20,000-strong force we started with ended as 40,000, as the Pol Pot regime collapsed before the people’ peo ple’ss forces,” Hun Sen told Indian journalists jour nalists in 1997. “When we liberated the people, they requested us that they would like to join the armed forces too.” As for the estimated 100,000 troops from Vietnam, they were divided into three forces, the strongest being the Fourth Army of regular units. “The Fourth Fourth Army Ar my had carefully studied Pol Pot’s units, and knew how to fight them,” Hun Sen recalled. “When they attacked Pol Pot’ Pot’ss troops in Svay Rieng, they chased them all the way to Siem Reap Reap.” .”
Peace and Cambodian-Vietnamese friendship as depicted in 1979 by Kampuchea, the newspaper of the United Front for the National National Salvation of Kampuchea
Pot forces began on December 25, 1978. Opposite: United Front soldiers relaxing before the offensive against Pol Pot 49 Traditional dances such as this coconut dance (robam kustroloak) were banned by the Khmer Rouge (AFP).
49
Inspiration for patriots “[The Pol Pot — Ieng Sary reactionaries] r eactionaries] compelled our revolutionaries to commit crimes against the people. They poisoned the young people and gave them the taste for blood. Such was the genocidal policy put into practice by the reactionary Pol Pot — Ieng Sary clique ...
“Their bones have piled up into mountains, and their blood has turned our riv rivers ers red” “Millions of our compatriots have fallen bravely. bravely. Their bones have piled up into mountains, and their blood has turned our rivers red. Their examples inspired our people to join the revolutionary bases and adopt the objectives of the patriots. It was in this spirit that the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea was born and made public public its 11-point political program on December 2, 1978.” — Heng Samrin, Speech at Victory Celebration Ceremony, Ceremony, January, January, 1979
Poster offers life for a people who had been l iving in hell
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Warm rm welcome for United Front soldiers liberating a Khmer Rouge “mobile unit Opposite: Wa for young women” (korngchalat yuvakneary) in 1979 (RIA-NOV (RIA-NOVOSTI) OSTI)
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
52
Heng Samrin making an address as chairman of the People’s People’s Revolutionary Council established on January 8, 1979 January
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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
O
n January 8, 1979, a day after Phnom Penh was liberated, Heng Samrin was appointed president of the People’s People’s Revolutio Rev olutionary nary Council of Kampuch Kampuchea, ea, a provisional government to rule the country in the absence of a new constitution. constitution. One of of the first moves moves of the council council was to declare the founding of the People’s People’s Republic of Kampuchea on January January 15. Heng Samrin
The eight-member council included three other founding founding members of the united front. These were Chea Sim, who was named interior minister, Hun Sen, who became foreign minister, and Chan Ven, a former schoolteacher who was appointed as education minister. The other council members were veterans of the United Issarak Front who had fled to Hanoi in 1953.
Chea Sim
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Rebuilding the party par ty The formation of the People’s Revolutionary Council coincided with a congress to rebuild the party par ty,, which had effectively been controlled by Pol Pot since Tou Samouth disappeared in 1962. Held in Memot district in Kampong Cham province between January 5 and 8, the congress was attended by 62 party members representing more than 200 members. Those present elected a seven-member central committee which included Heng Samrin, the new interior minister Chea Sim and the new foreign minister Hun Sen. Others included Bou Thong, the ethnic minority leader from northeast Cambodia who had previously fled to Vietnam. Say Phouthang, a military commander from southwest Cambodia, became the eighth member of the central committee at an extraordinary meeting of t he party in February. The Memot congress superseded the third congress in 1963 when Pol Pot formally became secretary general of the party with Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary as his deputies. In addition to approving a political program, the new third congress in Memot renamed the party which Pol Pot had changed to the Communist Party Party of Kampuchea 16 years earlier. In In the spirit of reviving its historical roots, it was decided to restore the name of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party, the party’s original name when it was founded after the Indochina Communist Party dissolved in 1951.
Pot’s forces evacuated the city city.. The sign sig n to the left says “People’s Republic Opposite: People in Phnom Penh celebrate Khmer New Year on April 15, 1979, four years after Pot Pot’s of Kampuchea” and the one to the right reads “Eliminate “Elimi nate discriminatory and separatist separ atist regime of Pol Pot Pot — Ieng Sary.” (OZEROV/RIA-NOVOSTI). (OZEROV/RIA-NOVOSTI).
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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
The priorities during the first few months included feeding people and reviving cultural traditions and social freedoms that had been lost under the Pol Pot regime while ensuring that the armed forces could fulfill multiple tasks. In a six-month report re port issued by the People’s People’s Revolutionary Council and the United Uni ted Front in July, July, 1979, Heng Samrin urged compatriots to “raise awareness awareness of mutual respect and helping to care for each other. Share food together, save each other from disaster in this time of shortages.”
“We must take every possibility of assistance from the international community.” The report included guidelines for distributing food aid. “We must take every possibility of assistance from the international community,” Heng Samrin said. “We must organize in order to ensure that the distribution of aid gets to the people and is not spoilt or lost or falls into the hands of the enemy. enemy. The distribution must ensure justice 56
International assistance Apart from India, the countries recognizing the fledgling state over the next decade would be limited to the Soviet-led socialist bloc. In addition to the Soviet Union, this t his included Bulgaria, Bulg aria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland Poland as well as Cuba, Laos, Mongolia and Vietnam. Objecting to Vietnamese support for the country’s leadership under Heng Samrin, an American-led trade boycott let the Pol Pot regime maintain the Cambodian seat at the United Nations until 1990.
and appropriateness. Strive to get it to the revolutionary families, the families of the cadres and those who have no means of support and the orphans.” orphans.” In the six months since liberation, Heng Samrin noted that young people had regained the right to choose their own spouses and conduct traditional wedding ceremonies, rights that were suppressed under the Pol Pot regime which forced couples to marry in mass ceremonies. Cambodians had also regained the “right to travel, to hold ceremonies, to make a living and rebuild the lives lives of their reunited families,” Heng Samrin said, pointing to the “the pride and joy of our people.” people.”
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
Yet the provisional government Yet g overnment still faced enormous challenges ahead. “We must try hard, with all our capacity, to do more,” the People’ People’ss Revolutionary Council chairman said. “With the assistance assist ance of other countries countries in the world and the assistance of countries who want to help us redevelop our country quickly quickly,, we can do it.” The fledglin edglingg armed forces of the People’ss Republic of Kampuchea faced People’ numerous challenges. “Our cadres and combatants not only have to sweep out the enemy, enemy, they must also join joi n in the building of the state authority, authority, care for the security system, help to care for the people in increasing the harvest, solvee the problem of hunger and treat solv people’ss diseases,” Heng Samrin said. people’ “Our armed forces must therefore be strong in all areas.”
People’s Revolutionary Council Chairman Chair man Heng Samrin (second from right) meeting with Soviet Council of Ministers Chairman Alexei A lexei Kosygin (right) in Moscow in August, 1979. At left is Ros Samay, secretary general of the United Front (PRIHODKO/RIA-NOVOSTI). (PRIHODKO/RIA-NOVOSTI).
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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
Relaunching the currency cur rency One of the first major achievements of Heng Samrin’s Samrin’s provisional government was to start issuing currency currency,, which had been abolished under the Pol Pot Pot regime. Although the National Bank of Cambodia building still lay in ruins as one of the few buildings blown up by Khmer Rouge in 1975, the central bank was reconstituted in October 1979. Operating out of a building that housed the former Banque Khmere de Commerce, the new People’s Bank of Kampuchea began preparing to issue new banknotes to replace other stores of value such as rice, gold and currencies such as the Vietnamese dong and Thai baht. Printed in the Soviet Union and shipped to Kompong Som where they were stored the central bank’ bank’ss provincial branch before being transported by military convoy to Phnom Penh, the new riel began circulating on March 20, 1980, fi ve years after the national currency cur rency had vanished from Cambodia. “It was the central bank that issued the notes but the municipal bank was in charge of exchange—one riel for three dong—and distribution,” distribution,” recalled Chea Chanto, who headed headed the new Municipal Bank of Phnom Penh at the time. “People were curious. curious. They wanted to see and touch the new currency to believe it,” he recalled. The new currency was used to pay salaries to state employees employees,, provide bank credit and facilitate purchase of merchandise from state-owned state-owned stores. The value of the riel was equal to a kilo of rice. Against the dollar, the riel’s riel’s value was initially fixed at 25 cents, based on the prevailing international market value of rice which was $250 a tonne.
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
“The weather was kind and gave us rain from the beginning of the year. year.”
Within 18 months of liberation, a functioning state with free markets in agricultural products was starting to take shape. And unlike 1979, the coming rice harvest appeared promising. “At “At the commencement of this year’ss wet season, the weather was kind and gave us year’ rain from the beginning of the year,” the People’ People’ss Revolutionary Council chairman said in a telex to various ministries in July, July, 1980. The telex, which was also sent to provincial and municipal authorities, outlined plans to buy rice from farmers in exchange for manufactured goods.
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
Heng Samrin also outlined plans to start circulating the new currency in the countryside following its launch in March and to ensure that the state had staple food items. “The farmers have the right to sell, exchange and transport all those products freely, keep for use in the family or sell in order to get money to buy other things according to their own needs without anyone having the right to force them,” Heng Samrin said. “The state will buy according to the market price and will hand over money immediately.”
“The farmers have the right to sell, exchange exc hange and transport all those products freely.”
Ducks arriving at the central market (psar thmei) in Phnom Penh (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)
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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
Broadening the United Front During the Second Congress of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea in July, 1979, Heng Samrin was re-elected as chairman and the front’s Central Committee was enlarged from 14 t o 35 members. Broadening the United Front to include more non-party members was considered a priority in the sixmonth report issued jointly jointl y by the front and the People’s Revolutionary Council two months earlier.
“The Central Committee Committee of the Front Front must open wide and gather the important people, intellectuals and patriotic monks into the Front in all provinces.” “To help the people at all levels broaden, deepen and intensify their love of the “To nation, to depend on themselves, to support themselves, to have awareness of mastery over their destiny and the country, to increase solidarity and consensus in activities to push ahead the revolutionary movements of the masses, to implement implement every policy of the government and the front with success in these new times, the Central Committee of the Front must open wide and gather the important people, intellectuals and patriotic monks into the Front in all provinces provinces.. It must organize this in good time,” the report continued, “to defend national independence, to save the nation and the society of people recovering from genocide.” genocide.”
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Embracing Buddhist and Islamic leaders was crucial since both religions had suffered enormously under Pol Pot, especially ethnic Cham Muslims. In a circular signed by Heng Samrin and distributed in December, 1979, the Central Committee of the People’s Revolutionary Council noted that “freedom of belief has been guaranteed by the revolutionary state authority” since liberation in January January.. “The policy of democratic freedoms and freedom of belief of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea is appropriate for the desires of all the people,” the Central Committee said. “We “We must discuss all matters to be resolved democratically together within the Front and decisions must have the approval of the revolutionary state authority.” authority.”
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរ រភិភិលប លបះសន ះសន
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
Moreover, “freedom of belief of all religions must be implemented according to the law,” law,” the circular continued. “Clergy or religious organizations org anizations do worthwhile activities for the nation and the people. These clergy or religious organizations are protected.”
“Freedom “Free dom of of bel belief ief has been been guaranteed by the revolutionary state authorit authorityy.”
Plaque of the United Front for the National Reconstruction Reconstruction and Defense of Kampuchea depicting (from left) a monk, a member of an ethnic minority, minority, a teacher, a woman, a worker and a soldier.
Buddhist laymen and monks in 1988 (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)
At the Fourth Congress of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party in May, 1981, the front changed its named to the United Front for the National Reconstruction and Defense of Kampuchea. By dropping its previous name, the front was in effect acknowledging that national salvation had been achieved. The immediate challenge of saving the Cambodian people from genocide had given a way way to the new priorities of rebuilding the nation and defending it from the Khmer Rouge and other resistance forces along the Thai border.
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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Heng Samrin at the press center of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow on March March 5, 1986 (PRIHODKO/RIA-NOVOSTI) 65
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
I
n 1981, Heng Samrin was elected to the National Assembly of the People’s People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Representing the Phnom Penh constituency, constituency, he was among 148 candidates who contested the 117 seats in national and local elections on May 1. The elections were held in a festive atmosphere and voter turnout was high, with an estimated 3.2 million people taking part in areas controlled by the provisional government. Among the new members of parliament were 17 women, amounting to 15 percent of the assembly, assembly, and a monk. Chea Sim was elected to serve ser ve as the assembly’s first president.
president of the United Front president Front for the National Reconstruction and Defense of Kampuchea, as it was now known. Heng Samrin was re-elected as secretary general at the Fifth Party Congress in 1985 where he announced the country’s first fi veyear plan and formally recognized the existence of the private sector sector as one of the four pillars pillars of the economy economy.
Of ficial portrait
At its first session on June 27, the National Assembly approved a new constitution and appointed a State Council and a Council of Ministers to succeed the provisional government. Heng Samrin was appointed as president of the State Council which was responsible for ratifying decisions by the Council of Ministers and receiving diplomatic credentials. The National Assembly also created a Ministry of Planning with Chea Soth as minister. The veteran member of the United Issarak Front would have responsibility for agriculture, commerce and finance, and a new central bank known as the National Bank of the People People of of Kampuch Kampuchea. ea. In December, Heng Samrin was appointed secretary general of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Revolutionary Party and honorary honorar y 66
Members of parliament in 1982. National Assembly Assembly President Chea Sim (fourth from right) is standing next to State Council President Heng Samrin ( fifth from right). Planning Minister Chea Soth is on the right in the front row. row.
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
Rebuilding the educational infrastructure infrastr ucture With an education system shattered by the widespread execution of teachers under the Pol Pot regime, the provisional government headed by Heng Samrin launched a three-year campaign to eradicate illiteracy and for complementary education in 1980. The campaign was overseen by Education Minister Chan Ven, V en, a founding member of the United Front, and carried out by the ministry’s Department of Adult Education.
“Education of adults is really really a basic basic means for building the economy and defending the nation. nation.”” After the campaign ended in 1982, Heng Samrin delivered a speech summarizing its results. “Education of adults is really a basic means for building the economy and defending the nation. Our people will practice new techniques for increasing the harvest if and only when they study those techniques themselves, themselves,”” he said. “Cadres, staff, workers, workers, soldiers, the people, all classes must have a high level of science and then we can build our nation and develop well and abundantly,” abundantly,” the president of the State Council continued. “Rebuilding the educational infrastructure and revolutionary education which has the characteristics of democracy and pure socialism is a vast task for creating a generation of people to be good citizens and a courageous army to serve the construction and defense of our beloved motherland.”
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During the three-year campaign, which reached hundreds of thousands of adults, Heng Samrin said that many volunteer teachers “endured dif ficulties to fulfill their duties actively to liberate hundreds of illiterates. illiterates.”” Other teachers “overcame all dif ficulties until they sacrificed themselves in the time of teaching.” At the same time, “many thousands of our people took part in building the base for the movement such as building literacy, classrooms, tables, chairs, blackboards,, providing books, chalk, pencils, paraf fin oil,” he said. “As well blackboards they helped to support the livelihoods of the teachers with rice, money etc. etc. The monks participated with propaganda to raise the morale of the students to go and study. The mass organizations at the centre as well as in the provinces and towns participated in the moveme movement.” nt.” With a second three-year campaign launched in 1984, an estimated one million people learned to read and write.
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
Under Heng Samrin’s Samrin’s leadership, thousands of young Cambodians benefited from scholarships to study in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba and India as well as neighboring Vietnam and Laos. The photograph on the left (V. KHOMENKO/RIA-NOVOSTI) is dated 1983 and shows Cambodian students of the Construction Faculty of the Tbilisi State Polytechnic Institute visiting the historic Metekhi neighborhood of the Georgian capital. The T he photograph above (A. POGOTOVA/RIA-NOV POGOTOVA/RIA-NOVOSTI) OSTI) shows Cambodians who were studying at Vocational School No 4 in Mineralniye Vodi in Stavropol in southern Russia in 1984.
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
Heng Samrin visiting East Germany (above left) and with Czechoslovakian leader Gustav Husak (above right) and with East Ger man leader Erich Honecker (below right, CPA)
(CPA) Opposite: Heng Samrin meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana (CPA) Next two pages: Heng Samrin visiting Eastern Europe
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HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
Recognizing the private sector With Heng Samrin as head of state and party leader and with Hun Sen as prime minister from 1985, Cambodia was quick to recognize the role of the private sector. sector. It was arguably the third socialist country to do so after Hungary and China. “We still have several economic components operating simultaneously and that is an objective reality of history, history,”” Heng Samrin told the Fifth Congress of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party in 1985.
“We still have several economic components operating simultaneously and that is an objective reality of history history.” .” “The responsibility of our party and state is to build a national economy in conformity conformity with the conditions of the country and organize production in the direction of socialism in which the state-run economy and collective economy economy are the main components of the national economy,” economy,” Heng Samrin said. “To utilize the existing possibilities and capacities of production correctly and to mitigate the weaknesses weaknesses of the state-run sector, we advocate the development development of our economy encompassing four components: the economy of the state-run sector, the collective economy, economy, the family-run economy and the private economy.” During the congress, Heng Samrin announced details of the country’s first fi ve-year economic plan from 1986 to 1990. The plan focussed on maximizing agricultural production in the rice, rubber, fisheries and forestry sectors.
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
“Wee advocate the development of our economy encompassing four components: “W the economy of the state-run state-r un sector, the collective collective economy, economy, the family-run economy and the private economy.”
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HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
Marx, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Achar Mean and Tou Samouth Although the People’s People’s Republic of Kampuchea had free markets and of ficially recognized the private sector in 1985, the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Revolutionary Party remained a Marxist-Lenist political organization. Public parades typically featured portraits of both German philosopher and economist Karl Marx and Rusian Rusian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin as well as Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the Indochina Communist Party in Hong Kong in 1930. But they also featured portraits of Cambodian revolutionaries Achar Achar Mean, the founding leader of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party in 1951, and his successor, Tou Tou Samouth who disappeared in 1962, allowing Pol Pot to take over the party. Achar Mean was depicted in two bank notes that began cir culating in 1990 and 1992. Although issued by the State of Cambodia, these banknotes still bore the distinctive coat of arms of the People’ People’ss Republic of Kampuchea K ampuchea with its fi ve-tower Angkor temple.
Young people carrying portraits (from left) of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Achar Mean
A 100-riel note featuring Achar Mean issued in 1990
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A 50-riel note featuring Achar Mean issued in 1992
ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
Parade featuring featuring portraits (from left) of Lenin, Tou Samouth and Ho Chi Minh during celebrations in 1989 marking the 10th anniversary of liberation (SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOV SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI) OSTI)
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HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
Rebuilding the armed ar med forces The development of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces was a top priority for the People’s People’s Revolutionary Council chaired by Heng Samrin as well as the State Council and Council of Ministers that succeeded the provisional government g overnment in 1981. Both air and naval forces were established but the main initial focus was on building up infantry forces to counter a growing insurgency along the Thai border.
A postage stamp issued in 1984 to commemorate the 5th anniversary of liberation from the Pol Pot regime regime
Under a fi ve-year agreement signed by Cambodia and Vietnam in 1981, the aim was for all divisions, brigades and regiments of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces to serve as the first line of defense in defending the border. Helped by military training in Vietnam and the Soviet Union as well as Cambodia, this was achieved in the dry season of 1987-1988.
Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on August 1, 1990 (SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI)
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
Life in Phnom Penh
Intersection of Achar Mean Boulevard (now known as Monivong Boulevard) and Kampuchea Vietnam Boulevard (Kampuchea Krom Boulevard) in 1988 (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)
Children enjoying a ride with Sambo the elephant at Wa Watt Phnom in Phnom Penh in 1988 (Sergey Subbotin/RIA-NOVOSTI)
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ក់ កដឹដ់ កំ ក ឹ ំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
Perestroika In 1986, Heng Samrin travelled to Moscow to attend the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Held between February 25 and March 6, the congress came fi ve months after the Fifth Congress of the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party, Party, which of ficially recognized the private sector as one of the key parts of the Cambodian economy (see pages 74 and 75). The congress in Moscow was the first chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev Gorbachev,, the new party secretary general who advocated restructuring (perestroika) to make the Soviet economy more ef ficient. A similar policy of renovation Party (doi moi) emerged from the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi at the end of the year.
Restructuring the revolution
Heng Samrin (right) meeting with Andrei Gromyko Gromyko (left) chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, in Moscow on October 3, 1986. Gromyko was better known for his role as Soviet foreign minister between 1957 and 1985 (LEONID PALLADIN/RIA-NOVOSTI)
Opposite: Heng Samrin (right) and Hun Sen (second from right) meeting with Soviet leader l eader Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev, Gorbachev, general secretary Communist Party of the Soviet Union (right), applauds as Heng Samrin addresses the party’s 27th Congress in Moscow on March 4, 1986 (V. AKIMOV/RIA-NOVOSTI)
Next two pages: Heng Samrin with foreign dignitaries on January 1, 1989, during celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of liberation (page 80, SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI) SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI) and with Lao
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HEAD OF STATE STATE AND AND PARTY LEADER
ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំរដ រដ និង ក់ កដឹដ់ ឹកំ កំគណបក គណបក
The Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodian Conflict were signed in Paris on October 23, 1991. Less than a week before, the Khmer People’s People’s Revolutionary Party held a congress in Phnom Penh and changed its name to the Cambodian People’ss Party, People’ Party, with Heng Samrin as honorary president. The renamed party was headed by Chea Sim, who had served as deputy chairman of the United Front Front and was now now president of the Senate. Senate. The move to abandon the original 1951 name of the party followed constitutional amendments adopted by the National Assembly in April, 1989, which created the State of Cambodia and dropped the word “revolutionary” from administrative bodies. Heng Samrin visiting East Germany in 1980
“The achievements achievements of the revolution revolution are the achievements achievements of the people.” people.” “If we don’t don’t insert the word ‘revolutionary’ there isn’t any problem,” problem,” Heng Samrin told a special Constitutional Commission set up by the party to discuss the amendments. “What is important impor tant is ‘people’s.’ ‘people’s.’ The achievements of the revolution are the achievements of the people because it was the people who accomplished them.”
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Cambodian People’s Party logo in 1991
Cambodian People’s Party logo since 1992
de parture Opposite: Heng Samrin attaches an order to the flag of the Vietnamese People’s Army during a departure ceremony for 18,000 volunteer soldiers on December 8, 1989 (SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI)
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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Flag of the Kingdom of of Cambodia
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SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR COUNCILLOR AND AND FOUR -STAR GENERAL
State of Cambodia (1989-1992) (1989-1992)
ឧតម ម ឹក កះមហក ះមហក និង យឧតមនី មនីយ៍ យ៍ផុផុតខ តខយស យស ៤
UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (1992-1993)
A
fter elections organized by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) in 1993, Heng Samrin was appointed as senior privy councillor to His Majesty Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, Sih anouk, the country’ countr y’ss new king. king. The State of Cambodia, which superseded the People’ss Republic of Kampuchea with a new flag and People’ constitutional amendments as part of reforms in 1989, was now a constitutional monarchy known as the Kingdom of Cambodia. Since 1991, Heng Samrin has been honorary president of the party, party, which changed its name to the Cambodian People’ss Party. People’ Party. In 1993, it was ruling as part par t of a coalition 88
Kingdom of Cambodia (since 1993)
government with a royalist faction previously aligned with the Khmer Rouge in a civil war with the People’ People’ss Republic from bases along the Thai border. Heng Samrin was also a member of the newly-elected National Assembly representing Kandal province. Chea Sim was the president of the renamed party. party. Deputy president was Hun Sen, who had been prime minister since 1985 and had taken an active role in peace talks concluded in 1991, which paved the way for the UN-sponsored elections in 1993. The king bestowed Heng Heng Samrin with the title of Samdech
ឧតម ម ឹក កះមហក ះមហក និង យឧតមនី មនីយ៍ យផុផ៍ ុតខ តខយស យស ៤
SENIOR ENIOR PRIVY PRIVY COUNCILLOR COUNCILLOR AND AND FOUR -STAR GENERAL
in February Februar y, 1994. Two years later, in January,, 1996, he was promoted to January the rank of four four-star -star general general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as the Khmer People’ People’ss Revolutionary Armed Forces were now known after merging with former resistance forces. On January 26, 1998, Samdech Heng Samrin became first vice president of the National Assembly. Assembly. In national elections later that year, he was re-elected to parliament representing represent ing the constituency constituency of his native province of Kompong Cham. He remained first vice president of the National Assembly after elections in 2003, when he was re-elected to represent the same constituency. constituency.
Samdech Heng Samrin (left) looks on as Samdech Hun Sen (second from left) and King Norodom Sihanouk (right) touch hands before the king boards a flight from Phnom Penh to China on June 24, 1999 ( ROB ELLIOTT/AFP)
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CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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Opening session of the National Assembly on September 24, 2008. From left, His Excellency Excellency Chea Soth, the oldest member of the Cambodian parliament, National Assembly President Samdech Heng Samrin, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, Senate President Samdech Chea Sim, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and Minister to the Royal Palace His Excellency Samdech Samdech Kong Sam Ol. The fourth Cambodian legislature under the constitution adopted in 1993 has 123 members including 27 women women and 6 members of ethnic minority groups. groups. 91
SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL
ធនរដស ស និង យឧតមនី មនីយ៍ យ៍ផុផតខ តុ ខយស យស ៥
O
n March 21, 2006, Samdech Heng Samrin was elected as president of the National Assembly Assembly.. In April, the United Front once again changed its name, this time to the United Front for the Developmen Developmentt of the Cambodian Motherland. Samdech Heng Samrin was named president of the front’s front’s national council. In October, 2007, King Norodom Sihamoni bestowed Heng Samrin with the title Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei.
Samdech Heng Samrin speaking to reporters report ers outside the old National Assembly building on March 21, 2006, the day he was elected as president of the assembly (KHEM SOVANNARA/AFP) SOVANNARA/AFP)
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Opposite: Samdech Heng Samrin meeting with Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong on July 7, 2006, during a fi ve-day visit to Vietnam
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ធនរដស ស និង យឧតមនី មនីយ៍ យ៍ផុផុតខ តខយស យស ៥
SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENT AND AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL
Samdech Heng Samrin was re-elected to the National Assembly in general elections on July 27, 2008. Voter turnout for the 8.13 million registered voters was 75.2 percent. The Cambodian People’ People’ss Party held 90 seats in the new assembly or 73 percent of the 123-member legislature. The Sam Rainsy Party held 26 seats followed by the Human Rights Party with three seats and Funcinpec and the Norodom Ranarridh Party with two seats each. Among the members of parliament were 27 women, women, more than a fifth of the total, total, and six representati representatives ves of ethnic minorities. Legislative Bodies Kingdom of Cambodia (1993-2013) (1993-2013) Legislative Body an and Period
Structure
Seats
Elections
Laws
1 Constitutional As Assembly (1993)
Multiparty
120
18/23-05-93
Constitution
2 National Assembly (1993-98)
Multiparty
122
18/23-05-93
90
3 National As Assembly (1 (1998-03)
Multiparty
123
26-07-1998
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4 National Assembly (2003-08)
Multiparty
123
27-07-2003
145
5 National As Assembly (2 (2008-13)
Multiparty
123
27-07-2008
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At the end of 2009, King Norodom Sihamoni promoted Samdech Heng Samrin to the rank of fi ve-star general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Opposite: Samdech Heng Samrin meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on October 15, 2007, during a six-day visit to Japan (KOJI SASAHARA/AFP)
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SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL
ធនរដស ស និង យឧតមនី មនីយ៍ យ៍ផុផតខ តុ ខយស យស ៥
The first session of the newly-elected National Assembly took place on September 24, 2008, under the patronage of His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni. Members were sworn in at the Royal Palace the same day. Under the chairmanship of His Excellency Excellency Chea Soth, Soth, who served as planning pla nning minister in the People’ People’ss Republic of Kampuchea and was now now the oldest member of parliament, Heng Samrin was re-elected as president of the National Assembly on September 25. Their Excellencies Nguon Nhel and Say Chhum were elected as first and second vice presidents. Also elected the same day were the chairpersons, vice chairpersons and secretaries of nine parliamentary commissions.
Samdech Heng Samrin chairs a meeting of the 12-member Permanent Standing Committee of the t he National Assembly
National Assembly Assembly leaders since 2008 President
Samdech Heng Samrin
Firs Fi rstt Vic Vicee Pre Presi side den nt
Hiss Exc Hi Excel elle lenc ncy y Ngu Nguon on Nh Nheel
Seco Se cond nd Vic Vicee Presi Preside dent nt
Hiss Exce Hi Excell llen ency cy Say Say Chhu Chhum m
National Assembly commissions 1stt Com 1s Commi miss ssio ion n
Huma Hu man n Rig Right hts, s, Re Rece cept ptio ion n of of Com Compl plai aint nts, s, Inv Inves esti tiga gati tion on,, and and Na Nati tion onal al As Asse semb mbly ly-Se -Sena nate te Re Rela lati tion onss
2nd Co Commission
Economy, Fi Finance, Ba Banking an and Audit
3rd 3r d Com Commi miss ssio ion n
Plan Pl anni ning ng,, Inv Inves estme tment nt,, Ag Agric ricul ultu ture re,, Rur Rural al De Deve velo lopm pmen ent, t, Env Enviro ironm nmen entt and and Wat ater er Re Reso sour urce cess
4th 4t h Co Comm mmis issi sion on
Inte In teri rior or,, Na Nati tion onal al De Defe fens nse, e, In Inve vest stig igat atio ion n an and d Pu Publ blic ic Fu Func ncti tion onss
5th 5t h Com Commi miss ssio ion n
Fore Fo reig ign n Af Affa fair irss and and In Inte tern rnat atio iona nall Coo Coope pera rati tion on,, Med Media ia an and d Inf Infor orma mati tion on
6th Commission
Legislation and Justice
7th 7t h Com Commi miss ssio ion n
Educ Ed ucat atio ion, n, You outh th,, Spo Sport rts, s, Re Reli ligi giou ouss Af Affa fair irs, s, Cu Cult ltur uree an and d Tou ouri rism sm
8th 8t h Com Commi miss ssio ion n
Heal He alth th,, Soc Socia iall Ac Actio tion, n, Vet eter eran ans, s, You outh th Re Reha habi bili lita tati tion on,, Lab Labou ourr and and Wom omen en's 's Af Affa fair irss
9th Com Commis missio sion n
Public Pub lic Work orks, s, Tr Trans anspor port, t, Tele elecom commun munica icatio tions, ns, Pos Posts, ts, Ind Indust ustry ry,, Mine Mines, s, Ene Energy rgy,, Tr Trade ade,, Urba Urban n Plan Plannin ning g and and Con Constr struct uction ion
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Opposite: The fourth legislature of the National Assembly in session. Almost three years into its fi ve year-mandate, it had passed 71 bills into law including the Penal Code, the Civil Code, the Penal Procedures Code, the Civil Procedures Code, the Anti-Corr uption Law and the Law on the Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate.
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Samdech Heng Samrin addressing the 19th assembly of the Asia Paci fic Parliamentary Forum in Ulaanbaatar in 2011 (left), meeting with Cuban Vice-President Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández (top right) and with Marzuki Alie, Speaker of the House of Representative Representativess of Indonesia (bottom right)
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Opposite: Samdech Heng Samrin with Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Secretary General Anders Johnsson at the IPU general assembly in Geneva in 2010. Cambodia is also a member of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), (APA), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly (APF), Asia Paci fic Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians for Population and Development Development (AFPPD).
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រ ដំដំល ល
Samdech Heng Samrin addressing the 31st AIPA General Assembly in Hanoi in September, 2010
On September, 2010, Samdech Heng Samrin assumed the one-year rotating presidency of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly at the end of its 31st General Assembly in Hanoi and began preparing for the 32nd General Assembly of AIP AIPA A in Phnom Penh Penh in 2011. The theme of the 32nd General Assembly is AIPA’s role in building a prosperous ASEAN Community.
Vietnam National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong (right) hands the gavel of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly to Samdech Heng Heng Samrin (second from left) at the conclusion of the 31st AIPA AIPA General Assembly in Hanoi on September 24, 2010 l eft) and Cambodian People’s Party President Samdech Opposite: National Assembly President Samdech Heng Samrin (second from left) Chea Sim (second from right) look on as His Royal Highness King Norodom Sihamoni (right) greets Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen
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LEGACY
CHILDHOOD PARTY MEMBER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER UNITED FRONT LEADER LIBERATION PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL POSTSCRIPT
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People’s Revolutionary Council President Heng Samrin with his wife Sao Ty and daughters Sam Aun (left) and Peou (right) at home in Phnom Penh shortly after liberation in 1979 105
POSTSCRIPT
អវនបថ
S
amdech Heng Samrin and his wife Lok Chumteav Sao Ty had four children, ten grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren as of mid-2011. During his spare time, time, the National Assembly president enjoys playing golf and reading.
Other decorations include the Medal of Sena Jayasedh Jayasedh and nine National Defense Medals (three gold, three silver and three bronze). In April, 2011, Samdech Heng Samrin became a full member of the Royal Royal Academy Academy of Cambo Cambodia dia and one of only three people to be awarded awarded the title of Kittipribanditt He has received numerous decorations, including the Medal for his contribution to the renaissance of the nation, society, society, of Nation National al Merit and Grand Cross Cross Medals Medals of both the Ro Royal yal tradition and the economy as well as international recognition Order of Cambo Cambodia dia and the Royal Royal Order of Sow Sowathara athara.. for his humanitarian and human rights work.
Samdech Heng Samrin and his wife Lok Chumteav Sao Ty Ty (center) with His Excellency Dr Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Council Ministers (left), Lok Chumteav Dr Kloth Thida, president president of the Royal Academy Academy of Cambodia (right), and other members of of the academy
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អវនបថ
Samdech Heng Samrin with the the Medal of National Merit. Other decorations include the Joliot-Curie Gold Peace Medal of the World Peace Peace Council awarded in 1980, the same year as Palestinian leader Yasser Yasser Arafat received the award award (top left), and medals from Bulgaria (top center and right), Cuba (middle left), Mongolia (middle center), Nicaragua (middle right), the Philippines (bottom left), Poland (bottom center), and the Soviet Union (bottom right).
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POSTSCRIPT
People’s Revolutionary Council President Heng Samrin with his wife Sao Ty and daughters Sam Aun and Peou in 1979 (left) and 1980 above
Opposite: Samdech Heng Samrin and his wife Lok Chumteav Sao Ty with their extended family in 2011. From left, son Heng Samnang, daughter-in-law Hou Rasmei, g rand-son Pen Vibolsak, son-in-law Pen Vibol, daughter Heng Sam Aun, Samdech and Lok Chumteav, Chumteav, daughter Heng Peou, son-in-law His Excellency Vong Vong Sauth, daughter Heng Sam An, grand-daughter Sim Sophal, grand-son-in-law Keo Piseth and son-in-law Pen Kosal. Next two pages: Samdech Heng Samrin and Lok Chumteav Sao Ty arriving for a ceremony at their home in Kompong Cham province in 2011 after inaugurating new housing for the families of war veterans from the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea founded by Heng Samrin in 1978. The couple are accompanied by (from left) Senior Minister Im Chun Lim and Deputy Prime Ministers Ke Kim Yan and Sar Kheng (page 110). During the ceremony with Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong Vong (page 111) (LEM CHAMNAP).
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