Heng Samrin Book English Final

Heng Samrin: A Man of the Peopleហង សំរិន ៈ បុរសរបស់ ជា ជន

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Heng Samrin: A Man of the People

ហង សំរិន ៈ បុរសរបស់ ជា ជន

EDITOR: PETER STARR

PHOTOS: RUSSIAN NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY (RIA-NOVOSTI), AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE (AFP), CAMBODIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION (CPA), NATIONAL BANK OF CAMBODIA, PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE,

CHHUT CHHEANA, LEM CHAMNAP AND SAMDECH HENG SAMRIN ARCHIVES

DESIGNER: CHHUT CHHEANA

First published in 2011 byGENERAL SECRETARIAT, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIARatsaphea Street, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamcarmon, Phnom Penh

Designed byRED LOTUS PUBLISHING

Printed in Takhmao byCOLOR PRINTING HOUSE

The opinions and interpretations expressed in this book do not necessarily represent the offi cial viewpoint of the Cambodian People’s Party.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978–999–63–643–0–3

The 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 of personal ambition and motivated

primarily by the needs of the people and the defense of his nation’s sovereignty.”

— Margaret Slocomb

Acknowledgments

Much of the text in this book comes from offi cial documents in the National Archives of Cambodia that were made available to Australian 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 offi cial 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 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: Strongman of Cambodia, published by Graham Brash in Singapore in 1999. The 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 ឧត្ត ម), Elizabeth Pisani, Prak Boraly ( ក់ បូរា លី), Thou Phearum (ធូ ភា រម្យ ), Fergal Quinn, Ambassador Truong Mealy ( ឿង មា លី) , Sum Sannisith (ស៊ុម សា ននិស្ស ិត), Suy Se (ស៊ុយ ស), Yin Socheat, (យិន សុជា តិ) and Tang Chhin Sothy, (តា ំង ឈិន សុធី).

Finally, the Cambodian National Assembly needs to be acknowledged for supporting the idea for a book, especially His Excellency Korm Kosal (គា ំម កុសល), chief of cabinet for Samdech Heng Samrin, and His Excellency Dr Pen Pannha (ប៉ន ប ្ញ ), the chairman of the assembly’s Legislation and Justice Commission who is also a member of the Permanent Committee of the Central Committee of the Cambodian People’s Party and a member of the National Council of the United Front for the Development of the Cambodian Motherland.

Foreword

Heng Samrin: A Man of the People is the title of a compilation which has no intention of being a biography of Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei Kittipribanditt Heng Samrin, offi cial or otherwise. Nor does it intend to be an academic work or a journalistic narrative.

Many of the original quotations from Samdech have been documented by Australian historian Margaret Slocomb, author of The People’s Republic of Kampuchea 1979-1989. According to Slocomb, the country “was fortunate … to have had in Heng Samrin, party leader and head of state, a ‘man of the people’, devoid of personal ambition and motivated primarily by the needs of the people and the defense of his nation’s sovereignty.”

With this in mind, Peter Starr, senior advisor for the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has put together a signifi cant compendium of text, photographs and other images which highlight important episodes in Samdech’s life. As a revolutionary soldier, Heng Samrin broke away from the Khmer Rouge to become the leader of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea, head of state, leader of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party, senior privy councillor to the king and ultimately president of the National 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 sacrifi ce for the cause of national liberation, the rebirth of the people and the nation, the consolidation of security and peace, the defense of sover-eignty and and the development of the motherland. As the son of a humble Khmer farmer, Samdech has lived, struggled for and served the nation justly and heroically under several fl ags. He continues to do so with the deepest love for the people and profound patriotism under the national motto “Nation – 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 persons of Cambodia.

Dr Pen Pannha

Contents

1. CHILDHOOD ............................................................................................................................8

2. PARTY MEMBER ...................................................................................................................12

3. REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER ...........................................................................................18

4. UNITED FRONT LEADER ................................................................................................36

5. LIBERATION ...........................................................................................................................46

6. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER ...................................................................52

7. HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER .....................................................................64

8. SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL .............................86

9. SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL ....................................90

10. POSTSCRIPT .........................................................................................................................104

8

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

99

Cambodia’s fi rst 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 fi lled in and the bridge removed, the Municipality of Phnom Penh recently recreated the bridge, now known as spean neak.

10

CHILDHOOD កុមា រភា ព

Heng Samrin was born in the eastern Cambodian province of Kompong Cham on 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 the province’s 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 (Union Indochinoise) which also included the northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam, known as Tonkin, Annam and Cochinchine.

Bamboo plantation workers in Kompong Cham in the early 20th century

11

កុមា រភា ព CHILDHOOD

By the time he was 19 years old, Heng Samrin had lived under three fl ags. 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

Protectorate of France (1863-1945, 1945-48) Autonomous Province of Japan (1942-45) Kingdom of Cambodia (1948-70)

Students from Kompong Cham school visiting Siem Reap in the 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 Heng Samrin was born.

1212

CHILDHOOD

PARTY MEMBER


UNITED FRONT LEADER

LIBERATION





POSTSCRIPT

1313

Achar Mean, the founding leader of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party in 1951

1414

15

សមា ជិកបក្ស PARTY MEMBER

This photograph dated 1950 appears to show a meeting of the Indochina Communist Party. The fl ags 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).

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.

Opposite: Cambodian freedom fi ghters during the struggle for independence from France in the early 1950s (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)

16

PARTY MEMBER សមា ជិកបក្ស

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 Revolutionary Party when Heng Samrin became a member in 1961

17

សមា ជិកបក្ស PARTY 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 fi gure in the Khmer Issarak movement which began fi ghting for independence in 1944. Members of the KPRP would later become known as the Khmers Rouges.

Khmer Issarak fl agPortrait of Achar Mean during a parade in the early 1950s

18

CHILDHOOD

PARTY MEMBER


UNITED FRONT LEADER

LIBERATION





POSTSCRIPT

19

A B-52 Stratofortress bombing an undisclosed target. The United States Air Force used these long-range jet-powered strategic bombers in secret missions over Cambodia in 1969.

20

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER យុទ្ធ ជនបដិវត្ត ន៍

As America was preparing to launch its secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos as part its war in Vietnam, Heng

Samrin joined the People’s 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 fl ee to Phnom Penh.

Khmer Republic (1970-75) Khmer Republic coat of arms

US President Richard Nixon announcing the 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 fi rst American attacks on Cambodia started in 1966 (NATIONAL ARCHIVES/AFP).

Opposite: International protest against the US invasion of Cambodia at the Order of Lenin Power Engineering

Institute in Moscow on May 7, 1970 (VLADIMIR AKIMOV/RIA-NOVOSTI)

21

ឆា ំដំបូង Early years

21

22

23

On April 17, 1975, victorious Khmer Rouge guerillas entered Phnom Penh. Before anyone had time to celebrate the end of more than fi ve years of civil war, the soldiers started evacuating the entire city, warning of an imminent American attack.

Controlled by the secretive Communist Party of Kampuchea led by Pol 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)

Opposite page: American forces in Cambodia in 1970 (RIA-NOVOSTI)

យុទ្ធ ជនបដិវត្ត ន៍ REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER

2424

25


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 thousands of city dwellers were being forced into the countryside.

Revolutionary aspirations for a new “era of independence, freedom and socialism” soon gave 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’s Army of Vietnam (Viet Minh) and the National Liberation Front (Viet 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)

26Pol Pot


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 as prime minister and Khieu Samphan as the new head of state. Ieng Sary was named deputy prime minister in charge of foreign affairs.

The announcement followed the inaugural meeting of the 250-member Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly chaired by Nuon Chea. The assembly never met again.

Nuon Chea Ieng Sary Khieu Samphan

27


By late 1976, there 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 fi ght” had broken out within the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

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 Revolutionary 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 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 interro-gated 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 Democratic Kampuchea

28


In April, 1977, Radio Phnom Penh called for the “extermination” of all Vietnamese still in Cambodia as well as Vietnamese-speaking Khmers and Khmers with Vietnamese friends.

On April 30, Khmer Rouge forces attacked villages in 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, fl ed to the jungle after refusing orders to prepare an attack on Tay Ninh near Ho Chi Minh City.

Hun Sen later crossed into Vietnam where he warned of the impending attacks by Pol 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. All three were arrested in 1978 and later executed.

2929


Escape to Vietnam“I left the area one year before Heng Samrin and Chea Sim,” Prime Minister Hun Sen recalled in an interview with Indian journalists in 1997. When he received orders to attack Vietnam along a 30-kilometer stretch of the border in 1977, Hun Sen was a 24-year-old lieutenant colonel in the People’s Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea with more than 2,000 soldiers under his command. “We were to use one battalion commanded by me and one led by Heng Samrin,” he said. “I delayed the fi ghting until I escaped. We used the pretext that we could not attack because we lacked fi eld intelligence.”

Under growing suspicion from Pol Pot forces, Hun Sen decided to fl ee to Vietnam. “Pol Pot sent soldiers to kill me,” he said. On the evening of June 20, 1977, he began a fi ve-hour trek to the border with four of his trusted soldiers. After reaching Koh Thmar village, part of Tunloung commune in the Memot district of Kompong Cham province, the group crossed into Loc Ninh district in what is now Binh Phuoc province in the early hours of June 21. “The people who were accompanying me were crying,” Hun Sen recalled. “I also cried, but I had to go and cry in private as I could not allow myself to be seen by the others otherwise they would not have any confi dence in me.”

Meeting no resistance, the Cambodians abandoned their weapons and walked about 20 kilometers to a village where they were detained by Vietnamese soldiers in the

early afternoon. After months in Vietnamese military detention as suspected Khmer Rouge spies, the soldiers sought political asylum, paving the way for Hun Sen to meet General Van Tieng Dung in Ho Chi Minh City on September 30.

Hun Sen’s meeting with the Vietnamese chief of staff and future defense minister took place less than a week after the Khmer Rouge attack on Tay Ninh province. “If Pol Pot had not attacked Vietnam, I don’t think we would have got the support of the Vietnamese to overthrow the Khmer Rouge,” Hun Sen said. “It was then that the Vietnamese decided to help Cambodia (and) believe my prediction that Pol Pot had been deciding to attack Vietnam.”

“When more and more people fl ed to Vietnam, the Vietnamese were convinced that there was a grave danger to their security. Then the Vietnamese called me to their headquarters and asked me to pinpoint the places they should attack,” Hun Sen said, referring to the retaliatory attacks against forces still loyal to Pol Pot. “I was grateful to them for allowing the Cambodians to move out of their areas which were being attacked, and to come and live in Vietnam. That provided me an opportunity to recruit soldiers for my forces. In this way, we could build twenty-eight battalions.”

Source: Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia by Harish and Julie Mehta

3030


Leave space for caption to come.......

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, Vietnamese troops were accompanied by about 60,000 Cambodians.

It was around this time that party veterans Hem Samin and Yos Por also escaped to Vietnam where they were joined by other defectors including Heng Samrin’s older brother Samkai, head of the military courier service in the Eastern Zone.

“We had come to realize,” Heng Samkai later told a journalist 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 younger sister Sam Seng.

Heng Samkai

“It was impossible to overthrow Pol Pot on our own”

3131


The Khmer Rouge severed diplomatic relations with Vietnam at the end of 1977. After further cross-border attacks by Pol Pot’s forces in April, 1978, Radio Phnom Penh reiterated the call to exterminate Vietnamese and to “purify our armed forces, our party and the masses of people.”

In May, Pol 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, including the forces of Heng Samrin, no longer enjoyed the confi dence of the Angkar (the Khmer Rouge).”

Following the execution of regimental commanders called to a conference in Phnom Penh, Heng Samrin headed to the jungle with 1,000 troops. Chea Sim, a district chief in the Eastern Zone, joined others such as Mat Ly, Men Chhan, Ouk Bun 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.

Kratie

Kompong Cham

Liberated zones were located near the Vietnamese border in Memot and Krek districts in Kompong Cham province and Snoul district in Kratie province

3232


32

In 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 population being moved to western Cambodia where about half would die. Around this time, Heng Samrin sent emissaries to Vietnam for assistance.

Amid fi ghting 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 ethnic minority in northeast Cambodia.

“I was so happy not only to see them but also to hear news of the

uprising in Cambodia”

Next two pages: Hun Sen visiting a liberated zone in 1978 ((PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE) (page 34) andmilitary training for Cambodians preparing to attack Pol Pot’s forces (AFP) (page 35)

Opposite: Chea Sim visiting a liberated zone in 1978 (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)

33

34

35

363636

CHILDHOOD

PARTY MEMBER


UNITED FRONT LEADER

LIBERATION





POSTSCRIPT

3737

The fi ve-tower temple fl ag revived by the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea

3838

3939

ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរណសិរ្ស សា មគ្គ ី UNITED FRONT LEADER

On 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 regime of unequalled 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 chairman of the Central Committee of the new United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea. “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 fl ag of the Khmer Issarak forces who fought the French for independence in the 1950s. Heng Samrin (right) with United Front soldiers (CPA)

Opposite: Heng Samrin (top left) with Hun Sen (bottom left). The three people in white shirts (from left) are Mat Ly, Chey Kanha and Chan Ven (RIA-NOVOSTI).

404040

4141


“Our people have witnessed massacres more atrocious, more barbarous than the Middle Ages or perpetuated by the Hitlerite fascists,” Heng Samrin said.

“All Cambodians have the right to return to their old native land and to 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 to the motherland have been killed en masse at all levels and in all places for the sole reason that they did not approve of the reactionary and barbarous policy of the Pol Pot — Ieng Sary clique?”

Heng Samrin presents a fl ag to General Kieng Savouth ahead of the military offensive to free Cambodia from Pol Pot (CPA)

Opposite: Heng Samrin reviewing soldiers of the United Front (CPA)

42

UNITED FRONT LEADER ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរណសិរ្ស សា មគ្គ ី

Other members of the front’s central committee included fellow defectors and former Khmer Issarak fi ghters as well as three civilians and a Buddhist monk. The defectors included two women and a member of the Cham Muslim minority which had been particularly terrorized by the Pol Pot regime.

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,” he said. “All Cambodians have freedom 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.”

United Front Central CommitteeHeng Samrin ChairmanChea Sim Deputy ChairmanRos Samay Secretary GeneralMat Ly MemberBun Mi MemberHun Sen MemberMean Soman MemberMeas Samang MemberNeou Samon MemberVen. Long Sim MemberHem Samin MemberChey Kanha MemberChan Ven MemberPrach Sun Member

Opposite: The 14 founding members of the United Front at their meeting in Snoul on December 2, 1978. From left to right: Neou Samon, Mat Ly, Bun My, Hem Samin, Hun Sen, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Ros Samay, Venerable Long Sim, Prak Sun, Chey Kanha, Mean Soman, Chan Ven and Meas Samang (CPA)

4343

44

UNITED FRONT LEADER ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរណសិរ្ស សា មគ្គ ី

The 11-point program of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea

45


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.”

On December 25, 1978, about 100,000 Vietnamese troops and 20,000 Cambodian soldiers from the United Front advanced into Cambodia.

Stung TrengJan 3 (៣ មករា )

KratieDec 30 (៣០ ធ្ន ូ)

Kompong Cham(៦ មករា )(៦ ម

Phnom PenhJan 7 (៧ មករា )

Neak LoungJan 5 (៥ មករា )

Kompong SomJan 7 (៧ មករា )

In less than two weeks, United Front forces and Vietnamese volunteers liberated more than a third of the country

4646464646

CHILDHOOD

PARTY MEMBER


UNITED FRONT LEADER

LIBERATION





POSTSCRIPT

47474747United Front forces entering Phnom Penh

48

49

រំ ះ LIBERATION

The 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 January 7, less than two weeks after the offensive began.

“When the fi ghting stopped, the 20,000-strong force we started with ended as 40,000, as the Pol Pot regime collapsed before the people’s forces,” Hun Sen told Indian journalists 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 Army had carefully studied Pol Pot’s units, and knew how to fi ght them,” Hun Sen recalled. “When they attacked Pol Pot’s troops in Svay Rieng, they chased them all the way to Siem Reap.”

Peace and Cambodian-Vietnamese friendship as depicted in 1979 by Kampuchea, the newspaper of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea

49Opposite: United Front soldiers relaxing before the offensive against Pol Pot forces began on December 25, 1978. Traditional dances such as this coconut dance (robam kustroloak) were banned by the Khmer Rouge (AFP).

50

Inspiration for patriots“[The Pol Pot — Ieng Sary reactionaries] 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 rivers red”

“Millions of our compatriots have fallen 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 its 11-point political program on December 2, 1978.”

— Heng Samrin, Speech at Victory Celebration Ceremony, January, 1979

Opposite: Warm welcome for United Front soldiers liberating a Khmer Rouge “mobile unit for young women” (korngchalat yuvakneary) in 1979 (RIA-NOVOSTI)

Poster offers life for a people who had been living in hell

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PARTY MEMBER PARTY MEMBER

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERREVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER

UNITED FRONT LEADERUNITED FRONT LEADER

LIBERATIONLIBERATION

PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADERPROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER

HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER

SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERALSENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL

SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL

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Heng Samrin making an address as chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Council established on January 8, 1979

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PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរដា ភិបា លប ្ខ ះអា សន្ន

On January 8, 1979, a day after Phnom Penh was liberated, Heng Samrin

was appointed president of the People’s Revolutionary Council of Kampuchea, a provisional government to rule the country in the absence of a new constitution.

One of the fi rst moves of the council was to declare the founding of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea on January 15.

The eight-member council included three other 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 fl ed to Hanoi in 1953.

Rebuilding the partyThe formation of the People’s Revolutionary Council coincided with a congress to rebuild the party, 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 fl ed to Vietnam. Say Phouthang, a military commander from southwest Cambodia, became the eighth member of the central committee at an extraordinary meeting of the 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 of Kampuchea 16 years earlier. 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.

Heng Samrin

Chea Sim

Opposite: People in Phnom Penh celebrate Khmer New Year on April 15, 1979, four years after Pot Pot’s forces evacuated the city. The sign to the left says “People’s Republic of Kampuchea” and the one to the right reads “Eliminate discriminatory and separatist regime of Pol Pot — Ieng Sary.” (OZEROV/RIA-NOVOSTI).

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The priorities during the fi rst 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 fulfi ll multiple tasks.

In a six-month report issued by the People’s Revolutionary Council and the United Front in July, 1979, Heng Samrin urged compatriots to “raise 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. The distribution must ensure justice

International assistanceApart from India, the countries recognizing the fl edgling state over the next decade would be limited to the Soviet-led socialist bloc. In addition to the Soviet Union, this included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, 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.”

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 of their reunited families,” Heng Samrin said, pointing to the “the pride and joy of our people.”

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Yet the provisional government still faced enormous challenges ahead. “We must try hard, with all our capacity, to do more,” the People’s Revolutionary Council chairman said. “With the assistance of other countries in the world and the assistance of countries who want to help us redevelop our country quickly, we can do it.”

The fl edgling armed forces of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea faced numerous challenges. “Our cadres and combatants not only have to sweep out the enemy, they must also join in the building of the state authority, care for the security system, help to care for the people in increasing the harvest, solve the problem of hunger and treat people’s diseases,” Heng Samrin said. “Our armed forces must therefore be strong in all areas.”

ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរដា ភិបា លប ្ខ ះអា សន្ន PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER

People’s Revolutionary Council Chairman Heng Samrin (second from right) meeting with Soviet Council of Ministers Chairman Alexei Kosygin (right) in Moscow in August, 1979. At left is Ros Samay, secretary general of the United Front (PRIHODKO/RIA-NOVOSTI).

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Relaunching the currencyOne of the fi rst major achievements of Heng Samrin’s provisional government was to start issuing currency, which had been abolished under the Pol 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’s 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 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,” recalled Chea Chanto, who headed the new Municipal Bank of Phnom Penh at the time. “People were 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, provide bank credit and facilitate purchase of merchandise from state-owned stores. The value of the riel was equal to a kilo of rice. Against the dollar, the riel’s value was initially fi xed at 25 cents, based on the prevailing international market value of rice which was $250 a tonne.

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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 the commencement of this year’s wet season, the weather was kind and gave us rain from the beginning of the year,” the People’s Revolutionary Council chairman said in a telex to various ministries in 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.

“The weather was kind and gave us rain from the beginning

of the year.”

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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 and transport all

those products freely.”

Ducks arriving at the central market (psar thmei) in Phnom Penh (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)

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Broadening the United FrontDuring 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 to 35 members. Broadening the United Front to include more non-party members was considered a priority in the six-month report issued jointly by the front and the People’s Revolutionary Council two months earlier.

“The Central Committee of the 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 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 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. 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.”

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.

“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 must discuss all matters to be resolved democratically together within the Front and decisions must have the approval of the revolutionary state authority.”

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Moreover, “freedom of belief of all religions must be implemented according to the law,” the circular continued. “Clergy or religious organizations do worthwhile activities for the nation and the people. These clergy or religious organizations are protected.”

“Freedom of belief has been guaranteed by the revolutionary

state authority.”

At the Fourth Congress of the Khmer 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 to the new priorities of rebuilding the nation and defending it from the Khmer Rouge and other resistance forces along the Thai border.Buddhist laymen and monks in 1988 (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)

Plaque of the United Front for the National Reconstruction and Defense of Kampuchea depicting (from left) a monk, a member of an ethnic minority, a teacher, a woman, a worker and a soldier.

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Heng Samrin at the press center of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow on March 5, 1986 (PRIHODKO/RIA-NOVOSTI)

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HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរដ្ឋ និង ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំគណបក្ស

In 1981, Heng Samrin was elected to the National Assembly of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Representing the

Phnom Penh 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, and a monk. Chea Sim was elected to serve as the assembly’s fi rst president.

At its fi rst 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 fi nance, and a new central bank known as the National Bank of the People of Kampuchea.

In December, Heng Samrin was appointed secretary general of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party and honorary

Offi cial portrait

Members of parliament in 1982. National Assembly President Chea Sim (fourth from right) is standing next to State Council President Heng Samrin (fi fth from right). Planning Minister Chea Soth is on the right in the front row.

president of the United 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 fi rst fi ve-year plan and formally recognized the existence of the private sector as one of the four pillars of the economy.

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ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំរដ្ឋ និង ថា ក់ដឹកនា ំគណបក្ស HEAD OF STATE AND PARTY LEADER

Like the country’s previous six elections between 1955 and 1976, the election for the National Assembly in 1981 were for a single-party legislature. Multi-party legislatures were limited to the pre-independence period, dating back to a Constitutional Assembly elected in 1946 and two legislatures elected in National Assembly elections in 1947 and 1951.

“The national election was undoubtedly a major achievement and a source of great pride for the

young administration.”

According to Australian historian Margaret Slocomb, “the national election was undoubtedly a major achievement and a source of great pride for the young administration. The heavy workload and the extent and detail of the organization for the election proved its worth … Twelve years later, twenty-two thousand UN troops and civilian administrators with fl eets of new cars, satellite communications systems and a $2.8 billion budget would achieve essentially the same result. The 1981 elections did not allow for more than one party to contest them but the documents do show that in 1993, Cambodians did not have to learn from foreigners how to run a free and fair election.”

Legislative BodiesFrench Protectorate, Kingdom of Cambodia, Khmer Republic, Democratic Kampuchea, People’s Republic of Kampuchea and State of Cambodia (1946-1993)

Legislative Body and Period Structure Seats Election Dates1 Constitutional Assembly (1946-47) Multiparty 67 01-09-19462 National Assembly (1947-51) Multiparty 75 21-12-19473 National Assembly (1951-53) Multiparty 78 09-09-19514 National Assembly (1955-58) Single party 91 11-09-19555 National Assembly (1958-62) Single party 61 23-09-19586 National Assembly (1962-66) Single party 77 10-06-19627 National Assembly (1966-72) Single party 82 11-09-19668 National Assembly (1972-75) Single party 126 03-09-19729 People's Representative Assembly (1976) Single party 250 20-03-1976

10 National Assembly (1981-1993) Single party 117 01-05-1981

National Assembly election

When seats fell vacant in the parliament elected in 1981, by-elections were held but often limited to selected areas for security and fi nancial reasons. As the fi ve-year mandate of the National Assembly was drawing to a close, the State Council discussed the possibility of fresh elections. After considering the time and cost involved, it was decided to extend the parliamentary term for another fi ve years

while focusing on economic reforms and securing areas along the Thai border, which were strongholds of the Khmer Rouge and other resistance forces. “What’s important is our actual situation,” Heng Samrin told a council meeting in August, 1986. “We must decide on the economic agenda that the Fifth Party Congress has established and a system for defending the border must be determined.”

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Rebuilding the educational infrastructureWith 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, a founding member of the United Front, and carried out by the ministry’s Department of Adult Education.

“Education of adults is really a basic means for building the economy and

defending the 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,” he said.

“Cadres, staff, 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,” 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.”

During the three-year campaign, which reached hundreds of thousands of adults, Heng Samrin said that many volunteer teachers “endured diffi culties to fulfi ll their duties actively to liberate hundreds of illiterates.” Other teachers “overcame all diffi culties until they sacrifi ced 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, paraffi n oil,” he said. “As well they helped to support the livelihoods of the teachers with rice, money 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 movement.” With a second three-year campaign launched in 1984, an estimated one million people learned to read and write.

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Under Heng Samrin’s leadership, thousands of young Cambodians benefi ted 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 photograph above (A. POGOTOVA/RIA-NOVOSTI) shows Cambodians who were studying at Vocational School No 4 in Mineralniye Vodi in Stavropol in southern Russia in 1984.

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Heng Samrin visiting East Germany (above left) and with Czechoslovakian leader Gustav Husak (above right) and with East German leader Erich Honecker (below right, 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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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. 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,” 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.”

“The responsibility of our party and state is to build a national economy in conformity with the conditions of the country and organize production in the direction of socialism in which the state-run economy and collective economy are the main components of the national economy,” Heng Samrin said. “To utilize the existing possibilities and capacities of production correctly and to mitigate the weaknesses of the state-run sector, we advocate the development of our economy encompassing four components: the economy of the state-run sector, the collective economy, the family-run economy and the private economy.”

During the congress, Heng Samrin announced details of the country’s fi rst fi ve-year economic plan from 1986 to 1990. The plan focussed on maximizing agricultural production in the rice, rubber, fi sheries and forestry sectors.

Recognizing the private sector

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“We advocate the development of our economy encompassing four components: the economy of the state-run sector, the collective economy,

the family-run economy and the private economy.”


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Marx, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Achar Mean and Tou SamouthAlthough the People’s Republic of Kampuchea had free markets and offi cially recognized the private sector in 1985, the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party remained a Marxist-Lenist political organization. Public parades typically featured portraits of both German philosopher and economist Karl Marx and 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 Mean, the founding leader of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party in 1951, and his successor, Tou Samouth who disappeared in 1962, allowing Pol Pot to take over the party. Achar Mean was depicted in two bank notes that began circulating in 1990 and 1992. Although issued by the State of Cambodia, these banknotes still bore the distinctive coat of arms of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea 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 50-riel note featuring Achar Mean issued in 1992A 100-riel note featuring Achar Mean issued in 1990

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Parade 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-NOVOSTI)

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Rebuilding the armed forcesThe development of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces was a top priority for the People’s Revolutionary Council chaired by Heng Samrin as well as the State Council and Council of Ministers that succeeded the provisional government 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.

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 fi rst 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.

A postage stamp issued in 1984 to commemorate the 5th anniversary of liberation from the Pol Pot regime

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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Life in Phnom Penh

Children enjoying a ride with Sambo the elephant at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh in 1988 (Sergey Subbotin/RIA-NOVOSTI)

Intersection of Achar Mean Boulevard (now known as Monivong Boulevard) and Kampuchea Vietnam Boulevard (Kampuchea Krom Boulevard) in 1988 (ULOZJAVICHUS/RIA-NOVOSTI)

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Opposite: Heng Samrin (right) and Hun Sen (second from right) meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (left) in Moscow (CPA)

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) and with Lao

People’s Revolutionary Party Secretary General Kaysone Phomivane in Vientiane (page 81, CPA)

Mikhail 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)

PerestroikaIn 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 Revolutionary Party, which offi cially 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 fi rst chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, the new party secretary general who advocated restructuring (perestroika) to make the Soviet economy more effi cient. A similar policy of renovation (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 (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)

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Cambodian People’s Party logo in 1991

Cambodian People’s Party logo since 1992

The Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodian Confl ict were signed in Paris on October 23, 1991. Less than a week before, the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party held a congress in Phnom Penh and changed its name to the Cambodian People’s 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 and was now president of the 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.

“The achievements of the revolution are the achievements of the people.”

“If we don’t insert the word ‘revolutionary’ there isn’t any problem,” Heng Samrin told a special Constitutional Commission set up by the party to discuss the amendments. “What is important is ‘people’s.’ The achievements of the revolution are the achievements of the people because it was the people who accomplished them.”

Opposite: Heng Samrin attaches an order to the fl ag of the Vietnamese People’s Army during a departure ceremony for 18,000 volunteer soldiers on December 8, 1989 (SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI)

Heng Samrin visiting East Germany in 1980

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Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia

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SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL ឧត្ត ម ឹក ះមហា ក្ស និង នា យឧត្ត មសនីយ៍ផុតលខផា្ក យមា ស ៤

After 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, the country’s new king. The State of Cambodia, which superseded the People’s Republic of Kampuchea with a new fl ag and 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, which changed its name to the Cambodian People’s Party. In 1993, it was ruling as part of a coalition

government with a royalist faction previously aligned with the Khmer Rouge in a civil war with the People’s 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. 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 Samrin with the title of Samdech

State of Cambodia (1989-1992) UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (1992-1993) Kingdom of Cambodia (since 1993)

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ឧត្ត ម ឹក ះមហា ក្ស និង នា យឧត្ត មសនីយ៍ផុតលខផា្ក យមា ស ៤ SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL

in February, 1994. Two years later, in January, 1996, he was promoted to the rank of four-star general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces were now known after merging with former resistance forces.

On January 26, 1998, Samdech Heng Samrin became fi rst vice president of the National Assembly. In national elections later that year, he was re-elected to parliament representing the constituency of his native province of Kompong Cham. He remained fi rst vice president of the National Assembly after elections in 2003, when he was re-elected to represent the same 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 fl ight from Phnom Penh to China on June 24, 1999 (ROB ELLIOTT/AFP)

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Opening session of the National Assembly on September 24, 2008. From left, His 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 Kong Sam Ol. The fourth Cambodian legislature under the constitution adopted in 1993 has 123 members including 27 women and 6 members of ethnic minority groups.

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SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL ធា នរដ្ឋ សភា និង នា យឧត្ត មសនីយ៍ផុតលខផា្ក យមា ស ៥

On March 21, 2006, Samdech Heng Samrin

was elected as president of the National Assembly. In April, the United Front once again changed its name, this time to the United Front for the Development of the Cambodian Motherland. Samdech Heng Samrin was named president of the front’s national council.

In October, 2007, King Norodom Sihamoni bestowed Heng Samrin with the title Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei.

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

Samdech Heng Samrin speaking to reporters outside the old National Assembly building on March 21, 2006, the day he was elected as president of the assembly (KHEM SOVANNARA/AFP)

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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’s 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, more than a fi fth of the total, and six representatives of ethnic minorities.

ធា នរដ្ឋ សភា និង នា យឧត្ត មសនីយ៍ផុតលខផា្ក យមា ស ៥ SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL

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)

Legislative BodiesKingdom of Cambodia (1993-2013)

Legislative Body and Period Structure Seats Elections Laws1 Constitutional Assembly (1993) Multiparty 120 18/23-05-93 Constitution2 National Assembly (1993-98) Multiparty 122 18/23-05-93 903 National Assembly (1998-03) Multiparty 123 26-07-1998 884 National Assembly (2003-08) Multiparty 123 27-07-2003 1455 National Assembly (2008-13) Multiparty 123 27-07-2008 61

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

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The fi rst 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 Chea Soth, who served as planning minister in the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and was 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 fi rst and second vice presidents. Also elected the same day were the chairpersons, vice chairpersons and secretaries of nine parliamentary commissions.

National Assembly leaders since 2008President Samdech Heng SamrinFirst Vice President His Excellency Nguon NhelSecond Vice President His Excellency Say Chhum

National Assembly commissions1st Commission Human Rights, Reception of Complaints, Investigation, and National Assembly-Senate Relations2nd Commission Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit 3rd Commission Planning, Investment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment and Water Resources 4th Commission Interior, National Defense, Investigation and Public Functions5th Commission Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Media and Information6th Commission Legislation and Justice7th Commission Education, Youth, Sports, Religious Affairs, Culture and Tourism8th Commission Health, Social Action, Veterans, Youth Rehabilitation, Labour and Women's Affairs 9th Commission Public Works, Transport, Telecommunications, Posts, Industry, Mines, Energy, Trade, Urban Planning and Construction

Samdech Heng Samrin chairs a meeting of the 12-member Permanent Standing Committee of the National Assembly

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-Corruption Law and the Law on the Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate.

Next two pages: Interior of the new National Assembly building opened on July 7, 2007 (CHHUT CHHEANA)

SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL ធា នរដ្ឋ សភា និង នា យឧត្ត មសនីយ៍ផុតលខផា្ក យមា ស ៥

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Samdech Heng Samrin addressing the 19th assembly of the Asia Pacifi c 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 Representatives 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), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly (APF), Asia Pacifi c Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (AFPPD).

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ករ ិ៍ ដំណល LEGACY

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 AIPA in Phnom 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 Samrin (second from left) at the conclusion of the 31st AIPA General Assembly in Hanoi on September 24, 2010

Samdech Heng Samrin addressing the 31st AIPA General Assembly in Hanoi in September, 2010

Opposite: National Assembly President Samdech Heng Samrin (second from left) and Cambodian People’s Party President Samdech Chea Sim (second from right) look on as His Royal Highness King Norodom Sihamoni (right) greets Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen (left) during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh on November 20, 2010 (TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP)

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CHILDHOODCHILDHOOD










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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

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POSTSCRIPT អវសា នបថ

Samdech Heng Samrin and his wife Lok Chumteav Sao Ty had four children, ten grandchildren and three great-

grandchildren as of mid-2011. During his spare time, the National Assembly president enjoys playing golf and reading.

He has received numerous decorations, including the Medal of National Merit and Grand Cross Medals of both the Royal Order of Cambodia and the Royal Order of Sowathara.

Other decorations include the Medal of Sena 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 Academy of Cambodia and one of only three people to be awarded the title of Kittipribanditt for his contribution to the renaissance of the nation, society, tradition and the economy as well as international recognition for his humanitarian and human rights work.

Samdech Heng Samrin and his wife Lok Chumteav Sao 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 of the Royal Academy of Cambodia (right), and other members of the academy

អវសា នបថ POSTSCRIPT

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Samdech Heng Samrin with the Medal of National Merit. Other deco-rations include the Joliot-Curie Gold Peace Medal of the World Peace Council awarded in 1980, the same year as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat received the 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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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, grand-son Pen

Vibolsak, son-in-law Pen Vibol, daughter Heng Sam Aun, Samdech and Lok Chumteav, daughter Heng Peou, son-in-law His Excellency 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 (page

111) (LEM CHAMNAP).

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Documents

Heng Samrin Book English Final