Heng Samrin Book English Final

Heng Samrin:
A Man of the People

Inside cover
End paper
10% of Buddha image
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End paper
Heng Samrin:
A Man of the People

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 by
GENERAL 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 ofcial
viewpoint of the Cambodian Peoples 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: 9789996364303
The Peoples 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 nations sovereignty.
Margaret Slocomb
Acknowledgments
Much of the text in this book comes from ofcial 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 Peoples Republic of Kampuchea 1979-1989, published by Silkworm Books in
Bangkok in 2003.
Additional sources include other ofcial 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 Gardre.
Special thanks to Roseanna Barbero, Margaret Bywater, Darryl Collins, Craig Etcheson, Luke Hunt, Helen Jarvis, Lem Oudom ( ), Elizabeth
Pisani, Prak Boraly ( ), Thou Phearum ( ), Fergal Quinn, Ambassador Truong Mealy ( ) , Sum Sannisith ( ),
Suy Se ( ), Yin Socheat, ( ) and Tang Chhin Sothy, ( ).
Finally, the Cambodian National Assembly needs to be acknowledged for supporting the idea for a book, especially His Excellency Korm Kosal (
), chief of cabinet for Samdech Heng Samrin, and His Excellency Dr Pen Pannha ( ), the chairman of the assemblys Legislation and
Justice Commission who is also a member of the Permanent Committee of the Central Committee of the Cambodian Peoples 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, ofcial 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 Peoples 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 nations sovereignty.
With this in mind, Peter Starr, senior advisor for the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has put together a signicant compendium of
text, photographs and other images which highlight important episodes in Samdechs 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 Peoples
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
sacrice 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 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
Cambodias 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 lled in and
the bridge removed, the Municipality of Phnom Penh recently recreated the bridge, now known as
spean neak.
10
CHILDHOOD
H
eng 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 provinces 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
CHILDHOOD
By the time he was 19 years old, Heng Samrin
had lived under three 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 Japans 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.
12 12
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
13 13
Achar Mean, the founding leader of the Khmer Peoples
Revolutionary Party in 1951
14 14
15
PARTY MEMBER
This photograph dated 1950 appears to show a meeting of the Indochina Communist Party. The
ags at the back were later adopted by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (left), the Workers
Party of Vietnam (center) and the Khmer Peoples Revolutionary Party (right).
After undertaking advanced political studies,
Heng Samrin began working for the Khmer
Peoples 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 Peoples
Revolutionary Party and the Workers Party of
Vietnam.
Opposite: Cambodian freedom ghters during the struggle for independence from France in the early 1950s (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)
16
PARTY MEMBER
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 partys founding
members in 1951. He had also served as a
deputy to Achar Mean in the Provisional
Peoples 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 Peoples Revolutionary Party when
Heng Samrin became a member in 1961
17
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 gure in
the Khmer Issarak movement which began
ghting for independence in 1944. Members
of the KPRP would later become known as
the Khmers Rouges.
Khmer Issarak ag
Portrait 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
A
s America was preparing to launch its secret bombing
of Cambodia and Laos as part its war in Vietnam, Heng
Samrin joined the Peoples 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 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 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
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
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)
24 24
25
According to Heng Samrin, a colonel in the Peoples 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
Peoples 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)
26
Pol 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 Peoples 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 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 Peoples 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 Peoples 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 Vietnams 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, 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.
29 29
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 Peoples 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 ghting until I escaped. We used the pretext that we
could not attack because we lacked eld intelligence.
Under growing suspicion from Pol Pot forces, Hun Sen
decided to ee to Vietnam. Pol Pot sent soldiers to kill
me, he said. On the evening of June 20, 1977, he began
a 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
condence 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 Sens 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 dont 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 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
30 30
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 Samrins 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 Samrins younger sister Sam Seng.
Heng Samkai
It was impossible to overthrow
Pol Pot on our own
31 31
The Khmer Rouge severed diplomatic relations with Vietnam
at the end of 1977. After further cross-border attacks by Pol
Pots 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
condence 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
32 32
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 zones population being
moved to western Cambodia where about half would die. Around
this time, Heng Samrin sent emissaries to Vietnam for assistance.
Amid 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) and
military training for Cambodians preparing to attack Pol Pots forces (AFP) (page 35)
Opposite: Chea Sim visiting a liberated zone in 1978 (PRACHEACHUN MAGAZINE)
33
34
35
36 36 36
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
37 37
The ve-tower temple ag revived by the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea
38 38
39 39
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
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 ve-tower temple 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).
40 40 40
41 41
UNITED FRONT LEADER
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 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
Other members of the fronts
central committee included fellow
defectors and former Khmer
Issarak 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 peoples 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 Committee
Heng Samrin
Chairman
Chea Sim
Deputy Chairman
Ros Samay
Secretary General
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
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)
43 43
44
UNITED FRONT LEADER
The 11-point program of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea
45
UNITED FRONT LEADER
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 Treng
Jan 3 ( )
Kratie
Dec 30 ( )
Kompong Cham
( ) (
Phnom Penh
Jan 7 ( )
Neak Loung
Jan 5 ( )
Kompong Som
Jan 7 ( )
In less than two weeks, United Front forces and Vietnamese volunteers liberated more than a third of the country
46 46 46 46 46
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
47 47 47 47
United Front forces entering Phnom Penh
48
49
U 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
January 7, less than two weeks after the offensive began.
When the ghting stopped, the 20,000-strong force we
started with ended as 40,000, as the Pol Pot regime collapsed
before the peoples 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
Pots units, and knew how to ght them, Hun Sen recalled.
When they attacked Pol Pots 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
49
Opposite: 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
51
52 52 52 52 52 52 52
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
53 53 53 53 53 53
Heng Samrin making an address as chairman of the Peoples Revolutionary Council established on
January 8, 1979
54
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER !
O
n January 8, 1979, a day after Phnom
Penh was liberated, Heng Samrin
was appointed president of the Peoples
Revolutionary Council of Kampuchea, a
provisional government to rule the country
in the absence of a new constitution.
One of the rst moves of the council was
to declare the founding of the Peoples
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 ed to Hanoi in
1953.
Rebuilding the party
The formation of the Peoples 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 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
Peoples Revolutionary Party, the partys 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 Pots forces evacuated the city. The sign to the left says Peoples Republic
of Kampuchea and the one to the right reads Eliminate discriminatory and separatist regime of Pol Pot Ieng Sary. (OZEROV/RIA-NOVOSTI).
55
56
The priorities during the 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 fulll multiple tasks.
In a six-month report issued by the Peoples 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 assistance
Apart from India, the countries recognizing the 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 countrys 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.
57
Yet the provisional government still
faced enormous challenges ahead. We
must try hard, with all our capacity, to
do more, the Peoples 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 edgling armed forces of the
Peoples 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
peoples diseases, Heng Samrin said.
Our armed forces must therefore be
strong in all areas.
! PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADER
Peoples 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).
58
Relaunching the currency
One of the rst major achievements of Heng Samrins 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
Peoples 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 banks provincial branch before being transported by
military convoy to Phnom Penh, the new riel began circulating on March 20,
1980, 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 exchangeone riel for three dongand 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 riels value
was initially xed at 25 cents, based on the prevailing international market
value of rice which was $250 a tonne.
59
60
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
years wet season, the weather was kind and gave us
rain from the beginning of the year, the Peoples
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.
61
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)
62
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 fronts
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 Peoples 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 Peoples 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.
63
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 Peoples 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.
64 64 64
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
65 65 65
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)
66
I
n 1981, Heng Samrin was elected to the National Assembly
of the Peoples 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 assemblys rst president.
At its 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
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 Peoples Revolutionary Party and honorary
Ofcial portrait
Members of parliament in 1982. National Assembly President Chea Sim (fourth
from right) is standing next to State Council President Heng Samrin (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 countrys rst ve-
year plan and formally recognized the
existence of the private sector as one
of the four pillars of the economy.
67
Like the countrys 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 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 Bodies
French Protectorate, Kingdom of Cambodia, Khmer Republic, Democratic Kampuchea,
Peoples Republic of Kampuchea and State of Cambodia (1946-1993)
Legislative Body and Period Structure Seats Election Dates
1 Constitutional Assembly (1946-47) Multiparty 67 01-09-1946
2 National Assembly (1947-51) Multiparty 75 21-12-1947
3 National Assembly (1951-53) Multiparty 78 09-09-1951
4 National Assembly (1955-58) Single party 91 11-09-1955
9 People's Representative Assembly (1976) Single party 250 20-03-1976
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 nancial reasons. As the 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 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. Whats 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.
68
Rebuilding the educational infrastructure
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, a founding member of the United Front, and carried out by the ministrys
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 difculties to
fulll their duties actively to liberate hundreds of illiterates. Other teachers
overcame all difculties until they sacriced 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, parafn 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.
69 69
Under Heng Samrins leadership, thousands of young Cambodians beneted 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.
70 70
71
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
72
73
74
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 Peoples 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 countrys rst ve-year
economic plan from 1986 to 1990. The plan focussed on maximizing agricultural
production in the rice, rubber, sheries and forestry sectors.
Recognizing the private sector
75
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.
76
Marx, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Achar Mean and Tou Samouth
Although the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea had free markets and ofcially
recognized the private sector in 1985, the Khmer Peoples 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 Peoples 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 Peoples Republic of Kampuchea with its 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 1992
A 100-riel note featuring Achar Mean issued in 1990
77
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)
78
Rebuilding the armed forces
The development of the Khmer
Peoples Revolutionary Armed Forces
was a top priority for the Peoples
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 ve-year agreement signed
by Cambodia and Vietnam in 1981,
the aim was for all divisions, brigades
and regiments of the Khmer Peoples
Revolutionary Armed Forces to serve
as the 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 Peoples Revolutionary Armed Forces in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom
Penh on August 1, 1990 (SERGEY SUBBOTIN/RIA-NOVOSTI)
79
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)
80 80
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
Peoples 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 partys 27th Congress in
Moscow on March 4, 1986 (V. AKIMOV/RIA-NOVOSTI)
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 ve months
after the Fifth Congress of the Khmer Peoples Revolutionary Party,
which ofcially 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 rst chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, the new party
secretary general who advocated restructuring (perestroika) to make
the Soviet economy more efcient. 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)
82
83
84
Cambodian Peoples Party
logo in 1991
Cambodian Peoples Party
logo since 1992
The Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the
Cambodian Conict were signed in Paris on October 23, 1991. Less
than a week before, the Khmer Peoples Revolutionary Party held a
congress in Phnom Penh and changed its name to the Cambodian
Peoples 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 dont insert the word revolutionary there isnt any problem,
Heng Samrin told a special Constitutional Commission set up by the
party to discuss the amendments. What is important is peoples.
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 ag of the Vietnamese Peoples 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
85 85
86 86 86 86
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
87 87 87 87
Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia
88
SENIOR PRIVY COUNCILLOR AND FOUR-STAR GENERAL _ _ _ _
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, the countrys
new king. The State of Cambodia, which superseded the
Peoples Republic of Kampuchea with a new 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
Peoples 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 Peoples 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)
89
_ _ _ _ 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 Peoples Revolutionary
Armed Forces were now known
after merging with former resistance
forces.
On January 26, 1998, Samdech
Heng Samrin became 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 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 ight from Phnom Penh to China on June 24, 1999 (ROB ELLIOTT/AFP)
90
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
91
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.
92
SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND FIVE-STAR GENERAL _
O
n 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 fronts
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 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)
93
94
95 95
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 Peoples 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 fth of the total, and six representatives of ethnic
minorities.
_ 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 Bodies
Kingdom of Cambodia (1993-2013)
Legislative Body and Period Structure Seats Elections Laws
1 Constitutional Assembly (1993) Multiparty 120 18/23-05-93 Constitution
2 National Assembly (1993-98) Multiparty 122 18/23-05-93 90
3 National Assembly (1998-03) Multiparty 123 26-07-1998 88
At the end of 2009, King Norodom Sihamoni promoted Samdech
Heng Samrin to the rank of ve-star general in the Royal Cambodian
Armed Forces
96
The 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 Peoples 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 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 2008
President Samdech Heng Samrin
First Vice President His Excellency Nguon Nhel
Second Vice President His Excellency Say Chhum
National Assembly commissions
1st Commission Human Rights, Reception of Complaints, Investigation, and National Assembly-Senate Relations
2nd 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 Functions
5th Commission Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Media and Information
6th Commission Legislation and Justice
7th Commission Education, Youth, Sports, Religious Affairs, Culture and Tourism
8th 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 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 _
97
98
99
Samdech Heng Samrin addressing the 19th assembly of the Asia Pacic
Parliamentary Forum in Ulaanbaatar in 2011 (left), meeting with Cuban
Vice-President Juan Esteban Lazo Hernndez (top right) and with Marzuki Alie,
Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia (bottom right)
100
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 Pacic Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the Asian Forum
of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (AFPPD).
101
102
103
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 AIPAs 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 Peoples 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)
104 104
CHILDHOOD
PARTY MEMBER
UNITED FRONT LEADER
LIBERATION
POSTSCRIPT
105 105
Peoples 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
106
POSTSCRIPT
S
amdech 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
POSTSCRIPT
107
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).
108
Peoples 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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Heng Samrin:

A Man of the People

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