Cambodia: The Royal Government on Trial

Abstract

Overview In September 1993, after a generation of destruction and divisiveness, the conditions conducive to peace and reconciliation in Cambodia seemed to be in place. The national elections held in May 1993 had resulted in a coalition government between the National United Front for an Independent, Peaceful, Neutral, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC), the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP), and MOLINKA (a splinter party aligned with FUNCINPEC) ,1 The outcome of the May elections was a surprise to all concerned, including the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), which had supervised the country for almost twenty months. The Kingdom of Cambodia was proclaimed and recognized at once by the international community. A new constitution returned Norodom Sihanouk to the throne as a king who reigned but did not govern. The coalition deal struck by the Cambodian parties reflected a harsh political reality. The CPP, the Leninist party that had governed Cambodia for more than a decade and that controlled most of the armed forces, the internal security machinery, and the administrative bureaucracy, was not willing to surrender power. With a power base limited geographically to northwestern Cambodia, FUNCINPEC was woefully unprepared to exercise power. The asset of FUNCINPEC was the immense political aura and prestige of Norodom Sihanouk. Perhaps inevitably, the result of the electoral process was a coalition government with two prime ministers, Sihanouk's son, Ranariddh, and the leader of the CPP, Hun Sen. In this confused political environment, the signal accomplishment of the Royal Cambodian Government in its first full year in power was that it survived.