Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia

Abstract

Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia shares with several other prominent Southeast Asian nationalist leaders the experience of having been in the forefront of their countries' political development during all of their adult lives. But few of his Southeast Asian colleagues share his distinction of also having been the principal leader in their country during most of this period, and for many of the last 14 years, chief of state and head of government. Prince Sihanouk is not only chief of state, but in a very real sense he is the essential strength, the apex of the popular pyramid in Cambodia. As the former king in a country where the monarchy is one of the principal unifying symbols, tremendous prestige has accrued to him automatically. Moreover, as king he won independence for Cambodia and for this he is popularly acclaimed as the Father of Independence. Today, more than a decade since he abdicated the throne, Prince Sihanouk continues to dominate the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government in Cambodia. He is his country's chief diplomat, its foremost political thinker, and its formateur of ideology. He is, moreover, a great popular leader. In all of these roles, the youthful Sihanouk (he was 43 on October 31, 1966) displays a lively and seemingly inexhaustible vitality. He is an indefatigable public speaker, and it is not an unusual day when between breakfast and dinner he delivers six speeches in as many different parts of the kingdom. In these public appearances, he shuttles easily between Cambodian and French, and, when speaking Cambodian, between the language of the court and the vernacular. Spontaneity is one of his chief attributes, and his words ring with the emotions that stir within him. His informality and obvious rapport with the common man are especially evident in the manner in which he conducts his popular audiences, where even the most humble peasant is encouraged to come before him with his grievances, suffered often at the hands of public officials and local authority. An exceptionally gifted man, Prince Sihanouk's talents are many and varied. He is not only an accomplished composer and jazz musician, but also an equestrian, an actor in plays and films which he writes, directs and produces, the publisher and chief editorial writer of three Cambodian pub-