Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk (1922- ), King of Cambodia (1941-1955, 1993-2004). He served at various times as Prime Minister (intermittently, 1952-1968) and as head of state (1960-1970, 1975-1976, 1991-1993).

He was born in Phnom Penh on October 31, 1922, and was educated in Paris and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), acquiring a reputation as an international playboy. On the death of his grandfather, King Sisovath Monivong, in 1941, he was put on the throne and gradually became involved in the struggles of his people. In 1953 he went into voluntary exile to protest continued French colonialism in Cambodia, returning only after the French recognized the country’s independence in 1954. In 1955 he abdicated in favour of his father, formed a party that won all the seats in the National Assembly, and took charge of the country’s affairs.

When his father died in 1960, Sihanouk declined to resume the throne, instead becoming head of state. He skilfully maintained Cambodia’s neutrality in the Vietnam War when the forces of both sides violated Cambodian territory. He was ousted by pro-United States General Lon Nol in 1970. He then went into exile in China, allied himself with the forces of the Communist Khmer Rouge, and returned with them to Cambodia after their victory in 1975. Installed by the Khmer Rouge regime as the nominal head of state, he resigned in protest against the regime’s brutality in 1976 and remained a virtual prisoner. He was allowed out of the country in 1979 to plead Cambodia’s case before the United Nations against the puppet government installed in Cambodia by the Vietnamese. He then went into exile again, first in China and then in North Korea. In 1982 Sihanouk formed a common front with the Khmer Rouge and other groups to resist the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. In 1991 Sihanouk became President of the Supreme National Council, a transitional body established by peace treaty to help govern Cambodia. After an inconclusive election in June 1993, he brokered an agreement for leaders of the two main parties to share power—Sihanouk’s son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh (leader of the royalist Funcinpec Party) was named First Premier, with Hun Sen (leader of the Cambodian People’s Party) as Second Premier. After the Cambodian parliament voted to restore Sihanouk to the throne, he was installed as King on September 24, 1993.

Sihanouk continued to lead the country through the ongoing struggles with the Khmer Rouge, which he formally outlawed in July 1994, and with factional unrest inside his own governing coalition. In November 1995 he negotiated a deal with the government of Hun Sen to allow his half-brother Norodom Sereivut, a politician facing charges of plotting to assassinate Hun Sen, to leave the country. In December 1996 Sereivut’s possible return caused considerable political tension between the ruling coalition’s parties until Sihanouk promised not to pardon Sereivut without the agreement of both coalition partners. In 1997 Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh in a violent coup, again becoming sole prime minister. The following year Sihanouk brokered another agreement between Hun Sen and the opposition to allow a power-sharing government to continue. Ranariddh returned from exile and was installed by his father as head of the National Assembly.

Sihanouk spent much of the period of political deadlock that followed the controversial general elections of July 2003 in self-imposed exile in China and North Korea. In June 2004, some 11 months after the elections were held, he officially reappointed Hun Sen as prime minister. In October of that year he announced his decision to abdicate, citing reasons of ill health. He was succeeded by his son, Norodom Sihamoni.