Cambodian anti-communist resistance leader
On 22 June 1982 in Kuala Lumpur he joined Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge in forming the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, became its prime minister, and helped it retain Cambodia's UN seat.
Cambodian politician and anti-communist resistance leader. Born at Phnom Penh in 1911 into a Khmer Krom family, he studied in Paris and entered the civil service in 1935. He held the vice-premiership and finance posts in 1946–48, was foreign minister in 1950–51, president of the National Bank of Cambodia in 1955–68, and prime minister of Cambodia in 1967–68. Placed under house arrest after the 1970 coup, he later left for France, formed the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) in 1978–79 and became prime minister of the 1982 Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. He founded the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party in 1992, was elected in 1993, served as President of the National Assembly that year, and left for Paris in 1997, dying there of heart failure on 19 December 2000.
Also known as: Sonn Sann
Activities and affiliations
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–1952
Political and party leadership
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1979–1992
Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF)Main
Political and party leadership -
1982–
Democratic Kampuchea state institutionsPrime Minister of the Coalition Government
Government and administration -
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1946–1948Vice-premier and finance minister
- 1950–1951Foreign minister
- 1955–1968President of the National Bank of Cambodia
- 1967–1968Prime Minister of Cambodia
- 1978–1979Founded and led the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF)
- 1982–1993Prime Minister of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
- 1992Founded the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party
- 1993President of the National Assembly
Related historical events
- 1975–1979Democratic Kampuchea and the 1979 regime changenon-communist leader of the resistance coalitionHe led the Khmer People's National Liberation Front and became prime minister of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea in 1982, a key actor in the resistance coalition over the UN seat.
- 1978–1979The Sino-Vietnamese WarAnti-communist resistance leaderOne pillar of the coalition China rallied against the Vietnamese occupation.
Exile and resistance coalition after the 1970 coup
After the 1970 coup that ousted Norodom Sihanouk, Son Sann was placed under house arrest and later left for France. In June 1970 he went to Beijing to mediate between Sihanouk and Lon Nol, and continued his efforts after the proclamation of the Khmer Republic. Vietnam’s full-scale invasion of Cambodia began in December 1978. After the invasion, Son Sann organized the KPNLF on the Thai-Cambodian border to unite anti-communist refugees; the front was proclaimed on 9 October 1979. The chronology therefore places the KPNLF’s organization and proclamation in 1979, rather than dating its formation to 1978. In 1982 the KPNLF joined Sihanouk’s faction and the Party of Democratic Kampuchea to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, with Son Sann as prime minister. The Khmer Rouge was also part of this coalition. Its factions rarely cooperated on the ground, where the Khmer Rouge was the most effective fighting force along the border. One critical assessment holds that the KPNLF helped lend the coalition external legitimacy; Son Sann and Sihanouk, by contrast, described the decision to ally with the Khmer Rouge as agonizing. This period should be assessed both through Son Sann’s organization of a non-communist resistance and his political responsibility for participating in a coalition that included the Khmer Rouge.