Cambodian People's Party
캄보디아 인민당
Cambodia's ruling party, created in 1991 when the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party changed its name and abandoned Marxism–Leninism and the one-party system. Hun Sen held de facto control of the party, and since ousting Ranariddh in 1997 it has ruled without serious opposition. Its rule has been described as authoritarian.
In depth
In 1991, during the UN-sponsored peace and reconciliation process, the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party was renamed the Cambodian People's Party and formally dropped its commitment to socialism. The Politburo and Secretariat gave way to a new Standing Committee, with Chea Sim as president and Hun Sen as vice-president. The party played a major role in the negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Accords of 23 October 1991. It counts 28 June 1951 as its founding date.
In 1997 the party ousted Norodom Ranariddh in a coup in which thirty-two people died. It went on to win 64 of 123 seats in 1998 and 90 in 2008, and in 2018, after the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party had been banned, it took all 125 seats in the National Assembly. Hun Sen was only deputy leader until 2015 but had de facto control of the party, and he has been its president since 2015. Heng Samrin, general secretary of the KPRP from 1981 to 1991, became the party's honorary chairman.
The party dropped socialism for a mixed economy in 1991 and presents itself as a middle path between capitalism and communism. Scholars note, however, that it keeps its communist-era party structures and that many of its top leaders came from the KPRP; its 32-member Permanent Committee is still commonly called the Politburo, and it remains a close ally of the Communist Party of Vietnam.