Simply branding people as "republicans" is not admissible evidence to prove that those people are republicans. Historical evidence has shown that royalists had started to abolish the monarchy in 1960 when King Suramarith died. We no longer had any king or queen until 24 Septembver 1993. Surprise?
For the record for posterity, when our King Suramarith died there was no election of a new king or queen to assume the function of head of state. Queen Kossamak, King Suramarith's wife and mother of our August, Great and Valorous King Sihanouk, was Queen only in name. She was not Head of State. She was made queen to symbolise the "throne" -preah reach palang- (or monarchy).
The likely candidate was our present August, Great and Valourous King Sihanouk, but had already vowed not to be ever king again when he abdicated in 1955 in favour of his father, King Suramarith. I heard him repeating that vow from time to time in public speeches broadcasted on radio in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a peasant boy attending a high school and later at a university. (I'm now an old man-63) He said the crown (makot) was too heavy and with a crown on his head he could not directly serve his people. He was right, wasn't he? And he was powerful (or a strong man), as "Father of the Nation" and head of Sangkum Reatr Nyum.
What to do then to break the "deadlock" (we faced a very similar one after the 2003 election)? In 1960 we simply amended our counstitution, as we enacted an additional constitutional law in 2004, to create the post of head of state and appointed our present August, Great and Valorous King as Head of State in 1960. He was not a constitutional, cemonial, figurehead monarch because he was not crowned king. He became effectively a president, but not a ceremonial, figurehead president, but a president with executive power. Cambodia became a republic with an executive president but name. In his own writings our August, Great and Valorous King, has also alluded ro the presidential nature of his regime from the time he had been made Head of State.
When UNTAC came to run our country and organise the election of a new government in 1992-1993, there was an attempt to get that UN body to also organise a presidential election aimed at getting our August, Great and Valorous King elected President of Cambdia. Apparently, he was willing to stand for that presidential election, and he would indeed have been elected when he was so popular that he was confined to the royal palace almost all the time after his return from Beijing 1n November 1992.
I, for one, objected to that rumoured presidential election and wrote an article for Phnom Penh Post to voice this objection. (I'm sending this article to KI-media.blogspot.com to kindly reproduce in its column). I talked to Samdech Son Sann, whom I served and from whom I have learned a lot, and also a few Son Sannist colleagues, I wanted to stand in that presidential election as well with only two-point political platform: (1) I wanted Cambodia to be a Kingdom; (2) If I was elected president, I would invite our present August, Great and Valorous King, to assume the thone, and after that I'd resign to be become just an ordinary "citizen Lao" (as a royalist called me from time to time-he was later made ambassador and since then has not returned to Cambodia). Samdech Son Sann and those colleagues were dismayed.
Back to the confication of the Free Press Magazine, the reason for it is not so much the "republican" issue as the issue of the murder of our famous actress Piseth Pilika. Some years ago, probably in 2003, a small book of the murder with the photo of our beautiful actress on its cover was published and sold in Phnom Penh. The copies of that small book were all confisticated.
An authoritiative French magazine, L'Express, published a story of her murder, citing our Prime Minister's affair with her and implicating his wife in the matter. Our Prime Minister's people vowed to sue L'Express magazine for defamation, but hey have never done so ever since.
The whole thing probably boils down to our memories (or ghosts) of our parents, relatives, teachers, friends and other fellow Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and the memory (or ghost) of our famous actress Piseth Pilika, haunting respecively those who had associated with the Khmer Rouge and those who were behind the murder of Piseth Pilika or who might know who might be her assassin yet have not acted to find justice for her.
LAO Mong Hay
For the record for posterity, when our King Suramarith died there was no election of a new king or queen to assume the function of head of state. Queen Kossamak, King Suramarith's wife and mother of our August, Great and Valorous King Sihanouk, was Queen only in name. She was not Head of State. She was made queen to symbolise the "throne" -preah reach palang- (or monarchy).
The likely candidate was our present August, Great and Valourous King Sihanouk, but had already vowed not to be ever king again when he abdicated in 1955 in favour of his father, King Suramarith. I heard him repeating that vow from time to time in public speeches broadcasted on radio in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a peasant boy attending a high school and later at a university. (I'm now an old man-63) He said the crown (makot) was too heavy and with a crown on his head he could not directly serve his people. He was right, wasn't he? And he was powerful (or a strong man), as "Father of the Nation" and head of Sangkum Reatr Nyum.
What to do then to break the "deadlock" (we faced a very similar one after the 2003 election)? In 1960 we simply amended our counstitution, as we enacted an additional constitutional law in 2004, to create the post of head of state and appointed our present August, Great and Valorous King as Head of State in 1960. He was not a constitutional, cemonial, figurehead monarch because he was not crowned king. He became effectively a president, but not a ceremonial, figurehead president, but a president with executive power. Cambodia became a republic with an executive president but name. In his own writings our August, Great and Valorous King, has also alluded ro the presidential nature of his regime from the time he had been made Head of State.
When UNTAC came to run our country and organise the election of a new government in 1992-1993, there was an attempt to get that UN body to also organise a presidential election aimed at getting our August, Great and Valorous King elected President of Cambdia. Apparently, he was willing to stand for that presidential election, and he would indeed have been elected when he was so popular that he was confined to the royal palace almost all the time after his return from Beijing 1n November 1992.
I, for one, objected to that rumoured presidential election and wrote an article for Phnom Penh Post to voice this objection. (I'm sending this article to KI-media.blogspot.com to kindly reproduce in its column). I talked to Samdech Son Sann, whom I served and from whom I have learned a lot, and also a few Son Sannist colleagues, I wanted to stand in that presidential election as well with only two-point political platform: (1) I wanted Cambodia to be a Kingdom; (2) If I was elected president, I would invite our present August, Great and Valorous King, to assume the thone, and after that I'd resign to be become just an ordinary "citizen Lao" (as a royalist called me from time to time-he was later made ambassador and since then has not returned to Cambodia). Samdech Son Sann and those colleagues were dismayed.
Back to the confication of the Free Press Magazine, the reason for it is not so much the "republican" issue as the issue of the murder of our famous actress Piseth Pilika. Some years ago, probably in 2003, a small book of the murder with the photo of our beautiful actress on its cover was published and sold in Phnom Penh. The copies of that small book were all confisticated.
An authoritiative French magazine, L'Express, published a story of her murder, citing our Prime Minister's affair with her and implicating his wife in the matter. Our Prime Minister's people vowed to sue L'Express magazine for defamation, but hey have never done so ever since.
The whole thing probably boils down to our memories (or ghosts) of our parents, relatives, teachers, friends and other fellow Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and the memory (or ghost) of our famous actress Piseth Pilika, haunting respecively those who had associated with the Khmer Rouge and those who were behind the murder of Piseth Pilika or who might know who might be her assassin yet have not acted to find justice for her.
LAO Mong Hay
