Heng Samrin is a
CambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n politician. He was the chairman of the
People's Republic of KampucheaThe People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
and the State of Cambodia (1979–1993), and later vice chairman (1998–2006) and chairman of the National Assembly of Cambodia since 2006.
Heng was born in
Prey Veng Province, Cambodia. He became a member of the
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
communist movement led by
Pol PotSaloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
, and became a political commisar and army division commander when the Khmer Rouge took over the government in 1975. In 1978, he defected from the Khmer Rouge, which was backed by
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and fled to
VietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. There he became one of the founding members of the
Kampuchean United Front for National SalvationThe Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation , often simply referred to as Salvation Front or by its French acronym FUNSK , was the nucleus of a new Cambodian regime, that would later establish the People's Republic of Kampuchea .Its foundation took place in 1978 in Vietnam by...
(FUNSK). Later that year, Heng returned to Cambodia, leading a rebellion which was backed by Vietnam and the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The Khmer Rouge collapsed in 1979, and Heng set up a new Communist government, the People's Republic of Kampuchea. He became chairman of the People's Revolutionary Council of the PRK in 1979. In 1981 he became chairman of the Council of State and secretary-general of the People's Revolutionary Party. Though at first he was the effective leader of the government, he quickly lost much of his power when the more moderate
Hun SenHun Sen is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia.He has been the sole leader of the Cambodian People's Party , which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979...
became Prime Minister in 1985. As Vietnamese influence declined, Heng began losing his posts, including the post of secretary-general in 1991 and chairman of the council of state in 1992. When King
Norodom SihanoukNorodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
was restored in 1993, Heng was given the honorary title of Sâmdech, and was made honorary chairman of Hun Sen's
Cambodian People's PartyThe Cambodian People's Party is the current ruling party of Cambodia.This party was formerly known as Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party...
.
External links
- http://www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/Ledgerwood/biographies.htm
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