Sam Rainsy

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Sam Rainsy

Sam Rainsy (born March 10, 1949 in Phnom Penh ) is a Cambodian politician . He was the founder in 1995 liberal Khmer Nation Party , which in 1998 Sam Rainsy Party was renamed which in 2012 with the Human Rights Party for National Salvation Party of Cambodia (Engl. Cambodia National Rescue Party merged, CNRP).

Life

He is the son of Sam Sary , a member of the Cambodian government during the 1950s, and the teacher In Em . Sam Rainsy studied in France from 1965 and worked for various companies in the financial sector. He is married to the politician Tioulong Saumura , with whom he has three children.

Political activity

As a member of the FUNCINPEC party loyal to the king , he was elected member of parliament for the province of Siem Reap in 1993 after his return to Cambodia the year before . He became finance minister, but his career came to an abrupt end for the time being after he was expelled from the party in 1994 because of a vote of no confidence . In 1995 he founded the Khmer Nation Party (KNP), which was renamed the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) prior to the 1998 National Assembly elections in order to circumvent difficulties with election registration. Sam Rainsy was again elected MP, this time for Kompong Cham Province . His party received 14% of the vote. In the 2003 elections it was able to increase this proportion to 22%.

He almost fell victim to a grenade attack during a political rally on March 30, 1997 in Samdech Sothearos Square in Phnom Penh. Around 200 demonstrators and 200 spectators listened to a megaphone speech in which Rainsy called for judicial reform and the release of wrongly convicted prisoners. Three grenades exploded in the attack. At least 16 people were killed and 120 injured. Rainsy made members of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (Engl. Cambodia People's Party , CPP) and Prime Minister Hun Sen responsible.

On February 3, 2005, Rainsy went into exile in France after the National Assembly had decided to lift his immunity as a MP and the two other SRP MPs, and he feared being arrested. On the same day, one of the two MPs, Cheam Channy , was sent to a Cambodian military prison. Sam Rainsy has been charged with defamation for accusing the ruling coalition of the CPP and FUNCINPEC of corruption . He had also accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of being behind the murder of the union leader Chea Vichea , who was close to the SRP.

Posters featuring Sam Rainsy on a campaign bus during the July 2008 general election

Although Rainsy was sentenced in absentia by a court on December 22, 2005 to an 18-month prison term and payment of US $ 14,000, this sentence was overturned with a pardon by King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Hun Sen. The international pressure from several governments (including the US government) and organizations was obviously decisive. He then returned to Cambodia on February 10, 2006 and was able to participate in the 2008 national elections. The Sam Rainsy party gained two seats and now occupied 26 of 123 seats (the CPP 90).

However, in 2009 Sam Rainsy had to leave the country again on charges of betraying national interests and in 2010 he was sentenced to ten years in prison. 2012, concluded Sam Rainsy Party with the Human Rights Party for National Salvation Party of Cambodia together (CNRP). In July 2013, King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Rainsy again at the request of his adversary Hun Sen, thus enabling a return to the elections on July 28, 2013. This was mainly due to pressure from the United States, which had announced that it would cut development funds. Rainsy, however, remained ineligible. The CNRP came close to the CPP's 48.83%, with 44.46% of the vote, occupying 55 out of 123 seats (CPP 68, –22), 26 more than the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights Parties combined Elections of 2008. Nevertheless, Rainsy denied the result and accused the ruling party of election fraud. The opposition then boycotted parliament from September 2013 to July 2014.

In 2016 Rainsy left Cambodia again after being charged with defamation and sedition for accusing the Hun Sen government of being behind the murder of political activist Kem Ley. In October 2016, Rainsy's request for a pardon from Prime Minister Hun Sen was rejected, although the constitution says that the king is actually responsible for this. In February 2017, Rainsy resigned as president of the CNRP just four months before the local elections and a year before the national elections to avoid its ban, which under a new law had threatened parties led by individuals with criminal records. He has been banned from all political activity since February 20, 2017. He was succeeded as President of the CNRP by Kem Sokha . He was arrested in early September 2017 for alleged high treason, the CNRP dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. The elections of July 2018 thus took place without serious opposition to the ruling party and ended accordingly with a landslide victory for the CPP.

On January 29, 2018, Rainsy, along with other exiled leading members of the disbanded CNRP, launched the Cambodia National Rescue Movement . The initiative raised concerns among members of the CNRP, particularly those of the former Human Rights Party, that it could further divide the party and put President Kem Sokha at increased risk.

On Dec. 2, 2018 Sam Rainsy was of an international conference of the party in the USA Acting President (Acting President) elected until the release Sokhas what the Kem Sokha faction, which had boycotted the conference, promptly as unacceptable and statutes unconstitutional was designated.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Luchs: Last trump card for Rainsy. In: The daily mail . July 18, 2013, p. 8.
  2. ↑ Vong Sokheng: NEC ride rates Rainsy's ineligibility. In: The Phnom Penh Post. 17th July 2013.
  3. ↑ Cambodian opposition rejects Hun Sen election win. In: The Telegraph . July 29, 2013.
  4. ↑ King Convenes Cambodia's Parliament Amid Opposition Boycott. In: Radio Free Asia . 23rd September 2013.
  5. ↑ Meas Sokchea, Kevin Ponniah: Opposition take oaths before king. In: The Phnom Penh Post. August 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ Sek Odom: Sam Rainsy a No-Show in Kem Ley Defamation Case. In: The Cambodia Daily . 20th August 2016.
  7. ↑ Ben Sokhean: Hun Sen Rejects CNRP Request for Pardons. In: The Cambodia Daily. October 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ Shaun Turton: Sam Rainsy resigns from CNRP. In: The Phnom Penh Post. February 11, 2017.
  9. ↑ Manfred Rist: Hun Sen cemented the dictatorship. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 16th November 2017.
  10. ↑ Manfred Rist: The suspiciously high voter turnout in Cambodia is supposed to give the regime more legitimacy. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 29th July 2018.
  11. ↑ Niem Chheng, Andrew Nachemson: Rainsy officially launches Cambodia National Rescue Movement, lays out five-point plan. In: The Phnom Penh Post. January 30, 2018.
  12. ↑ Kong Meta, Ben Sokhean, Andrew Nachemson: Rainsy, ex-CNRP Officials form 'Rescue Movement'. In: The Phnom Penh Post. 15th January 2018.
  13. ↑ Ben Sokhean: Sam Rainsy named 'acting president' in 'Kem Sokha absence'. In: The Phnom Penh Post. 4th December 2018.


personal data
SURNAME Sam Rainsy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cambodian politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Phnom Penh