Cambodia held free multiparty elections under UN supervision in 1993.
Main Political Issues
Fledgling democracy
The UN's Cambodia operation, the biggest in the organization's history, introduced a degree of stability to Cambodia's political system. Some 22,000 troops provided the conditions for free elections held in 1993. Whether or not competing political factions can be contained within the newly established democratic framework remains the key political question.
The Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge decided not to take part in the elections of 1993, resuming instead the armed struggle in areas of central and western Cambodia. The group is demanding membership in a government of national reconciliation, but is unwilling to see its troops merged with a national army.
Profile
In 1975, the US-installed government was overthrown by the Marxist Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. Pol Pot was in turn overthrown, following the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. The invasion united Cambodia's three main factions û the Khmer Rouge, FUNCINPEC and the Khmer Peoples' National Liberation Front (KPNLF) û in common cause against the Vietnamese. The coalition was recognized by the UN as the government of Democratic Kampuchea. Vietnam's decision to leave in 1989 led to peace talks in Paris and the signing of the October 1991 Paris Accords. The Paris Accords mandated the UN's UNTAC operation to steer the country to free democratic elections. The task involved imposing the ceasefire agreed, repatriating 370,000 refugees and overseeing the election campaign. Following FUNCINPEC's victory in the elections, Prince Sihanouk proposed a coalition government of national reconciliation. The Khmer Rouge refused to join, as they wanted a greater part in the government than their election results warranted. In 1994 they continued armed resistance.
