Khmer Renovation Party គណបក្សខេមរៈបុនក្ការ Parti de la rénovation khmère | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Sisowath Monipong |
| Founder | Lon Nol Nhiek Tioulong |
| Founded | September 1947 |
| Dissolved | 1955 |
| Merged into | Sangkum |
| Ideology | Khmer nationalism Monarchism[1] Conservatism[1] |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism |
| National affiliation | Sangkum |
Khmer Renovation Party (Khmer:គណបក្សខេមរៈបុនក្ការ[2];French:Parti de la rénovation khmère), also translated asKhmer Renewal Party, was ananti-communist,nationalist androyalist political party founded inCambodia in September 1947. In 1955, it became one of the core elements of theSangkum political movement of the PrinceNorodom Sihanouk.
The party is mainly significant because key membersLon Nol and PrinceSisowath Sirik Matak would go on to lead the right-wingcoup of 1970 against Sihanouk and his Sangkum regime.
The party was formed by the politician and soldierNhiek Tioulong and police chief Lon Nol.[3] Its nominal leader was the respected PrinceSisowath Monipong, one of the two sons of KingSisowath Monivong and one of the candidates for the throne passed over in favor of Sihanouk in 1941. Other prominent members includedChau Sen Cocsal Chhum, who advised Tioulong and Nol in founding the party, and Chuop Hell.
The party, known informally as the "Renos",[4] had a socially conservative and royalist program - albeit far more pro-independence than that of the similarly conservativeLiberal Party of PrinceNorodom Norindeth - and attracted high-ranking bureaucrats and several members of the royal family as well as military officers.[5] Khmer Renovation's "quasi-feudalist" perspective, which emphasized Cambodia and its monarchy's place in world history and the postcolonial order, was symbolized by its chosensymbol of the Earth Goddess superimposed on a map of the protectorate.[4] It published a newspaper,Khmera orRénovation, in both French and Khmer versions.[4] Monipong was to become thePrime Minister of a 'unity' government between June 1950 and February 1951.
Lon Nol led the party to the polls in the 1951 elections, where - despite receiving 9.1% of the total vote - it won 2 seats in the Assembly.[5] One of the elected wasLeng Sarin.
Although the Khmer Renovation Party had only limited electoral success - neither Lon Nol nor Sirik Matak, later to become prominent politicians, won seats while a party member - it became one of the main political groupings behind the formation of the Sangkum of Prince Sihanouk.[6] Nhiek Tioulong was to become Prime Minister under the Sangkum, and was later to become a prominent figure in the pro-royalistFUNCINPEC organization. Lon Nol was also to become Prime Minister but, along with Sirik Matak, was to lead the 1970 coup deposing Sihanouk and instigating theKhmer Republic.
