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Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea រដ្ឋាភិបាលចម្រុះនៃកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ Gouvernement de coalition du Kampuchéa démocratique (1982–1990) National Government of Cambodia រដ្ឋាភិបាលជាតិនៃកម្ពុជា Gouvernement national du Cambodge (1990–1992) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–1992 | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសាមហាជោគជ័យ "Great Victorious Seventeenth of April"
[1][2] | |||||||||||||
Location of Kampuchea, occupied by Vietnam | |||||||||||||
| Status | UN member state under the Khmer Rouge government | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Phnom Penh (de jure) Anlong Veng (de facto; administrative) | ||||||||||||
| Largest city | Phnom Penh | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Khmer | ||||||||||||
| Government | Provisionalgovernment in exile | ||||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||||
• 1982–1987 | Norodom Sihanouk | ||||||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||||
• 1982 | Son Sann | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War Cambodian–Vietnamese War | ||||||||||||
• Formed | 22 June 1982 | ||||||||||||
• Paris Peace Agreement | 23 October 1991 | ||||||||||||
• UNTAC mission begins | 15 March 1992 | ||||||||||||
| 24 September 1993 | |||||||||||||
| Currency | Cambodian riel | ||||||||||||
| Calling code | 855 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Cambodia | ||||||||||||
TheCoalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK;Khmer:រដ្ឋាភិបាលចំរុះកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ,Rôdthaphĭbál Châmrŏh Kâmpŭchéa Prâchéathĭbâtéyy), renamed in 1990 to theNational Government of Cambodia (NGC;រដ្ឋាភិបាលជាតិនៃកម្ពុជា,Rôdthaphĭbál Chéatĕ Ney Kâmpŭchéa), was a coalitiongovernment in exile composed of threeCambodian political factions, namely PrinceNorodom Sihanouk'sFUNCINPEC party, theParty of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK; often referred to as theKhmer Rouge) and theKhmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) formed in 1982, broadening thede facto deposedDemocratic Kampuchea led by the Khmer Rouge. For most of its existence, it was theUN-recognized government ofCambodia.

The signing ceremony of the coalition took place inKuala Lumpur on 22 June 1982.[4] The president of the coalition was Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the prime minister was the KPNLF leaderSon Sann and the foreign secretary was PDK leaderKhieu Samphan.[3]

The CGDK was allowed to retain the Cambodian/Kampuchean seat in theUnited Nations on the premise that it was a legitimate Cambodian government in contrast to the pro-Vietnamese/pro-SovietPeople's Republic of Kampuchea. TheWestern states had previously opposed proposals by theEastern Bloc countries to replace the Khmer Rouge-held seat of Cambodia by the representation of the Vietnamese-installed government.[5]
The United Nations General Assembly voted on 14 November 1979 on the proposed ouster of Democratic Kampuchea: 91 rejected the proposal, there were 29 countries in favour and 26 abstentions. In contrast, the results on 18 September 1981 had been 77–37–31.[6] The CGDK was also recognised byNorth Korea, whose leader,Kim Il-Sung had offered Sihanouk sanctuary withChina. During a meeting in Pyongyang between Kim Il-sung and Sihanouk on 10 April 1986, Kim Il-Sung reassured Sihanouk that North Korea would continue to regard him as the legitimate head of state of Cambodia.[7][8]
After the Khmer Rouge was overthrown, ChineseleaderDeng Xiaoping was unhappy[9] with Vietnam's influence over the PRK government. Deng proposed to Sihanouk that he co-operate with the Khmer Rouge to overthrow the PRK government, but Sihanouk rejected it,[10] as he opposed thegenocidal policies pursued by the Khmer Rouge while they were in power.[9] In March 1981, Sihanouk established a resistance movement,FUNCINPEC, which was complemented by a small resistance army known asArmée Nationale Sihanoukiste [ru] (ANS).[11] He appointedIn Tam, who had briefly served as prime minister in theKhmer Republic, as the commander-in-chief of ANS.[12]
The ANS needed military aid from China, and Deng seized the opportunity to sway Sihanouk into collaborating with the Khmer Rouge.[13] Sihanouk reluctantly agreed, and started talks in March 1981 with the Khmer Rouge and theSon Sann-led KPNLF on a unified anti-PRK resistance movement.[14] After several rounds of negotiations mediated by Deng and Singapore's prime ministerLee Kuan Yew,[15] FUNCINPEC, KPNLF, and the Khmer Rouge agreed to form the CGDK in June 1982. The CGDK was headed by Sihanouk, and functioned as a government-in-exile.[16]
Prior to the formation of the CGDK political coalition, in the late 1980s and early 1990s the Sonn Sann and Sihanouk opposition forces, then known as theKPNLF andFUNCINPEC, drew some military and financial support from theUnited States, which sought to assist these two movements as part of theReagan Doctrine effort to counterSoviet andVietnamese involvement in Cambodia. In 1984 and 1985, the Vietnamese army's offensives severely weakened the CGDK troops' positions, in effect eliminating the two non-communist factions as military players, leaving the Khmer Rouge as the sole military force of importance of the CGDK.[17]
One of the Reagan Doctrine's principal architects,The Heritage Foundation'sMichael Johns, visited with Sonn Sann and Sihanouk forces in Cambodia in 1987 and returned toWashington urging expanded United States support for the KPNLF and the Sihanouk resistance forces as a third alternative to both the Vietnamese-installed and supported Cambodian government and the Khmer Rouge, which also was resisting the government.[18]
Although the Khmer Rouge was for the most part isolated from diplomacy, theirNational Army of Democratic Kampuchea were the largest and most effective armed forces of the CGDK. In 1987, Prince Sihanouk proceeded to take a leave of absence from his position as the president of the CGDK, a move that raised the hopes of Hanoi and Moscow that he would depart the coalition.
In 1990, in the run up to the United Nations sponsoredParis Peace Agreement of 1991 the CGDK renamed itself the National Government of Cambodia. It was dissolved in 1993, a year which saw theUnited Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia turn power over to the restoredKingdom of Cambodia. In July 1994, the Khmer Rouge would form an internationally unrecognised rival government known as theProvisional Government of National Union and National Salvation of Cambodia.