Powersharing Transitional Government – 1993
1993
Elections took place from May 23 to 28, 1993. FUNCINPEC won 58 seats in the Constituent Assembly, CPP won 51, the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) won 10, and a fourth political party, the National Movement for the Liberation of Kampuchea (MOLINAKA), won 1. At the June 10 meeting of the SNC, which was presided over by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General issued a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General and the United Nations declaring that the elections as a whole had been free and fair. The Security Council endorsed the results of the elections with resolution 840 (1993) of June 15. However, the CPP began to make numerous allegations that electoral irregularities had occurred as the counting proceeded. It also requested that the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) hold new elections in seven provinces. At the June 10 meeting of the SNC, the CPP announced that it could not recognize the results of the elections and demanded an investigation of the irregularities.
Over time, the CPP softened its position. The duly elected Constituent Assembly began work on June 14, 1993. At the inaugural session, it adopted a resolution to make Prince Sihanouk Head of State retroactive to 1970, thus making the coup d’état of March 18, 1970 null and void. The Assembly gave the Prince full powers as Head of State. The following day, Prince Sihanouk proposed the formation of an Interim Joint Administration (GNPC) with Prince Ranariddh and Mr. Hun Sen as Co-Chairmen.1 This occurrence indicated a degree of confidence between FUNCINPEC and the CPP.
On June 16, FUNCINPEC and the CPP agreed to interim power sharing — an agreement brokered by Sihanouk. As per this agreement, all four political parties that had won representation in the Constituent Assembly would be represented in the Provisional National Government of Cambodia (PNGC). FUNCINPEC and the CPP would divide control of the major ministries, and Ranariddh and Hun Sen would serve as Co-Chairs of the PNGC and as Co-Ministers of Defense, Interior, and Public Security.
Ranariddh and Hun Sen met on June 24 to discuss the formation of the PNGC. Although they reached an agreement on the composition of the government, this agreement had not been introduced to the Assembly as of early July.2 FUNCINPEC, in the Council of Ministers, shared power with the CPP. Given that this was a unique circumstance it can be coded as continuation of power-sharing deals – perhaps of a different nature. (With a resolution adopted by the Constituent Assembly on June 14, 1993 to restore monarchy by making the coup of March 18, 1970 null and void, and with the departure of UNTAC on September 21, 1993, the power-sharing agreement between warring parties can be coded as “ended” in Cambodia. Since the SNC was still in place as of June 14, 1993, 1993 can be coded as a year where there was national power-sharing.)
- “Cambodia – UNTAC Background,” United Nations, accessed July 19, 2010, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/untacbackgr2.html#two.
- “June, 1993 Cambodia,” Keesing’s Record of World Events, vol. 39, 39513.