Eng Chhai Eang ( born November 10, 1965) is a Cambodian politician. He served as a vice president of the

Cambodia National Rescue Party The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; , UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party. The party believed in the strengthening of freedo ...

, the major opposition party, until its court-ordered dissolution in 2017. He was a member of the Parliament of Cambodia and served as the Secretary General of the

Sam Rainsy Party The Candlelight Party (, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) is a liberal party in Cambodia. The party was a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Liberal International, and the Alliance of Democrats. It is the largest opposition party in Cambo ...

from 1999 to 2005 and again from 2007 to 2009. He also served as the Special Secretary to

Sam Rainsy Sam Rainsy (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ; born 10 March 1949) is a Cambodian activism, activist, economist and former politician who most recently served as the Leader of t ...

, the Minister of Economic and Finance, from 1993 to 1994. In addition to his political positions, Chhai Eang is also the founder of the newspaper ''Khmer Youth Voice'' and a member of the Youth Movement of

FUNCINPEC The National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia, commonly referred to as FUNCINPEC, is a royalist political party in Cambodia. Founded in 1981 by Norodom Sihanouk, it began as a resistance movement again ...

. He is a graduate of the University of Health Sciences.

Early life and education

Eng Chhai Eang was born on 10 November 1965 in Kampong Chen Village, Kampong Chen Commune, Stoung District, Cambodia, to parents Eng Kheang and York Meas. In 1990, Chhai Eang married Ly Sokunthea; they had four children, two sons and two daughters. Chhai Eang started the primary school in Stoung District in Kampong Chen Village,

Kampong Thom City Kampong Thom (), also Krong Kampong Thom, is the capital city of Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia lying on the bank of the Steung Saen River. It is a mid-way stopover on the National Highway 6 (Cambodia), National Highway No 6 halfway between P ...

. Then he went to high school in Soutr Nikom District in

Siem Reap Siem Reap (, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap possesses French-colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter ...

province. Eng Chhai Eang was an outstanding student, was honored and was the top number one in the National Mathematics competition in 1987. He graduated from University of Health Sciences in 1993. He received a Diploma of Medical Doctor, the combined faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry.

Political career

Chhai Eang started his political journey in December 1992 when he joined the Youth Movement of

and went on to found the local newspaper ''Khmer Youth Voice'' () in 1993. This newspaper was established to support the policies of FUNCINPEC. From July 1993 to October 1994, Chhai Eang served as a secretary to

, while also serving as a founder and advisor to the ''Khmer Youth Voice'' newspaper from April 1994 to December 1996. He became a founder and member of the Steering Committee of the Khmer Nation Party in November 1995, which was later renamed the

. From August 1999 to December 2005, and then again from September 2007 to January 2009, he held the position of Secretary General of the

Party. In the

2003 Cambodian general election General elections were held in Cambodia on 27 July 2003 to elect members of the National Assembly of Cambodia, National Assembly. The elections were won by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which won a majority of 73 seats in the 123-seat parli ...

for the 3rd mandate, Chhai Eang was elected as a member of Parliament for Battambang province, and was re-elected in the

2008 Cambodian general election General elections were held in Cambodia on 27 July 2008.Cam ...

for the 4th mandate. He was elected as a member of the Senate for the region of Kandal province in the 2012 Senator election. From April 2013 to March 2017, Chhai Eang served as the Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the

(CNRP). In the 2013 Cambodian general election for the fifth mandate, he was elected as a member of Parliament for Kandal province. In September 2014, Chhai Eang was elected as the Chairperson of the First Commission on Human Rights, Complaints, and Investigations of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. In March 2017, Chhai Eang was named a vice president of the CNRP. Following the dissolution of the CNRP in November 2017, Chhai Eang was banned from politics, and left Cambodia. In November 2019, the government revoked his Cambodian passport as well as those of eleven other former high-ranking CNRP cadres.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eng, Chhai Eang Members of the National Assembly (Cambodia) Members of the Senate (Cambodia) Candlelight Party politicians Living people Cambodian physicians Cambodian politicians of Chinese descent Cambodia National Rescue Party politicians 1965 births People from Kampong Thom province