The Krom Pracheachon ( ; "People's Group"), often referred to simply as Pracheachon, was a

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n political party that contested in parliamentary elections in 1955, 1958 and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. For much of its existence, the party was a legal front organization for the clandestine Communist Party of Kampuchea.

Formation

The Pracheachon came into existence as a result of the Geneva Accords of 1954. This guaranteed Cambodia's independence and neutrality, with parliamentary elections to be held the following year. Many of the Cambodians fighting for independence (notably members of the United Issarak Front) had been associated with the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

, who now agreed to withdraw their units from Cambodia: a large number of Khmer leftists, led by veteran Issarak Son Ngoc Minh, departed for

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, where they were to remain for the next twenty years. Those remaining leftists were encouraged to form a legal political party to contest elections: the Krom Pracheachon, which had a socialist platform. The Communist Party itself (led by Tou Samouth and Sieu Heng, and including later prominent figures such as Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) and Ieng Sary) continued as a purely clandestine organization. The Pracheachon was led by Non Suon, Keo Meas, and Penn Yuth, all former Issaraks.Kiernan, Ben. ''How Pol Pot Came to Power''. London: Verso, 1985. pp. 156-157 It adopted the symbol of a

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

The 1955 election

The Cambodian elections of 1955 were the first in which the Krom Pracheachon took part. Due to severe harassment of its members by forces loyal to the Sangkum party of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Pracheachon was able to field only 35 candidates, winning 31,034 votes in total and gaining no seats. According to the historian

Ben Kiernan Benedict F. "Ben" Kiernan (born 29 January 1953) is an Australian-born American historian who is the Whitney Griswold Professor Emeritus of History, Professor of International and Area Studies and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale ...

, Sihanouk later admitted that many districts had voted for socialist candidates, even when the official result showed them receiving few or no votes.Kiernan, p.162

1958 election

In the period before the 1958 election, Sihanouk appeared deeply concerned with the possibility of

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

ese domination of Cambodia. To coincide with the election, he published a series of articles tracing the history of Cambodian communism. Though the articles were perceptive in their analysis of communist tactics, they stressed the leftists' links with Vietnam and presented them as a threat to the Cambodian nation.Dommen, A. ''The Indochinese experience of the French and the Americans'', p.360 Pressure on the Pracheachon was increased by posters showing buildings and trains destroyed by the Viet Minh, and slogans such as "The Pracheachon ruins the nation and sells the country to foreigners" and "The Pracheachon is not part of the Sangkum" appeared on walls and banners. In the election, the Pracheachon managed to field only five candidates: 4 of these were to withdraw following police harassment, leaving only Keo Meas himself, who officially received 396 votes. Meas was forced to sit out the election from a haven on the Vietnamese border, fearing arrest. Um Neng was one of the group's leaders at this time. Kiernan, Ben. ''How Pol Pot Came to Power''.

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: Verso, 1985. p. 194.

1962 election

The Krom Pracheachon was again subject to repressive measures (ostensibly for reasons of "security") in the run-up to the 1962 elections, in which its members hoped to participate. Sihanouk's police arrested 14 of its remaining members, including Secretary-General Non Suon; they were charged with possessing documents incriminating them in seeking the overthrow of the Sangkum regime by

. They were initially sentenced to death by a military court, with the sentences later being commuted to life imprisonment. The Pracheachon dissolved, and many of the remaining leftists fled

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

for the forests, except for several prominent figures ( Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim) who had joined the Sangkum. Around this time, Communist leader Tou Samouth disappeared; Saloth Sar assumed the clandestine party's leadership.

1972 election

Following Lon Nol's expulsion of Sihanouk in the Cambodian coup of 1970 and the subsequent declaration of the Khmer Republic, the Pracheachon was resurrected, and fielded some candidates against Nol's Socio-Republican Party in the 1972 elections. Initially, its leader was expected to be the leftist Hang Thun Hak; Hak instead joined the PSR, and Penn Yuth emerged as its leader.Corfield, J. ''Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975'', 1994, p.166 Yuth, now an officer in the Khmer National Armed Forces was, however by this time a close associate of Lon Nol, and it was widely thought that the Pracheachon had been reorganized by Nol's brother Lon Non specifically to provide a 'token' opposition to the PSR. Figures associated with the Pracheachon in this period included Saloth Chhay, a left-wing journalist who was the brother of Pol Pot (Saloth Sar). The Socio-Republican Party won all seats in the elections.

References

{{Authority control 1954 establishments in Cambodia 1972 disestablishments in Cambodia Buddhist political parties Communist front organizations Communist parties in Cambodia Defunct communist parties Defunct political parties in Cambodia Khmer Rouge Political parties disestablished in 1972 Political parties established in 1954