Sam Rainsy ( km, សម រង្ស៊ី, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ; born 10 March 1949) is a Cambodian

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who most recently served as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. He is now the interim leader of the

Cambodia National Rescue Party The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; km, គណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ ) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party (Cambodia), Hum ...

due to the continued ban on political activity by the party's leader, Kem Sokha. Sam Rainsy became a member of parliament for Siem Reap in 1993 in elections organized by UNTAC. He has had his

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, ...

revoked three times. He was MP for

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

from

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

until 1995 when he was expelled from the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...

. A co-founder of the

(CNRP), Rainsy was previously a member of the royalist Funcinpec Party and served as the Minister of Economy and Finance during

Norodom Ranariddh Norodom Ranariddh ( km, នរោត្តម រណឫទ្ធិ; 2 January 1944 – 28 November 2021) was a Cambodian prince, politician and law academic. He was the second son of King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of Kin ...

's administration from 1993 until his sacking in 1994. In June 1995, he was expelled from the National Assembly, and formed the

Khmer Nation Party The Candlelight Party ( km, គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន) is a liberal parties, liberal party in Cambodia. The party was a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Liberal International, and the Alliance of Democrats (p ...

(KNP), which changed its name before the 1998 elections to the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) to avoid registration issues.http://www.samrainsyparty.org From 2000 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2014, Rainsy was the chairperson of the

Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) is a regional organization of liberal democratic political parties in Asia. Background The Council was created on 15 October 1993, in a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan. There are nine member parti ...

. Sam Rainsy went into exile on February 3, 2005, citing fear of arrest after a vote in the National Assembly removed

from himself and fellow SRP MPs Chea Poch and Cheam Channy. Rainsy faced multiple

criminal defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

charges after accusing the

Cambodian People's Party The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; is a Cambodian political party which has ruled Cambodia since 1979. Founded in 1951, it was originally known as the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP)., UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ...

and

Funcinpec The National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia,; french: Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifique et coopératif commonly referred to as FUNCINPEC,, ; is a royalist politic ...

of corruption in the formation of the current coalition government. He has also accused Prime Minister

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

of involvement in the 2004 murder of SRP-affiliated union leader

Chea Vichea Chea Vichea ( km, ជា វិជ្ជា) was the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) until his assassination on Chinese New Year, 22 January 2004. Following his death, he was succeeded in his positio ...

. In September 2010, Rainsy was tried in absentia and sentenced to 10 years in prison for charges widely believed to be politically motivated. In 2012, the Sam Rainsy Party merged with the Human Rights Party to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party. Following his resignation from the Sam Rainsy Party to lead the newly formed opposition party, Kong Korm succeeded him as party leader in November 2012. On 12 July 2013, King Norodom Sihamoni granted a royal pardon to Rainsy at the request of the Prime Minister,

, allowing the opposition leader to return to Cambodia without threat of imprisonment, although he remained ineligible for candidacy in the

2013 general election Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

. Rainsy returned to Cambodia on 19 July 2013 where hundreds of thousands of his supporters waited along the roads. The CNRP gained 55 seats in 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 rep ...

although Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha have denied these results and accused the ruling party of poll fraud. The opposition boycotted parliament in September 2013, until July 2014. In 2016, Rainsy again left Cambodia after being charged with defamation and incitement for accusing Hun Sen's government of orchestrating the high-profile murder of political activist

Kem Ley Kem Ley ( km, កែម ឡី; 19 October 1970 – 10 July 2016) was a Cambodian activist, physician, and political commentator. He was known for his political commentary, including trenchant criticisms of the current government led by Cambodia ...

. In October 2016, Rainsy's request for a royal pardon was rejected by the Prime Minister, Hun Sen. In February 2017, Rainsy resigned as President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, and left the party just four months before local elections and a year before the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. As of 20 February 2017, he has been banned from political activity. In 2019, Rainsy announced he would return to Cambodia on Independence Day, but was blocked following the Cambodian government's intervention with airlines and with Thailand, where he would have transited.

Early life and political career

Sam Rainsy was born in Phnom Penh on 10 March 1949. He moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in 1965, studied there and then worked as an investment manager and executive director in a variety of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

ian financial companies.Brown, Zasloff (1998), p. 240 He became a member of the

Party, and after returning to Cambodia in 1992 was elected a member of parliament for Siem Reap Province the following year. He became Minister of Finance, but was expelled from the party after losing a vote of no-confidence in 1994. In 1995, he founded the Khmer Nation Party (KNP), which changed its name before the 1998 elections to the

Sam Rainsy Party The Candlelight Party ( km, គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន) 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 ...

(SRP) to avoid registration issues. In the 2003 elections, it polled 22% of the vote. At that time, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh said it was "deeply concerned" that the government appeared to be trying to "silence the opposition". Other embassies, local and international organizations shared the same concerns. Sam was tried ''in absentia'' on 22 December 2005 in relation to the defamation lawsuits. The court sentenced him to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay around US$14,000 in fines and compensation. On 5 February 2006, Rainsy received a Royal Pardon by Norodom Sihamoni at

's request. He then returned to Cambodia on 10 February 2006. In April 2008, Rainsy accused Cambodia's then foreign minister Hor Namhong of having served under the Khmer Rouge as director of the Beoung Trabek prison, where torture and murder was carried out. Hor Namhong responded by suing Rainsy for defamation and this was upheld by Cambodia's courts, but Hor Namhong's case was rejected in April 2011 by France's Cour de Cassation. Following Rainsy's announcement on 7 July 2013, that he would return to Cambodia for the national legislative elections, he was pardoned for the "defamation" of Hor Namhong by King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Hun Sen and returned to Cambodia on 19 July 2013. On 22 July 2014, the Cambodian political crisis ongoing since 2013 was officially ended in a deal reached between the CPP and CNRP. The opposition also agreed to accept their seats in parliament, thus ending the longest political deadlock in Cambodian history. The CNRP was also given leadership roles in parliament, with Kem Sokha as the first vice president of the National Assembly and other politicians chairing 5 of the 10 parliamentary commissions. Rainsy proposed the National Assembly to formally recognize an official opposition and pushed for a full shadow cabinet. Such changes would allow him to debate directly with Hun Sen, similar to the Westminster system. On 13 November 2015, the royal pardon that had been given to Rainsy in 2013 over the "defamation" of Hor Namhong was withdrawn. Three days later, he was unanimously removed from the National Assembly by the

while facing several charges. Sam Rainsy stood by his original claims that Hor Namhong had been responsible for prison deaths under the Khmer Rouge. On 1 December 2015, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned Sam Rainsy in absentia to clarify a statement he posted to his Facebook account following a defamation complaint by parliamentary president Heng Samrin. Less than two weeks earlier, the same court had issued another summons for Sam Rainsy to appear for questioning over his alleged involvement in using a fake map to resolve a border dispute with Vietnam. On 11 February 2017, Rainsy resigned as President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party following a proposed amendment by Hun Sen barring convicted criminals from leading a political party. His resignation was accepted by his party on 12 February. His successor as leader, Kem Sokha, was arrested on 3 September 2017, and, as of March 2018, remains in prison without trial. Sam Rainsy responded by creating the Cambodia National Rescue Movement (CNRM), which seeks to increase international pressure on the Hun Sen regime. The US said in February 2018 that it was suspending or curtailing programs that support the Cambodian military, local government authorities and a major taxation body. Germany in February 2018 suspended visas for Cambodian government members in light of the crackdown on the opposition. In the same month, the EU said it was considering targeted measures against the Hun Sen regime. In March 2018, Kem Sokha's period of detention without trial was extended for six months, meaning that he will be in prison when the country's national parliamentary elections scheduled for July 2018 takes place. In the same month, Hun Sen rejected a proposal from Sam Rainsy for talks on a way of ending the crisis. In August 2019, Rainsy announced his intention to return to Cambodia on

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

on 9 November. The government confirmed that they would arrest him should he return on that date. The Cambodian government responded by threatening any airline that transported him to Cambodia with "serious consequences". The government of Thailand, from where he planned to travel to Cambodia by land, also denied him entry at the request of Cambodia. Rainsy was denied boarding on a Thai Airways flight from Paris to Bangkok, from where he planned to travel to Cambodia, on 7 November, despite having a valid ticket. He said he will find another way to return to his country. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Sam Rainsy advocated the introduction of immunity passports based on tests for antibodies as a way to restart the international economy. In October 2020, Rainsy and the CNRP denounced China's military expansionism which is reported to involve agreement to establish military bases in Cambodia following the demolition of a US-built facility at the Ream naval base.

Family

Conciliation - Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy in April 2015

Sam Rainsy's father, Sam Sary, had served as a minister in the education, planning and finance portfolios before becoming a Deputy Prime Minister in Sihanouk's government in the 1950s. Sam Rainsy's mother, In Em, was said to be the first Cambodian woman to have completed the

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

exam. Sam Sary fled the country in 1959 when Sam Rainsy was ten for suspected involvement in the Bangkok Plot, while his mother was thrown into prison. Sam Rainsy's grandfather, Sam Nhean had served as the President of the Royal Council of Cambodia and was a prominent member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the 1940s. Sam Rainsy is married to Tioulong Saumura (since 1971), who is also member of parliament for his current party, and has three children: Patrice Sam, Muriel Sam and Rachel Sam. Tioulong Samura's father, Nhiek Tioulong, was a military general who founded the Khmer Renovation party and briefly served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in 1962. His mother-in-law, former First Lady Measketh Samphotre, died in November 2016, aged 96, but neither was able to attend the latter's funeral at

Wat Svay Pope Wat Svay Pope ( km, វត្តស្វាយពពែ) is a Theravada Buddhist temple located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and built in 1929. History Wat Svay Pope was built in 1929. In June 2002, 100 poor people from Kampong Speu provi ...

. Both Sam Rainsy and his wife claim to have Chinese ancestry, the former having revealed that one of his great-great grandfathers was a Chinese immigrant, while Nhiek Tioulong revealed that he had a Chinese grandfather during a dialogue session with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

in 1954. Rainsy maintains a home in

' 15th arrondissement.

University degrees

*Economics ( ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'') *Business Administration (Master of Business Administration from

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East ( Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (Sa ...

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

- France) - 1980. *Accounting (''Diplôme d'études comptables supérieures'' issued by the French Ministry of Education) - 1979. *Economics (''Maîtrise + Diplôme d'études supérieures des Sciences économiques de la Faculté de droit et des sciences économiques de Paris'' - Panthéon-Assas) - 1973. *Political Science (''Diplôme de l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris'') - 1971.

Footnotes

Works

Bibliography

* Brown, MacAlister Brown; Zasloff, Joseph Jermiah; ''Cambodia Confounds the Peacemakers, 1979-1998'',

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in ...

, 1998,

External links

Sam Rainsy on FacebookSam Rainsy on Twitter

Cambodia National Rescue Party

Sam Rainsy Party homepageBBC profile of RainsyBBC: "Cambodia opposition calls on king"BBC: "Sam Rainsy appeal on Cambodia"A web interactive documentary on CNRP and Rainsy exile during 2013 General Elections http://rainsysam.com/ Site grouping Sam Rainsy writings in Khmer and English created in 2017
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sam, Rainsy 1949 births Living people Cambodian Buddhists Cambodian Theravada Buddhists 20th-century Cambodian politicians 20th-century economists 21st-century Cambodian politicians 21st-century Cambodian writers Cambodian anti-communists Cambodian democracy activists Cambodian exiles Cambodian emigrants to France Cambodian nationalists French economists Cambodia National Rescue Party politicians Cambodian politicians of Chinese descent Finance ministers of Cambodia FUNCINPEC politicians Government ministers of Cambodia INSEAD alumni Leaders of the Opposition (Cambodia) Members of the National Assembly (Cambodia) Naturalized citizens of France Businesspeople from Paris People from Phnom Penh Political party founders Recipients of Cambodian royal pardons Candlelight Party politicians Sciences Po alumni