The Social Republican Party (; , PRS) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 ...

, founded by the then-

Head of State A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the Khmer Republic, Lon Nol, on 10 June 1972 to contest the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

held on 3 September 1972.

History

The Party was formed around Lon Nol's existing Socio-Republican Association, and was heavily influenced by his brother Lon Non and by the officers of the Khmer Republic's armed forces. It adopted the symbol of

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; , "City/Capital of Wat, Temples") is a Buddhism and Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring within the ancient Khmer Empire, Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed ...

, previously used by Prince Norodom Norindeth's Liberal Party from 1946–56. Its platform was populist, nationalist and anticommunist, Lon Nol being determined to oppose

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 and Chinese influence in the region in the context of the Second Indochina War: its three principal values were declared to be "republicanism, social responsibility and nationalism". The party's main function, however, was to support and legitimise Lon Nol's leadership of the country; he was later to develop a rather ramshackle chauvinist and semi-mystical ideology called "Neo-Khmerism" to back his political agenda.Kiernan, B. ''How Pol Pot came to power'', Yale UP, 2004, p.348 The party had, early on, developed two distinct factions. One, known as ''Dangrek'', was led by veteran rightist radical, and (since 18 March) Prime Minister, Son Ngoc Thanh and the left-wing academic Hang Thun Hak.Corfield, J. ''The History of Cambodia'', ABC-CLIO, 2009, p.78 The ''Dangrek'' faction, named after the

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in which Thanh's

Khmer Serei The Khmer Serei ( ; "Free Khmer") were an anti-communist and anti- monarchist guerrilla force founded by Cambodian nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh. In 1959, he published 'The Manifesto of the Khmer Serei' claiming that Sihanouk was supporting the ...

guerrillas had been based, attracted those figures who had long been part of the republican and radical opposition to Prince

Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a member of the House of Norodom, Cambodian royal house who led the country as Monarchy of Cambodia, King, List of heads of state of Cambodia, Chief of State and Prime Minister of Cambodi ...

in the period before the Republic's establishment. The other faction, known as ''Dangkor'', centred on Lon Non and the army. Tension between these two factions would later prove a serious obstacle to stable government.

1972 elections

The two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party led by In Tam and the Republican Party of Sirik Matak, did not take part in the National Assembly Elections, saying that there were some dubious points in the election law. The Social Republican Party fielded 126 candidates and won all of the seats.Khmer Republic 1972
Inter-Parliamentary Union The only opposition were 10 candidates fielded by the '' Pracheachon'' group, a resurrected socialist party widely believed to have been organised by Lon Non as a token opposition. In the elections to the Senate, the upper house of legislature, the 'token' opposition to the PSR was provided by a few candidates of the Sangkum, the former party of Sihanouk, who had been deposed as Head of State by Lon Nol in 1970.Corfield, J. ''Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975'', p.160 The Sangkum had been formally dissolved in 1971, but as with the ''Pracheachon'' was resurrected by Lon Non to provide the appearance of a multiparty election.

Political infighting

Thanh's brief period as Prime Minister ended on 15 October 1972, shortly after an assassination attempt widely believed to have been organised by Lon Non. The PSR's Secretary-General, Hang Thun Hak, was made Prime Minister in his place, but was to be forced out in early 1973 after a period of increasingly poor outcomes for the Republic in the

Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam and China) against the government of the Ki ...

. After a period in which In Tam served in the post, PSR member Long Boret was made Prime Minister in late 1973. Lon Non attempted to strengthen his influence on the PSR, but was forced into exile in September 1973. He returned in 1974 and as late as March 1975 was still attempting to obtain the party's Secretary-Generalship, despite the Republic by this time holding little more than the city of

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 ...

. In April 1975, the Socio-Republican Party, along with the rest of the Khmer Republic regime, fell to the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

.Situation in Indochina Peninsula
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Election results

Presidential election

National Assembly

Senate

References

{{Authority control 1972 establishments in Cambodia 1975 disestablishments in Cambodia Anti-Vietnamese sentiment Anti-communist parties Buddhist political parties Defunct political parties in Cambodia Conservative parties in Cambodia National conservative parties Nationalist parties in Cambodia Political parties disestablished in 1975 Political parties established in 1972 Republican parties in Cambodia Republicanism in Cambodia Khmer Republic