PM Recalls Root Cause of Civil War in Cambodia


Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen this morning called on all politicians to avoid making political mistake.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony for over 3,000 students of Western University in Phnom Penh, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the political mistake by leaders in the 1970s is the main root cause that plunged Cambodia into the civil war.

“The coup d’état in March 1970 was a political mistake that caused the big disaster of civil war until late 1998,” he underlined.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen said we have a lot of natural resources, including coal, iron… gold, but no major natural disasters such as hurricane, however we are still one of the poor nations, and the main cause is the political mistake in 1970 that we should not let it happen again.

The civil war in Cambodia started from the coup d’état conducted by General Lon Nol, the then Prime Minister, to overthrow Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the then Head of State, on Mar. 18, 1970, followed by the genocidal regime of Khmer Rouge from April 17, 1975 to Jan. 7, 1979 until the full peace on Dec. 29, 1998.