Majority 186,867 Succeeded by ? | Name Pen Sovan Role Politician | |
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Battles and wars First Indochina War, Cambodian Civil War |
(VTC14)_Cựu thủ tướng Campuchia Pen Sovann đã qua đời ở tuổi 80
Pen Sovann, The Father of January 7, 1979
Pen Sovan (Khmer: ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ; April 15, 1936 – October 29, 2016) was a Cambodian politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Hanoi-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea from June 27 to December 5, 1981, and was General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) from 1979 to 1981. He was arrested and removed from office in December 1981 by the Vietnamese for irritating Lê Đức Thọ, the chief adviser to the PRK government. He was imprisoned in Vietnam until January 1992.
Contents
- VTC14Cu th tng Campuchia Pen Sovann qua i tui 80
- Pen Sovann The Father of January 7 1979
- Biography
- References
Sovan founded the Cambodian National Sustaining Party, which contested in the 1998 election but did not win a seat in parliament. He later joined the Human Rights Party founded in 2007 and served as its vice president. In 2012, he became a member of the newly founded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and stood as an MP candidate for Kampong Speu. He was elected and was sworn in on August 5, 2014.

Biography

Pen Sovan was born into an ethnic Vietnamese family in Takéo. He first joined the Khmer Issarak at the age of 13 in 1949 and fought against the French. Two years later, Sovan joined the Indochinese Communist Party where he first met Ta Mok. Sovan supported the Khmer Rouge during the 1970-1973 civil war against the Khmer Republic and he worked along with Chan Sy under Khieu Thirith, in charge of the Voice of the United National Front of Kampuchea. From 1973 to 1979, Sovan lived in exile in Hanoi.

Sovan was a founding leader of Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS or FUNSK) on November 25, 1978. He served as Secretary-General of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party from January 5, 1979 to 1 December 1981, when he was replaced by Heng Samrin following his removal from office by the Vietnamese.

Sovan was arrested on December 2, 1981 for irritating Lê Đức Thọ, chief Vietnamese advisor to the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) and the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). He was released from Vietnam's prison on January 25, 1992, after he served over 10 years. Sovan explained his long ordeal in prison: "When I wanted to create our own army of five regiments, the Vietnamese didn't agree and Lê Đức Thọ went to the USSR to complain." Sovan died in Doun Kaev, Takéo Province on October 29, 2016. He was cremated in Phnom Penh on 6 November 2016. On 10 November, Suon Rida was appointed to fill Sovan's vacant seat.