The Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly (, ) was the official name of the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

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 ...

during the

Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the government of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phno ...

period. It was established as the official legislature of Kampuchea on 5 January 1976, consisting of 250 members.

Composition

Of the seats, 150 were, due to the constitution, to be reserved for representatives of the peasants, 50 for the "laborers and other working people" and 50 for the Kampuchea Revolutionary Army. All representatives were to be elected simultaneously by

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

for five year terms, with the first and only elections taking place on 20 March 1976.

History

The assembly held its first and only plenary session on 11 to 13 April, appointing the State Presidium, consisting of a president, a first vice president, and a second vice president, as well elected the "administration", the official government of Democratic Kampuchea, and the Standing Committee, due to represent the assembly when not gathered. The members of the KPRA were never elected; the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Kampuchea The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), also known as the Khmer Communist Party,
Country Data. . was a

(CPK) appointed the chairman and other high officials both to it and to the State Praesidium. Plans for elections of members were discussed, but the 250 members of the KPRA were in fact appointed by the upper echelon of the CPK. KPRA held no real

legislative power A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

. Unlike other political systems where legislative bodies could nominally pass laws or act as forums for debate, the KPRA was a tool for legitimizing decisions made by the ruling

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 ...

. All major policy decisions were orchestrated by CPK and by the Standing Committee led by

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

, which wielded ultimate power. The KPRA's main function was to support these decisions without having any independent authority. The assembly was effectively abolished when the Vietnamese captured

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 ...

on 7 January 1979, establishing the

People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was a partially recognised state in Southeast Asia which existed from 1979 to 1989. It was a satellite state of Vietnam, founded in Cambodia by the Vietnamese-backed Kampuchean United Front for Nationa ...

Results

, - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top width=450, List !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=Seats , - , align=left, Groups represented in the Assembly * Kampuchean Revolutionary Army *Labourers and "other working people" *

Peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

s , valign="top",
50
50
150 , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left, Total , width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 250 , - , colspan=2, Source: Presidents of the Standing Committee of the Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly: *

Nuon Chea Nuon Chea (; born Lao Kim Lorn; 7 July 1926 – 4 August 2019), also known as Long Bunruot () or Rungloet Laodi ( ), was a Cambodian communism, communist politician and revolutionary who was the chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge. He also briefl ...

, 13 April 1976 – 7 January 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hou, Yuon 1925 births 1931 births Year of death unknown Cambodian communists Communist Party of Kampuchea politicians Cambodian people of Chinese descent Government ministers of Cambodia People executed by the Khmer Rouge Sangkum politicians People from Kampong Cham province University of Paris alumni Government of Cambodia Democratic Kampuchea Parliament of Cambodia Defunct national legislatures