The Party of Democratic Kampuchea was a

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

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

, formed as a continuation of the

Communist Party of Kampuchea The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; french: Parti communiste du Kampuchea also known as the Khmer Communist Party,

in December 1981. In the mid-1980s, it publicly claimed that its ideology was "a new form of

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

",Alan John Day, Richard German, and John Campbell (Ed.). ''Political Parties of the World''. 1996. New York: Stockton. p. 109. having ostensibly renounced

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and vario ...

.Bogdan Szajkowski (Ed.). ''Revolutionary and Dissident Movements of the World''. John Harper Publishing. 2004. p. 54.

History

According to the party itself, the dissolution of the CPK and formation of the PDK was prompted by the need for broader unity against Vietnam, a unity which an explicit communist line would hamper. The

National Army of Democratic Kampuchea The National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (NADK) was a Cambodian guerrilla force. NADK were the armed forces of the Party of Democratic Kampuchea also known as "Khmer Rouge", operating between 1979 and the late 1990s. History NADK was formed i ...

was the armed wing of the party, while the

Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea The Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea ( km, រណសិរ្សប្រជាធិបតេយ្យស្នេហាជាតិនៃមហាសាមគ្គីជាតិកម្ពុជា) (PDFG ...

was a mass organization controlled by it. The General Secretary of the party at the time was

Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist ...

. The party led the deposed

Democratic Kampuchea Kampuchea ( km, កម្ពុជា ), officially known as Democratic Kampuchea (DK; km, កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ) from 5 January 1976, was a one-party totalitarian state which encompassed modern-day Camb ...

government. Its followers were generally called ''

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 ...

''. At the time of the formation of the PDK, the Khmer Rouge forces had been pushed back by the Vietnamese-backed KPRP government to an area near the Thai border. The PDK began cooperating with other anti-Vietnamese factions, and formed the

Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK; km, រដ្ឋាភិបាលចំរុះកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ, ''Roathaphibal Chamroh Kampuchea Pracheathipatai''), renamed in 1990 to the N ...

in 1982. Although Pol Pot relinquished party leadership to

Khieu Samphan Khieu Samphan ( km, ខៀវ សំផន; born 28 July 1931) is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as ...

in 1985, he continued to wield considerable influence over the movement. Ahead of the 1992/1993 elections, the PDK was largely succeeded by the

Cambodian National Unity Party The Cambodian National Unity Party ( km, គណបក្សសាមគ្គីជាតិកម្ពុជា) was a political party set up by the Khmer Rouge on November 30, 1992 during the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia to ...

(CNUP), which publicly stated its wish to participate in the elections but eventually did not register and vowed to sabotage the election. Subsequently, UNTAC decided not to conduct elections in areas under PDK control. At the time it was estimated that approximately six percent of the population in Cambodia lived in areas under PDK control. The PDK was declared illegal in July 1994, after which its activities continued under the

and the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of National Union and National Salvation of Cambodia.''The Europa World Year Book'' Volume I. Europa Publications Limited. 1997. p. 775.

References

1981 establishments in Cambodia 1993 disestablishments in Cambodia Defunct political parties in Cambodia Khmer Rouge Organizations of the Third Indochina War Political parties disestablished in 1993 Political parties established in 1981 Rebel groups in Cambodia Socialist parties in Cambodia {{Cambodia-party-stub

History

See also

References