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 political ideology ...

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 t ...

, formed as a continuation of the Communist Party of Kampuchea 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 politics, 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- ...

",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 various co ...

.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 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 a ...

. The party led the deposed Democratic Kampuchea 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 in 1982. Although Pol Pot relinquished party leadership to Khieu Samphan 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 (CNUP), which publicly stated its wish to participate in the elections but eventually did not register and vowed to sabotage the election. Subsequently,

UNTAC The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) ar, سلطة الأمم المتحدة الانتقالية في كمبوديا, italics=off zh, , italics=offfrench: Autorité provisoire des Nations unies au Cambodgerussian: Орг ...

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 Cambodian National Unity Party and the self-proclaimed

Provisional Government of National Union and National Salvation of Cambodia The Provisional Government of National Union and National Salvation of Cambodia (PGNUNSC) was an internationally unrecognised and ostensibly provisional government set up by the Khmer Rouge on July 11, 1994, in opposition to the established King ...

.''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