Posted on September 24, 2019
The anniversary of a nation's adoption of a constitution could be a really big deal. I would think it would be for Cambodia, because the formal adoption of its constitution on this date in 1993 transformed the nation from:
- civil-war torn - to political, rather than military, competition between parties
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| Civil wars are horrible... |
- autocratic (rule with no concern for others' desires or rights) - to a nation with equal rights, including the right to vote, enshrined in the highest law of the land
- oligarchy (rule by a small group of people) - to a constitutional monarchy with regular elections
BUT...
(You knew there'd be a "but," didn't you?)
This constitution was written with United Nations guidance, and U.N. folks hung around until there was an election. The election seemed to be fair, and about 90% of the registered voters participated (wow!), so the U.N. mission withdrew and allowed the Cambodian government to rule without oversight.
In 1997, there was a coup, and lots of people died in the forceful takeover...and ever since then, the nation has been run as a one-party country.
In other words, on paper the nation is a democracy, but in reality it's back to mostly authoritarian / mostly oligarchical.
Yikes-y!
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| Location of Cambodia |
Cambodia is located in southeast Asia. As you probably know, part of the reason the nation has had such terrible problems is that the Vietnamese War extended into Cambodia. That meant U.S. bombings of the nation. Even worse was a genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. Horrific stuff. Hopefully happier days are ahead for these people!
Take a look at these Cambodian children. Don't you hope their smiles will be more and more frequent?
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