THE POLITICAL ROLES OF PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK, THE FORMER KING OF CAMBODIA

Abstract

The kingdom of Cambodia is a monarchy country where one of its royal family members was crowned the king of Cambodia. Later, the King abdicated to serve as a Cambodian prime minister. He was Preah Bat Samdech Preach Norodom Sihanouk or His Majesty the King Norodom Sihanouk who was a son of His Majesty the King Norodom Suramarit. King Norodom Sihanouk was the head of state of Cambodia for two times in 1941 - 1995 and 1993 - 2004. Finally, King Norodom Sihanouk’s second abdication was made on 2^nd September 1995 to his King Father to run the country in the position of the prime minister. In this article, books, articles, research papers, and translation works concerned with King Norodom Sihanouk in the area of his political role were reviewed. The findings indicated that there were five roles that the King had adopted: the role of independence activist, the role of pater patriae, the role of the king with nine lives, the role of neutral policy implementer, and the role of nationalist. Obviously, the King’s history was interesting, particularly his roles in politics. King Norodom Sihanouk ruled the country by becoming the head of the state of Cambodia and prime minister. Thus, this article was keen to identify and analyze the factors that supported and supporting and forcing the King to adopt his political roles.