Chea Sim

Samdech Akeak Moha Thomak Pothisal Chea Sim GCRS NM
Chea Sim in 2012
2nd President of the Senate
In office 25 March 1999 – 8 June 2015
Monarch	Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihamoni
Prime Minister	Hun Sen
Vice President	Say Chhum Tep Ngorn
Preceded by	Re-established (Title last held by Peter Khoy Saukam)
Succeeded by	Say Chhum
President of the Cambodian People's Party
In office 17 October 1991 – 8 June 2015
Deputy	Hun Sen
Preceded by	Heng Samrin as General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party
Succeeded by	Hun Sen
Minister for the Interior
In office 7 January 1979 – 27 June 1981
Prime Minister	Pen Sovan
2nd President of the National Assembly
In office 6 October 1993 – 25 November 1998
Monarch	Norodom Sihanouk
Prime Minister	Norodom Ranariddh Ung Huot Hun Sen
Preceded by	Son Sann
Succeeded by	Norodom Ranariddh
Chairman of the National Assembly of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
In office 27 June 1981 – 14 June 1993
Prime Minister	Pen Sovan Chan Sy Hun Sen
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Chairman of the Council of State
In office 6 April 1992 – 14 June 1993
Prime Minister	Hun Sen
Preceded by	Heng Samrin
Succeeded by	Norodom Sihanouk
Personal details
Born	(1932-11-15)15 November 1932 Romeas Haek, Svay Rieng, Cambodia
Died	8 June 2015(2015-06-08) (aged 82) Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Political party	Cambodian People's Party
Spouse(s)	Nhem Soeun
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Chea Sim (Khmer: ជា សីុម; 15 November 1932 – 8 June 2015) was a Cambodian politician. He was President of the Cambodian People's Party from 1991 to 2015, President of the National Assembly of Cambodia from 1981 to 1998 (Vice President from June to October 1993) and President of the Senate from 1999 to 2015. His official title was Samdach Akeak Moha Thomak Pothisal Chea Sim, Protean Protsaphea ney Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea (Khmer: សម្តេចអគ្គមហាធម្មពោធិសាល ជា សីុម, ប្រធានព្រឹទ្ធសភា នៃ ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា).

Chea Sim was born on November 15, 1932, in Romeas Haek, Svay Rieng Province to an ethnic Chinese peasant family. As a young man, he partook in one of the first revolutionary movement by the communist Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (Khmer: គណបក្សប្រជាជនបដិវត្តន៍កម្ពុជា, KPRP), currently the ruling party of Cambodia. The movement which he joined was against Colonial France in the early 1950s. He later became a military commander of the communist Khmer Rouge even before it finally toppled the US-backed Lon Nol government in 1975. Like Heng Samrin and Hun Sen, he defected in 1978 from the Khmer Rouge, which was backed by China, and fled to Vietnam to join an anti-Khmer Rouge movement known as a resistance faction groomed by Vietnam. He later held positions in the new party and People's Republic of Kampuchea government, installed and backed by Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia and ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979. He was among the founding members of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea, the Vietnam-backed group that defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

Chea Sim was considered an important figure when negotiations happened, resulting in the 1991 Paris Peace Accord, which brokered a deal supposed to end three decades of civil war and paved the way for the U.N.-organized elections in 1993. After the elections, even though the royalist FUNCINPEC party topped the polls at that time, Hun Sen insisted that it share power with his Cambodian People's Party, and four years later grabbed the sole power for his Cambodia People's Party. From April 6, 1992 to June 14, 1993, Chea Sim served as the nation’s interim leader (Chairman of the Council of State) before Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy. He also acted as Head of State on behalf of King Norodom Sihanouk for brief periods in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 2004. Sihanouk awarded Chea Sim the honorary title of Sâmdech in 1993.