By Daniel Ten Kate
The cambodia daily

Untac members disembark from a helicopter in 1993.

On August 20, 1993, the gaze of the international community began to drift away from Cambodia. With the first-ever elections completed in May and the deadline for Cambodia to adopt a new constitution looming, the 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping force prepared to leave the country. Yet as the global spotlight faded, a local one emerged.

The Cambodia Daily, the country’s first independent, daily newspaper, launched its first issue.

“Our goal is to make Cambodia a more informed society so its leaders may reach sounder decisions in the nation’s development,” wrote Bernard Krisher, publisher and founder of the Daily, in volume 1, issue 1.

Writing just a few articles per day in the beginning, Editor-in-Chief Barton Biggs and the small Daily staff saw Cambodia undergo rapid changes in their first few months. The Daily, consisting primarily of stories from a range of news agencies, chronicled the power struggle in the formation of a new government, the continuous fighting between government forces and the Khmer Rouge and the transition to a free market economy.

Though Funcinpec’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh won the national election in May, it quickly became obvious that former communist premier and CPP leader Hun Sen would not step down without a fight.

Soon after the elections, several CPP members blamed their election loss on fraud and announced the secession of six provinces in eastern Cambodia. Though the secession lasted only five days, the spectacle persuaded Prince Ranariddh to accept then-prince Norodom Sihanouk’s proposal for Funcinpec to share power with the CPP, essentially undermining the election results.

“Untac, pleased with its successful elections, offered no objection to this perversion of their result,” wrote Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Henry Kamm of the power-sharing arrangement in his book, “Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land.”

While speculation mounted over how the final draft of the Constitution would turn out in late August, the Daily chronicled the events of a country transitioning not only into a new government, but also a new economy. Business leaders gathered in Phnom Penh to form the first Chamber of Commerce, calling for the establishment of a free economy. Computer schools started to pop up around town, teaching word processing to Cambodia’s youth. And government officials discussed ways to increase foreign investment.

“To attract and retain foreign investors...we must create an environment which won’t chase anyone away,” wrote Pou Sothirak, Minister of Industry, in an Aug 25 opinion piece published in the Daily. “Presently, the bureaucratic slowness and petty corruption is guaranteed to do just that.”

The challenges involved with jump-starting the economy stemmed from years of poor governance and war. Firefighters in Phnom Penh watched houses burn, demanding residents pay them before extinguishing the flames.

Bandits stole UN vehicles and robbed traders sailing on the Mekong River. The Khmer Rouge financed its operations by selling logging rights to Thai businesses, ravaging the rich forests of the northwest.
Toward the middle of September, the government began to take shape. Funcinpec and the CPP agreed to share power, and Prince Sihanouk would once again be crowned King.

“It’s better to have two co-presidents than a civil war,” Prince Ranariddh said at the time.

On Sept 24, Prince Sihanouk signed the Constitution, restoring a constitutional monarchy to Cambodia after 23 years and installing himself as King. Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen were appointed co-prime ministers. The CPP retained control of Cambodia’s two most populous provinces—Battambang and Kompong Cham—even though Funcinpec won the elections in both places.

Two days later, a Ghanian brass band played “Let There Be Peace on Earth” as Untac chief Yasushi Akashi bid an emotional farewell to leaders in Phnom Penh.

“I see the main current in Cambodia towards unity, towards prosperity,” Akashi said. “I am convinced that eventually the [Khmer Rouge] have to join this mainstream.”

Wasting no time once Untac left the country, Hun Sen declared that the new government had the right “to wipe out” the Khmer Rouge. In the next few weeks, the Khmer Rouge and the new government fruitlessly tossed peace proposals back and forth. The fighting continued. Cambodia launched a major offensive on the Khmer Rouge headquarters in late September, though the national army was unable to boast significant gains.

As the guns fired, more signs of economic reform filled the Daily pages. More than a thousand students took to the streets demanding their curriculum be taught in English instead of French. Computer sales grew. Phnom Penh announced a city cleanup drive that required all garbage to be put in plastic bags. Japan and France led a multibillion dollar campaign to restore Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s premier tourist attraction.

Sam Rainsy, then the finance minister, curbed liquidity growth by 200 percent from 1992, causing the riel to sell at 2,100 per dollar in late November.

He then toured the globe, asking for billions of dollars to erase the ravages of war and pleading with developed countries to invest in Cambodia.

While asking for money abroad, the new government voted to increase their salaries tenfold. Policemen earned an average of $9 to $12 per month. Soldiers netted a maximum of $13. Now legislators would take home $650 every month.

“This is because we don’t want members of the National Assembly to be corrupted,” said Son Soubert, second deputy chairman of the National Assembly, in December. “When they have a good salary, they will be happy to work for their constituents, not for their own interests.”

The anti-corruption message continued throughout the last month of 1993. Speaking to Japanese economic organizations in Tokyo on Dec 10, Sam Rainsy promised potential investors that contracts would be granted on the basis of expertise and efficiency, not “on bribes and corruption” as in the past.

“Cambodia can and will achieve the level of Thailand in the next few years,” he said.

Back in Cambodia, the government continued to fight the Khmer Rouge. At one point, King Sihanouk proposed that the Khmer Rouge receive a co-prime minister position if its members surrendered. The offer was later retracted. As January approached, the government launched a major offensive on Khmer Rouge headquarters. Though peace proposals made headlines for most of 1993, the year ended with no talks.

The year also ended with articles that exposed the lasting legacy of Untac: An estimated seven times more UN soldiers would die from contracting HIV and AIDS than from hostile fire during the mandate’s 18 months of operation.

With the UN out, Cambodia was on its own. Six million to 8 million land mines littered the nation. Jobs were scarce. Guerrilla warfare raged through the countryside. And politicians continued to ask the international community for financial help, claiming the days of corruption were over.