Ung Huot

Ung Huot
36th Prime Minister of Cambodia First Prime Minister of Cambodia
In office 6 August 1997 – 30 November 1998
Monarch	Norodom Sihanouk
Preceded by	Norodom Ranariddh
Succeeded by	Hun Sen
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
In office 1994–1998
Prime Minister	Norodom Ranariddh himself
Preceded by	Norodom Sirivudh
Succeeded by	Hor Namhong
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
In office 1993–1994
Prime Minister	Norodom Ranariddh
Personal details
Born	1 January 1945 Kandal, Cambodia
Political party	Funcinpec
Spouse(s)	Ung Malis Yvonne[1]

Ung Huot (Khmer: អ៊ឹង ហួត; born 1 January 1945)^[2] is a Cambodian politician who served from 1997 to 1998 as Prime Minister of Cambodia, alongside Hun Sen. A member of the Funcinpec Party, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. He later established the Rastra Niyum Party but failed to gain any seats in parliament in 1998.

Life and career

Ung Huot was born in 1945 in Kandal Province. He studied accounting and finance and was awarded a scholarship to study in Australia in 1971, as Cambodia's civil war was beginning. He settled in Melbourne and proclaimed himself a leader of the Cambodian expatriate committee in that city. He moved back to Cambodia in 1991 as the communist government was falling, and became a high-ranking official in the Funcinpec party. He became the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, and in 1994 he left that post to become foreign minister.

In July 1997, Funcinpec leader Norodom Ranariddh, who was serving as first prime minister, was deposed by second prime minister Hun Sen of Funcinpec's rival and coalition partner, the Cambodian People's Party. Hun invited Ung to become first prime minister to replace Ranariddh. Ranariddh's father, King Norodom Sihanouk at first refused to recognize the arrangement, but Ung became first prime minister in August 1997 after being elected by Parliament. Many, particularly within Funcinpec , accused Ung of being a puppet, and he was forced to leave Funcinpec and form his own party, the Reastr-Niyum Party (Populist Party). In the 1998 elections, the Reastr-Niyum Party did not gain any seats in Parliament, and Ung was forced to resign from the posts of first prime minister and foreign minister, leaving Hun to be the sole prime minister.

References

1. Freya Williams (27 July 1998). "Ung Huot, Democratically, Stands in Line". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
2. Corfield, Justin J. (2009) The History of Cambodia. p. 145: "Ung Huot (b. 1945). First Prime Minister of Cambodia 1997 to 1998, he was born on January 1, 1945, in the Kandal province..." Retrieved 18 April 2014.