Ung Huot
Ung Huot | |
---|---|
36th Prime Minister of Cambodia First Prime Minister of Cambodia | |
In office 6 August 1997 – 30 November 1998 | |
Appointed by | National Assembly |
Monarch | Norodom Sihanouk |
Preceded by | Norodom Ranariddh |
Succeeded by | Hun Sen |
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation | |
In office 24 October 1994 – 30 November 1998 | |
Prime Minister | Norodom Ranariddh Hun Sen |
Preceded by | Norodom Sirivudh |
Succeeded by | Hor Namhong |
Minister of Education, Youth and Sport | |
In office 24 September 1993 – 24 October 1994 | |
Prime Minister | Norodom Ranariddh Hun Sen |
Member of the National Assembly | |
In office 14 June 1993 – 26 July 1998 | |
Constituency | Kandal Province |
Personal details | |
Born | 1 January 1945 Kandal, Cambodia |
Citizenship | Australia |
Political party | FUNCINPEC |
Spouse | Ung Malis Yvonne[1] |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne (MBA) |
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 first served as Minister of Education, and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs before being appointed as Prime Minister.
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 received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Melbourne, and became an Australian citizen.[3] 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 Education, 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. When some people within Funcinpec accused Ung of being a puppet, 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
- ^ Freya Williams (27 July 1998). "Ung Huot, Democratically, Stands in Line". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Ung Huot - an unplanned rise to fame". The Phnom Penh Post. 13 January 1995. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- Use dmy dates from October 2012
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Cambodian emigrants to Australia
- Funcinpec Party politicians
- Prime Ministers of Cambodia
- Foreign ministers of Cambodia
- Government ministers of Cambodia
- Members of the National Assembly (Cambodia)
- People from Kandal Province
- People from Melbourne
- University of Melbourne alumni