Defunct: Merged with Human Rights Party on 17 July 2012!
SRP Homepage (Khmer and English)
The SRP has a Women’s Wing and a Youth Movement (Websites only in Khmer)
Partyforumseasia:
The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) was first established in November 1995 as the Khmer Nation Party by Sam Rainsy, a former Funcinpec member and ex-economics and finance minister in the coalition government after the 1993 election. After a no-confidence vote in 1994, he was expelled from Funcinpec. Dissatisfaction with growing corruption, poverty, human rights violations, and exploitation of national resources led Sam Rainsy and his followers to start a new party. The fact that the party is now named after its leader, somewhat strange for a party with liberal aspirations, reflects Sam Rainsy’s rivalry and dissent with Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP’s attacks on the Khmer Nation Party. For practical reasons of being registered as a political party and to enable it to contest the 1998 elections, the party had little choice than adopting the name of its leader. The SRP and Sam Rainsy himself are constantly kept under pressure by the ruling CPP and the Hun Sen government. From their viewpoint, both are too popular as a viable opposition and a threat to the comfortable majority of the CPP. Sam Rainsy, because of his popular appeal, had his share of attacks, including an attempt on his life, being stripped of his parliamentary immunity, convicted of criminal defamation, pardoned later, accused again. He is now living in exile in Australia, waiting for another court decision in connection with his controversial activities at the Vietnamese border, playing on nationalistic feelings.