UN General Assembly
1993

Cambodia continues in accordance with the Paris Peace Agreements. The elections, in which, happily, huge numbers of my compatriots participated, were free and fair. Despite tremendous difficulties and constraints, the outcome was most encouraging for the future of democracy in Cambodia. Cambodia’s new Constitution, which was drafted by a sovereign Constituent Assembly, established a constitutional monarchy within the framework of a democratic and liberal political system, under which the people are the sole source of State power, and the judiciary is totally independent of the legislature and the executive. The constitutional monarchy represents the will of the people, expressed through their elected representatives in the constituent Assembly. Under the new Constitution, respect for human rights and individual freedoms has a key place. Even though we have the same leadership as we had during the transitional period, when the provisional Government was in power, the establishment of the Royal Government of Cambodia will ensure the social stability and peace that are so necessary to enable us all to dedicate ourselves to the reconstruction and development of our homeland.