Hun Sen (1950- )

Cambodian political leader, prime minister 1985-93, deputy prime minister from 1993, and single effective leader from July 1997. His leadership was characterized by the promotion of economic liberalization and a thawing in relations with exiled non-Khmer opposition forces as a prelude to a compromise political settlement. After the defeat of his Cambodian People's Party (CCP) in the 1993 elections, Hun Sen agreed to participate in a power-sharing arrangement as second premier. In July 1997 he launched a successful coup to oust the first deputy prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and secure full effective control over Cambodia. In February 1998 he accepted a Japanese-brokered peace plan to allow for Ranariddh's return, after he was found guilty in a March 1998 show trial and then pardoned by his father, King Norodom Sihanouk.

Following the November 1998 elections in which Hun Sen's CCP won 41% of the vote, Hun Sen formed a coalition between the two main rival political parties, FUNCINPEC and the CCP.