Birth of a Republic

To a mixed chorus of reverberating Buddhist gongs and an authoritative 101-gun artillery salute, one of the oldest monarchies on earth was pronounced dead last week. In ceremonies before a joint session of the Cambodian Parliament, the President of Cambodia's National Assembly declared: "I, In Tam, officially proclaim the Khmer republic. Our country is indivisible." The fabled Khmer empire--begun in 802, conqueror of much of Southeast Asia a millennium ago, creator of the glories of Angkor Wat--was no more. In the newly named Place de la Republique near the former Royal Palace, Premier Lon Nol raised the banner of the new republic: a square blue flag with a smaller red square in the upper left-hand corner overlaid with the three main towers of Angkor; in the right corner were three stars symbolizing honor and progress, Buddhism and the republic.

In Peking, exiled Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, a prince of the Khmer line who abdicated the throne in 1955 to get closer to his people, declared the republic a "monstrous swindle."

Growing Support. It was only a few days after Sihanouk was deposed last March that those Cambodians who had long wanted to replace the monarchy with a republic began implementing their plans. Pictures of Sihanouk's mother, Queen Kossamak, a nonruling monarch but a symbol of royal permanence, were quickly stripped from government buildings. Pictures of Sihanouk were defaced or destroyed. When Lon Nol's government polled Cambodians on whether the monarchy should be abolished and replaced with a republic, the answer was reported to be an overwhelming yes. For all that, Lon Nol felt that the time was not right.

It was no accident that he changed his mind last week, roughly six months since the chaotic days following Sihanouk's ouster and the subsequent American-South Vietnamese invasion. Cambodia is hardly a model of stability and permanence today, and martial law still prevails. But Lon Nol seems to have impressed many of his countrymen with his honesty and courage. Deputy Premier Sisowath Sirik Matak has won respect as a shrewd and sophisticated politician, and the government is no longer seen as a here-today, gone-tonight proposition. Particularly noteworthy is the support it enjoys among Cambodia's embryonic professional and middle classes, and among the country's students.

A further indicator that the regime may outlast pessimists' predictions is the army, which has grown from 35,000 to 140,000 men. It is still a ragtag force, ill equipped with a bewildering array of Communist and American weapons. But, as it demonstrated in its recent relief of Kompong Thom and its stand at Taing Kauk, the army is capable of slugging it out with the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.

The army's first real test came at Kompong Thom, where about 1,000 men broke a three-month siege in early September. The Communists slipped away and moved down Route Six, a crucially important supply line in the north. Encouraged by their success at Kompong Thom, the Cambodians went after the enemy. After a two-week battle, Cambodian troops entered Taing Kauk, much of which had been reduced with the help of air strikes to rubble. After the initial battle, one of the 36 women volunteers involved in the action reported: "I'm very happy that it's over." Actually, it was not. A large North Vietnamese force massed last week to renew the fight.

Real Shortages. Military problems are not the only ones plaguing Lon Nol, but they rate high on his list. Last week, for example, the Communists held sway over at least half of the country. The economy is almost as worrying. The inflation rate is currently at least 20%. An expected 50% reduction in rice and rubber exports has helped to drain foreign reserves. The price of rice is rapidly rising, and the next harvest is expected to be 35% lower. The flight of Vietnamese refugees has cost Cambodia its professional fishermen, cutting down the amount of fish available. "Real shortages will begin to develop in the next few months," said a Western diplomat. "I'm just not sure how the government is going to deal with the problem." Though the U.S. has pitched in with $49,000,000 in aid this year, more is likely to be needed.

But those were problems to be coped with later. Last week the first order of business was three days of feasting and dancing to celebrate the end of a kingdom and the birth of a republic.

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