(Phnom Penh): For nearly three decades, Cambodia has lived under the shelter of peace achieved through the Win–Win Policy that ended the civil war. That policy silenced the guns between Cambodians, enabled a climate of peace and national development, and—crucially—consolidated the full unity of Khmer territory, the most complete in the past 500 years of national history. Yet amid today’s calm, a new shadow is forming: a campaign of inciting class anger, eerily reminiscent of what the Khmer Rouge inflicted on Cambodia during three years, eight months, and 20 days of Democratic Kampuchea.

A small group led by Sam Rainsy—styling itself a “government-in-exile”—is deploying tactics of psychological warfare similar to those once used by the Khmer Rouge: stoking anger against a targeted class to split the nation.
Sam Rainsy and his associates are amplifying disinformation that accuses Samdech Techo Hun Sen and his allies of “stealing national funds,” while promising that once they accomplish their goal of overthrowing the current government, they will seize the assets of the ‘corrupt’ to “repay the people’s debts” and “rebuild the country.” At first glance, such language may sound patriotic. In reality, it is a dangerous stratagem to manufacture class rage—the same formula the Khmer Rouge used to topple the Khmer Republic under Lon Nol through a theory of “constructing a proletarian class against capitalism.” This is not love of country; it is politics of vengeance that Cambodians have suffered before.

“Class Incitement” Is the Brain of National Destruction From 1970 to 1975, the Khmer Rouge deployed a militant “anti-capitalist” doctrine to stir hatred toward the affluent and the powerful. The ultimate result was catastrophic: more than three million Cambodians perished; families were torn apart; religion, culture, customs, and the structural foundations of national life were shattered; and the identity handed down by Khmer ancestors was almost erased. The “victory over capitalists” was not a national victory—it was a victory of vendetta.

Today, Sam Rainsy is reviving the same theory in a modern register—changing a few words, but pursuing the same objective: Khmer against Khmer.

*Selling “Hope,” Manufacturing Disaster

The slogan, “We will take back the corrupt money and use it for the people,” may sound appealing. In practice it is a key that opens the door to destruction—creating “social enemies,” sowing division, normalizing violence, and pulling society toward chaos. Down this path, Cambodia risks being dragged back to zero. If we tolerate this theory of incitement again, Cambodians could be trapped once more in a cycle of killing, as in the past.

*Monarchy and Internal Peace Were Restored by the Win–Win Policy

Samdech Techo Hun Sen did not rebuild the nation through arms. He restored the peace lost for more than 20 years after the 18 March 1970 coup through negotiations—notably the two successive Sihanouk–Hun Sen meetings, which opened the door to international talks and led to the Paris Peace Agreements of 23 October 1991. From that light of peace came the end of civil war, national reconciliation, the restoration of the monarchy, the 1993 Constitution, and a durable peace.

*Disinformation as a Political Weapon

The campaign to fabricate and spread claims that Samdech Techo Hun Sen and his allies “stole national funds,” coupled with promises to seize assets to “repay the people” and “rebuild the country,” is false hope packaged as propaganda—a technique the Khmer Rouge once used. In truth, such messaging seeks to manufacture political disaster, risking a slide back into the turmoil of the Democratic Kampuchea era.

Through the Win–Win Policy, Samdech Techo Hun Sen ended the civil war, silenced the guns, and brought peace and development to Cambodia. The peace Cambodians enjoy today did not arise from corruption or arbitrary power plays; it is the result of political wisdom, fair-minded negotiation, and the will to end national crisis.

Accordingly, overseas agitators’ accusations amount to a strategy of incitement, vengeance, and destabilization at a time when Cambodians are advancing under a hard-won peace they could not easily secure again.

Conclusion Nearly three decades of peace achieved through the Win–Win Policy did not come by accident. They were earned through determination to end civil war and restore the monarchy. Cambodia now lives in a climate of prosperity that history itself attests to. The “class-revenge” doctrine promoted by Sam Rainsy and the self-styled government-in-exile is not patriotism; it is the exploitation of Cambodian suffering as a tool for personal political ambition.

If we are not vigilant—and we fall for the “class-grievance” game—Cambodians may be asked to sacrifice their most precious asset, peace, for a second time. History already proves the point: our gravest disasters have not only come from foreign enemies but from Cambodians destroying one another. We, as citizens, must not allow 1975—driven by the same theory of class hatred—to return.
Peace is the nation’s greatest wealth. Cambodia needs unity, not the seeding of class resentment that would dissolve our country once again.