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Sok Chenda Sophea out as Cambodia's foreign minister

Laos also replaces its foreign minister.

By RFA Khmer 2024.11.19 -- Cambodia's former foreign minister Prak Sokhonn will soon return to the role after the country's lawmakers vote on a cabinet reshuffle, the National Assembly said in a statement Tuesday.

Prak Sokhonn, who previously served in the role between 2016 and 2023, is the current vice president of the Senate. He will retake the foreign ministerial role from Sok Chenda Sophea, who will become deputy prime minister.

Cambodia has about a dozen people serving concurrently with that title.

The statement did not explain the reasoning behind the reshuffle.

Chenda Sophea has seemingly failed to implement Cambodia's political and economic policies on the global stage, Seng Vanly, a geopolitical observer who focuses on Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told Radio Free Asia.

But he also said that the return of Prak Sokhonn would not restore Cambodia's relationship with Western countries because the country is plagued with crime, human rights abuses, corruption and a decline in democracy.

"When Prak Sokhonn controlled the ministry, Cambodia was trying to influence people overseas and caused a split between Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha's supporters," he said. "But under Sok Chenda, overseas Cambodians have become more united."

RFA was not able reach National Assembly spokesman Leng Peng Long.

Meanwhile Laos' National Assembly approved a reshuffle on Thursday, elevating deputy foreign minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane to foreign minister, replacing Saleumxay Kommasith

Thongsavanh Phomvihane is the son of the late Lao president and first secretary general of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Kaysone Phomvihane.

He previously served as head of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee Commission for External Relations, and as part of the Foreign Ministry served as a diplomat in China, Vietnam and several other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Eugene Whong.

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