Editing Politics of Cambodia (section)

==Monarchy==
{{Further|Monarchy of Cambodia|House of Norodom}}

[[File:Norodom king of Cambodia.jpg|right|thumb|[[King]] [[Norodom Sihamoni]]]]
Cambodia is a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The king is officially the [[head of state]] and is the symbol of unity and "perpetuity" of the nation, as defined by Cambodia's constitution.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cambodia 1993 (rev. 2008)|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cambodia_2008?lang=en#26|website=Constitute|access-date=17 April 2015}}</ref>

From September 24, 1993, through October 7, 2004, [[Norodom Sihanouk]] reigned as king, after having previously served in a number of offices (including king) since 1941. Under the constitution, the king has no political power, but as Norodom Sihanouk was revered in the country, his word often carried much influence in the government. The king, often irritated over the conflicts in his government, several times threatened to abdicate unless the political factions in the government got along. This put pressure on the government to solve their differences. This influence of the king was often used to help mediate differences in government.

After the abdication of King Norodom Sihanouk in 2004, he was succeeded by his son [[Norodom Sihamoni]]. While the retired king was highly revered in his country for dedicating his lifetime to Cambodia, the current king has spent most of his life abroad in [[France]]. Thus, it remains to be seen whether the new king's views will be as highly respected as his father's.

Although in the [[Khmer language]] there are many words meaning "king", the word officially used in Khmer (as found in the 1993 Cambodian constitution) is ''preăhmôhaksăt'' (Khmer regular script: ព្រះមហាក្សត្រ), which literally means: ''preăh''- ("excellent", cognate of the [[Pali]] word [[w:wiktionary:vara#Pali|vara]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sealang.net/api/api.pl?query=%E1%9E%96%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%9A%E1%9F%87&service=dictionary|title=Native orthography for "ព្រះ", SEAlang Dictionary|website=sealang.net|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref>) -''môha''- (from [[Sanskrit]], meaning "great", cognate with "maha-" in [[maharaja]]) -''ksăt'' ("warrior, ruler", cognate of the Sanskrit word [[w:wiktionary:क्षत्र|kṣatrá]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sealang.net/api/api.pl?query=%E1%9E%80%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%9F%E1%9E%8F%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%9A&service=dictionary|title=Native orthography for "ក្សត្រ", SEAlang Dictionary|website=sealang.net|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref>).

On the occasion of King Norodom Sihanouk's retirement in September 2004, the Cambodian National Assembly coined a new word for the retired king: ''preăhmôhavireăkksăt'' (Khmer regular script: ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ), where ''vireăk'' comes from Sanskrit ''vīra'', meaning "brave or eminent man, hero, chief", cognate of [[Latin]] ''vir'', ''viris'', [[English language|English]] ''virile''. ''Preăhmôhavireăkksăt'' is translated in English as "King-Father" ({{langx|fr|Roi-Père}}), although the word "father" does not appear in the Khmer noun.

As ''preăhmôhavireăkksăt'', Norodom Sihanouk retained many of the prerogatives he formerly held as ''preăhmôhaksăt'' and was a highly respected and listened-to figure. Thus, in effect, Cambodia could be described as a country with two Kings during Sihanouk's lifetime: the one who was the head of state, the ''preăhmôhaksăt'' Norodom Sihamoni, and the one who was not the head of state, the ''preăhmôhavireăkksăt'' Norodom Sihanouk.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Sihanouk died of a [[pulmonary infarction]] on October 15, 2012.

===Succession to the throne===
Unlike most monarchies, Cambodia's monarchy is not necessarily [[hereditary monarchy|hereditary]] and the king is not allowed to select his own heir. Instead, a new king is chosen by a Royal Council of the Throne, consisting of the president of the National Assembly, the prime minister, the president of the Senate, the first and second vice presidents of the Senate, the chiefs of the orders of [[Buddhism in Cambodia#Cambodian adaptations|Mohanikay and Thammayut]], and the first and second vice-president of the assembly. The Royal Council meets within a week of the king's death or abdication and selects a new king from a pool of candidates with royal blood.

It has been suggested that Cambodia's ability to peacefully appoint a new king shows that Cambodia's government has stabilized incredibly from the situation the country was in during the 1970s (see [[History of Cambodia]]).