Hundreds of activists gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the Paris Peace Agreements — the last time October 23 will be marked as a national holiday.
The 1991 deal ended Cambodia’s civil war of the 1980s and set up a blueprint for a multiparty democracy in the country, though the first election under the framework in 1993 ended in a dispute and hung parliament. Prime Minister Hun Sen retained power as second prime minister after his ruling CPP came second in the vote.
But in August, Paris Peace Agreements Day was chosen as one of six public holidays to be removed from the calendar to help businesses, which have long complained that, at 28 days, Cambodia had too many official days off.
