The Royal Government

The council of Ministers is the Royal Government of the kingdom of Cambodia. The Royal Government is the executive organ of the State led by H.R.H. Prince Norodom Ranariddh and H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, First and Second Prime Ministers respectively. The Royal Government, with its armed forces and its administration, governs the State. It is in charge of the overall execution of all national policies and programmes and is responsible and accountable to the National Assembly.

The two Prime Ministers are assisted by two deputy Prime Ministers, each of whom are also in charge of a separate ministry, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Ministry of Interior. The other members of the Council of Ministers are:

• 6 Senior Ministers or Ministers of State, three of whom are in charge of separate ministries, the Ministry of Economy and Finances, the Ministry of Public Works and Transports, and the Ministry of Justice. The other 3 are in charge of specific mandates of Rehabilitation and Development, of General Inspection, and of Culture, Arts, Land Use Planning and Urbanization.
  
  
• 15 Ministers share the responsibilities of 12 ministries, with the exception of two who are in charge of the Cabinet of the Council of Ministers, an institution whose task is to prepare the decisions for the Council of Ministers both from the political and administrative side.
  
  
• 9 Secretaries of State, 4 of whom hold autonomous ministerial responsibilities. The other 5 are in charge of State Secretariats but directly reporting to the Council of Ministers.
  
  
• 12 Secretaries of State attached to different ministries.
  
  
• In addition, there are more than 50 Under Secretaries of State who, although not being part of the Royal Government, art also considered as political appointees. Out of them, 2 hold ministerial attributions (Civil Service and Civil Aviation).

The two Prime Ministers, by virtue of Article 138 of the Constitution, share the same rights, prerogatives and privileges to run the Royal Government. The Constitution call s for a weekly meeting of the members of the Government under the Chairmanship of the Prime Ministers (article 104). Plenary sessions are called Council of Ministers. They can take full decisions concernant any types of activities of the government. Restricted sessions are called Interministerial Meeting. In these sessions, membership selection are restricted according to the need and wish of the Prime Ministers and their chairmanship can be delegated to a Deputy Prime Minister or to a member of the Royal Government. Their decisions do not bind the government as a whole but only on the well defined matters.

The Prime Ministers, through their regulatory authority., execute all decisions adopted by the Council of Ministers. They presented the Decrees (Kret) to the King for his signature. They can also exercise their own regulatory authority by way of Sub-decree (Anu-kret), after the approval of the Council of Ministers, or by way of Decisions and Circulars. All regulatory acts, whether from the Royal Government or from a ministry, are published in the Official Gazette once they are signed. The Prime Ministers can lead the negotiations of treaties., international conventions, economic, technical, cultural, and defense cooperation. The ratification and promulgation of these treaties and conventions will be done by the King after approval by the National Assembly.

The Prime Ministers can present for nomination by the King by way of a Royal Decree (Reach-Kret) the following high ranking civilian and military officials: members of the Royal Government; Governor and Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, Under Secretaries of State; Advisors to the Royal Government and to the Prime Ministers; Secretary Generals of the Royal Government; Secretary Generals and Director Generals of ministries, Delegates of the Royal Government; Governors of provinces and municipalities; Ambassadors; Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoys; Military Chief of Staff, and Generals. They can appoint with a Sub-decree (Anu-Kret) other high ranking civilian, military and foreign service officials, Deputy Governors of provinces and municipalities, Chiefs of District (Srok) and urban divisions (Khan).


ORGANIZATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION

Two articles only announce the division of the national territory into provinces and municipalities. The provinces (Khet) are subdivided into districts (Srok)l and districts into communes (Khum). The municipalities are subdivided into sections (Khan), and sections into quarters (Sangkat). Administratively,. the country comprises 20 provinces and two municipalities (Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville). The provincial administration is headed by a governor, assisted by two or three deputy governors, one of whom is in charge of agriculture. Provinces and municipalities are divided into districts (172), which have their own administrative staff and district-level ministry staff. The average population per district is about 50,000 people. Districts are further sub-divided into 1,400 communes,, with a total 6f about 11,700 villages (Phum) . While funds were provided by the central Government to pay salaries of public servants in the provincial administration provincial taxes were collected and held in the provincial treasury at the disposal of the governor. The resulting misallocation of resources and loss of technical control by the central ministries have been a concern of the new Government. In a recent major political move, governors have been replaced in a number of provinces and in late December 1993, the National Assembly passed a new Financial Structure Law which strips provincial authorities (as well as central ministries and powerful individuals) of the right to collect taxes independently.