In Tam

In thisCambodian name,thesurnameisIn.In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by thegiven name,Tam.

In Tam
អ៊ិន តាំ
Portrait of In Tam
Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic
In office 6 May 1973 – 9 December 1973
President	Lon Nol
Preceded by	Hang Thun Hak
Succeeded by	Long Boret
President of the National Assembly
In office 18 March 1970 – 11 March 1971
Prime Minister	Lon Nol
Preceded by	Ek Yi Oun
Succeeded by	Yem Sambaur
Minister of Interior
In office 1964–1966
Prime Minister	Norodom Kantol
Personal details
Born	(1916-09-22)22 September 1916 Kampong Cham,Cambodia,French Indochina
Died	1 April 2006(2006-04-01)(aged 89) Chandler, Arizona,U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party

In Tam(Khmer:អ៊ិន តាំ[ʔɨntam];22 September 1916 – 1 April 2006) was a Cambodian politician who once served as the prime minister of theKhmer Republic.He served in that position from 6 May 1973 to 9 December 1973, and had a long career in Cambodian politics.

Political career

In Tam was born in Prek Kak village in Stung Treng district,Kampong Cham Province,in eastern Cambodia. As a child he studiedPaliat Stung Treng Pagoda, before going on to study at theLycee Sisowath.After serving as an inspector of the provincial militia, he eventually reached the rank ofBrevet-General and rose to the position of governor ofTakeo Province.

During the 1960s Tam served in several posts in theSangkumgovernment of PrinceNorodom Sihanouk,most notably asinterior ministerfrom 1964 to 1966.

He was involved in the arrest of his own nephewPreap In,who was accused of membership of an anti-Sihanouk, rightist guerrilla organisation, theKhmer Serei;Preap In was later executed. Despite his former loyalty to Sihanouk, however, In Tam was one of the main figures behind theCambodian coup of 1970,with the vote to remove Sihanouk from power taking place under his direction. As President of the National Assembly, In Tam personally proclaimed establishment of the Khmer Republic in October 1970.

After 1970, Tam came into increasing conflict with the coup's leader,Lon Nol.The latter took action in October 1971 to strip the National Assembly of its legislative powers, citing a growing state of emergency in theCambodian Civil War:this provoked a protest by Tam and 400 monks.

In 1972, Tam ran inpresidential electionsagainst Lon Nol andKeo An.AUnited States National Security Councilreport judged Tam to be among the most experienced and politically mature of Cambodian politicians at the time, with a deserved reputation for incorruptibility and a modest lifestyle.He came in second place behind Lon Nol, receiving 24% of the vote: it was widely believed that if the elections had been fairly conducted In Tam would in fact have won outright, and despite manipulation of the vote still managed to win in the capital,Phnom Penh.Along with PrinceSisowath Sirik Matak's Republican Party, Tam'sDemocratic Partyrefused to contest the parliamentary elections later that year in protest at rules that they saw as favouring the Socio-Republican Party of Lon Nol and his brotherLon Non.

The following year, In Tam served as prime minister for seven months in Lon Nol's government, and was later put in charge of a programme designed to encourage communist cadres to defect to the government side, only to later ‘retire’ from politics and live with his family and supporters inBattambang.He was succeeded as prime minister byLong Boret.

When theKhmer Rougegained control of Cambodia inApril 1975,In Tam was at his farm inPoipet.He almost certainly would have been executed, but he fled toThailandand attempted to organise a rebellion against the Khmer Rouge in the border areas. This did not last long, however, as the Thai authorities deported him. He went toFranceand then in 1976 moved to theUnited Stateswhere he received asylum.

In exile

Following the overthrow of theKhmer Rouge regimeby Vietnam, In Tam supported Norodom Sihanouk, and hisFUNCINPECorganisation, against the Vietnamese-backedPRKgovernment; he was the commander-in-chief of FUNCINPEC's military wing, theMOULINAKA,later known as theArmée nationale sihanoukiste,until his replacement by PrinceNorodom Ranariddhin 1985. He was one of three ministers of National Defense of theCoalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.He refounded theCambodian Democratic Party,which failed to win seats in Parliament in the1993 electionsunder auspice of United Nations. In 1997 he made an alliance with theCambodian People's Party.

In Tam died inChandler, Arizonain the southwestern United States. He was survived by three of his seven children and grandchildren.