Chea Mony: Leader of Cambodia’s new opposition party

It was in his first job as a teacher 30 years ago that Chea Mony, who last month became head of Cambodia’s newest opposition party, got involved in activism. Together with another young teacher, Rong Chhun — who later became a prominent labor activist — they formed a teachers' union to combat what they viewed as injustices at the school.

“We were called ‘democratic teachers,’” Chea Mony, 55, told Radio Free Asia in an interview. “I did not like corruption. I did not like to see an exploitation of our schoolteachers’ hours,” he said. “I did not like to see the students having to cross a river to go to school, and when they did not have the money to pay the boat fares, they were not allowed to take the boats to school.”

“Because of that, we organized a protest,” he said.

Chea Mony went on to become a leader of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, or CITA, which he founded with Rong Chhun. It worked closely with the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, led by his brother Chea Vichea.

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