Pen Sovann was born in Chan Teab Village,
Samraong Commune,
Tram Kak District,
Takéo province. He first joined the
Khmer Issarak at the age of 13 in 1950 and fought against the French. Two years later, Sovann joined the
Indochinese Communist Party where he first met
Ta Mok. Sovann supported the
Khmer Rouge during the 1970-1973 civil war against the
Khmer Republic and he worked along with
Chan Sy under
Khieu Thirith, in charge of the Voice of the
National United Front of Kampuchea. From 1973 to 1979, Sovann lived in exile in
Hanoi. Sovann was a founding leader of
Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS or FUNSK) on 25 November 1978. He served as Secretary-General of the
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party from 5 January 1979 to 1 December 1981, when he was replaced by
Heng Samrin following his removal from office by the Vietnamese. Sovann was arrested on 2 December 1981 for irritating
Lê Đức Thọ, chief
Vietnamese advisor to the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) and the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). He was released from Vietnam's prison on 25 January 1992, after he served over 10 years. Sovann explained his long ordeal in prison: "When I wanted to create our own army of five regiments, the Vietnamese didn't agree and Lê Đức Thọ went to the
USSR to complain." After being released, Sovann returned to Kampong Speu province where he spent years living as a farmer with his family, before re-entering politics and forming the
Cambodian National Sustaining Party (CNSP) in January 1998. The CNSP participated in the
1998 general election but never won a seat. In 2007, he served as vice-president of
Kem Sokha's
Human Rights Party (HRP) but lost during the
2008 election. Subsequently the HRP merged with the
Sam Rainsy Party to form the
Cambodian National Rescue Party in 2012. In 2013, Sovann became the CNRP's candicate for member of parliament for
Kampong Speu province. He was elected and was sworn in on 5 August 2014. Sovann died in Doun Kaev,
Takéo Province on 29 October 2016. He was cremated in
Phnom Penh on 6 November 2016. On 10 November, Suon Rida was appointed to fill Sovann's vacant CNRP seat in Kampong Speu. ==See also==