The product of an internationalized peace process, Cambodia’s 1993 Constitution restored the monarchy and endowed the Crown with a political safeguarding role that successive kings have been unable to fulfil in practice. After a brief survey of the tragic modern history of Cambodia’s monarchy, this paper outlines the formal constitutional role of the king, highlighting the central dichotomy between the provisions that promise that the king “shall reign but shall not govern” and those that provide the king a more active role as “guarantor.” The paper highlights how this fundamental ambiguity has been borne-out publicly, by focusing on a handful of specific instances in which both King Sihanouk and King Sihamoni are understood to have been strategically absent from the country to avoid signing controversial legislation. Short of providing a veto power in the legislative process, the king’s safeguarding role is shown to manifest in the symbolic denial of royal legitimacy.

中文翻译：

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象征性保障：柬埔寨君主立宪制中的皇室缺席

作为国际化和平进程的产物，柬埔寨 1993 年的宪法恢复了君主制，并赋予王室政治保障作用，这是历代国王在实践中都无法实现的。在简要回顾了柬埔寨君主制悲惨的现代历史之后，本文概述了国王的正式宪法角色，强调了承诺国王“应统治但不得统治”的条款与提供国王的条款之间的中心二分法更积极地扮演“担保人”的角色。该文件通过重点关注少数几个具体实例，强调了这种基本的模糊性是如何被公开证实的，在这些实例中，西哈努克国王和西哈莫尼国王被认为战略性地缺席该国以避免签署有争议的立法。