At the October 1975 meeting, eleven men and two women had been assigned protoministerial positions. The “comrade secretary,” Saloth Sar, took charge of the economy and defense; the “comrade deputy secretary,” Nuon Chea, was responsible for party organizational work and education; and Ieng Sary was to handle foreign affairs for the state and the party. Khieu Samphan remained as liaison officer with the National Front—that is, with Sihanouk. He was also given the tasks of “the accountancy and pricing aspects of commerce,” recalling his cabinet post in the 1960s. Koy Thuon took charge of domestic and foreign trade, while Son Sen was in command of security and the military General Staff. Others to receive positions included Vorn Vet, in charge of industry, railways, and fisheries; Soeu Va Si, in charge of the Central Committee’s political office; Non Suon, in charge of the agriculture portfolio; and Chhim Samauk, in charge of the prime minister’s office. Seum Son, later ambassador to North Korea, was responsible for the information section of the Central Committee. Ieng Sary’s wife, Khieu Thirith, received the social welfare portfolio; and Son Sen’s wife, Yun Yat, was in charge of culture, education, and propaganda.50

The revolutionaries seem to have divided the “ministries” along prerevolutionary lines, and although eight of the thirteen officials survived in positions of authority in Pol Pot’s movement into the 1990s, five were purged between 1976 and 1978. In other words, Saloth Sar/Pol Pot saw to it that close to a third of his cabinet were executed over the next three years—an indication of the volatility of his years in power. Some of those killed, like Chhim Samauk and Vorn Vet, had been his intimate associates for many years.

The rest of the October 1975 minutes discussed the monitoring role to be played by the standing committee of the party. It underscored the need to “build and defend” (kosang nung kapea) the country, the need to organize a national army, and the desirability of sending people abroad for technical training. Although Vietnam and Thailand were not mentioned, the minutes stressed the importance of guarding Cambodia’s land and sea frontiers against invasion and protecting the party against its enemies.51

Sihanouk’s role within this new government was ambiguous; but as long as the Chinese supported the prince, it was hard for the Red Khmer to move against him. In January 1976, however, Sihanouk’s most enduring patron, the Chinese prime minister, Zhou Enlai, died in Beijing after a long illness. By then, the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea and new statutes for the party had been promulgated, although the new government had not yet taken office. Sihanouk’s position became uncertain.