Attending the event was Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai and representatives from diplomatic agencies and international organisations in Phnom Penh.
Earlier, a Vietnamese delegation, led by Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, also paid tribute to the late leader.
Chea Sim’s body was moved from his home in Chamca Mon to Wat Botum Pagoda Crematorium in downtown Phnom Penh.
Addressing the service, Cambodian Prime Minister and CPP Vice President Hun Sen said Chea Sim’s death is a great loss to the Cambodian people and the CPP.
He highlighted the devotion of the late leader to national independence as well to building peace, and national re-conciliation and reconstruction in Cambodia.
As Vice President of Cambodia’s United Front for National Salvation, Chea Sim joined other great leaders in leading the Cambodian people out of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime in 1979, he noted.
According to a directive issued by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on June 8, flags are to be flown at half-mast while all civil servants and members of the armed forces are to take a day-off on June 19 to pay tribute to Chea Sim.
The day after Chea Sim’s passing, the Cambodian Senate elected Sai Chhum as the new President of the Senate.
On June 20, the CPP is scheduled to hold its 38th Congress to elect a new President and Vice President.
According to a CPP spokesperson, the party’s Vice President Hun Sen is the only candidate for CPP President.
