Prime Minister Hun Manet declares December 29 as Peace Day and a Public Holiday.

Cambodia designated Dec. 29 as “Peace Day,” an official national holiday in the Southeast Asian country, according to a government’s sub-decree released on Monday.

Signed by Prime Minister Hun Manet, the sub-decree said the move was to respond to the sacred desire of the Cambodian people who love peace and hate war.

“It is to remember the complete end of civil war on Dec. 29, 1998 by the Win-Win Policy, that has brought full peace and national unity to Cambodia,” it said.

The day is also to show gratitude to the martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the cause of peace and national reconciliation.

“It is a reminder to the Cambodian people in all generations to remember the great destruction of the nation and the misery of the Cambodian people, as well as the consequences caused by war and national division,” the sub-decree said. “It is also to inspire the Cambodian people in all generations to hate war.”

The day is also to inspire people to work together to promote peace, which is the life of the nation and the most valuable foundation for the nation’s development and the people’s happiness, the sub-decree added.

Cambodia has enjoyed full peace since 1998 after former Prime Minister SamdechTecho Hun Sen had designed and used the Win-Win Policy to coax the Khmer Rouge to reintegrate into his Phnom Penh government. Xinhua