The Communist Party itself (led by Tou Samouth and Sieu Heng, and including later prominent figures such as Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) and Ieng Sary) continued as a purely clandestine organization.
Due to severe harassment of its members by forces loyal to the Sangkum party of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Pracheachon was able to field only 35 candidates, winning 31,034 votes in total and gaining no seats.
[4] In the election, the Pracheachon managed to field only five candidates: 4 of these were to withdraw following police harassment, leaving only Keo Meas himself, who officially received 396 votes.
Sihanouk's police arrested 14 of its remaining members, including Secretary-General Non Suon; they were charged with possessing documents incriminating them in seeking the overthrow of the Sangkum regime by North Vietnam.
The Pracheachon dissolved, and many of the remaining leftists fled Phnom Penh for the forests, except for several prominent figures (Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim) who had joined the Sangkum.