Although Sambaur maintained close relationships with the palace and traditional elites of Khmer society, he was initially a member of the Cambodian Democratic Party, a heavily left-leaning coalition of groups which favored immediate independence, a Cambodian government modeled after the French Fourth Republic and sympathized with the armed resistance of the Khmer Issarak guerrilla movements.
Sambaur maintained strong connections with the royal court and traditional Khmer nobility, but he initially joined the Cambodian Democratic Party, a left-leaning coalition that pushed for swift independence, a government inspired by the French Fourth Republic, and supported the armed struggle of the Khmer Issarak rebels.