"The debate should take place, with or without Mr. Hun Sen. The democratisation process in Cambodia must be moving forward. No one, not even a prime minister of a country, can hinder this process."
Editorial by Khmerization:- Mr Kem Sokha’s proposal for a face to face televised debate among the prime ministerial candidates is a good thing for the democratisation process in Cambodia (read the links below). It will give an opportunity to the voters to see real democracy at work, first hand. It will also provide the candidates, including Prime Minister Hun Sen himself, an opportunity to experience a real taste of democracy. But most importantly, it will give Prime Minister Hun Sen an opportunity to set the record straight- and that is to face his critics and tackle them head on.
But, regrettably, Prime Minister Hun Sen has chosen to reject the proposal flat out. The Prime Minister’s rejection is a real blow to the democratisation process in Cambodia. A face to face debate is a chance for the candidates to put forward their ideas and political platforms to the voters but it was sensitive enough to send shivers through Prime Minister Hun Sen’s spine. For a man who used to debate with himself and who used to blast his critics for hours and hours non-stop on national TV, the ideas of a face to face debate has caused shivers that sent him scrambling and ducking for cover.
Prime Minister Hun Sen used his busy time schedule as a pretext of his refusal to participate in such a debate. He said that he is too busy trying to solve people’s everyday problems. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, an election debate is another form of efforts to hatch out ideas to find the solutions to the many national problems facing Cambodia today. If you are serious enough in seeking ideas and solutions to today Cambodia’s problems, this is the way to go.
Another pretext which Prime Minister Hun Sen used a justify his rejection of the proposal was that Cambodia has a proportional parliamentary system which the voters vote for the parties and not for the candidates, unlike the presidential elections in the United States and France whereby the people vote for the presidential candidates. Mr. Hun Sen’s reason is unreasonable. In countries like Australia, Canada and the UK which have a parliamentary system whereby the voters vote for the parties like Cambodia and, at every election, they always hold a televised debates among the prime ministerial candidates. So Mr. Hun Sen’s reason is absurd and preposterous.
Mr Hun Sen’s pre-emptive speech rejecting Kem Sokha’s proposal was not only a proof of his cowardice, but it was intended to intimidate, to interfere and to influence the decisions-making of an independent institution, the National Election Committee (NEC).
The NEC, as an independent national institution, should not be deterred by Hun Sen‘s speech. It should make its own decisions independently of any political influence, not even from a prime minister of a country. The debate should take place, with or without Mr. Hun Sen. The democratisation process in Cambodia must be moving forward. No one, not even a prime minister of a country, can hinder this process. //END//
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