CITA President Rong Chhun at a protest over the government’s handling of the Preah Vihear dispute earlier this year. (Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN)PHNOM PENH, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government insists that the change of Thai Prime Minister will not reshape the border talks, which have always been rooted in past treaties and not in the personalities of the negotiators, Cambodian national media reported Wednesday.
"The border demarcation is purely a technical problem. The PAD politicized it, not the Democrat Party," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told the Phnom Penh Post, distancing the new premier's party from the mobs of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement.
While he acknowledged that the new government "will have a tough time dealing with the (border) issue", he said they could not deny the existing treaties in place to support Cambodia's claims.
Meanwhile, Union leader Rong Chhun, who has been a vocal critic of the government's hands-off approach in negotiations with Thailand over the disputed territory along the shared border, said the time to abandon bilateral talks was long overdue.
"I've requested that the government stop negotiating with the Thai government. We will just lose a lot of time trying to negotiate with the new government. The Cambodian government must send a new letter to the United Nations' International Court," he was quoted by the Post as saying.
The office of prime minister in Thailand has been a veritable rotating door this year, limiting the chance of any resolution being reached on its disputed territory with Cambodia, the Post said.
| Editor: Chris |
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