19th March, 2011
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party is closer to achieving its goal of silencing dissenting voices and any oppositions in the country after it has successfully moved to expel opposition leader, Mr. Sam Rainsy, from the parliament and barring him from participating in future elections. It is also a sign that Mr. Hun Sen is closer to achieving his political supremacy after he has significantly weakened his arch-rivals within the ruling CPP, the likes of Chea Sim and Sar Kheng, by successfully purging many of their ardent loyalists such as Moek Dara and Hun Hean.
However, the expulsion of Mr. Sam Rainsy, the best finance minister Cambodia has ever had and the most effective opposition leader to date, from the parliament and his barring from participating in the election process will not bode well with the international community and certainly has not helped in promoting Cambodia’s image as being tolerant of divergences and differences of opinions in the eyes of the free world. It has in fact reinforced the belief that the Hun Sen government has been an international pariah and the elections were only used as a facade of democracy to fool the international community all along.
The conviction and the sentences of Mr. Sam Rainsy from dubious charges of spreading disinformation and destruction of public property were highly politically motivated from the start. The charges were motivated by the desire of the ruling party to demonise Mr. Sam Rainsy in a view to destroy his party and him personally because Mr. Rainsy is a thorn in the eyes of Mr. Hun Sen and the only serious challenger to his political survival.
This is not the first time Mr. Hun Sen had tried to assassinate Mr. Sam Rainsy, not only politically, but also physically. In 1994, Mr. Hun Sen had effectively engineered the sacking of Mr. Sam Rainsy as the minister of finance after he had stood up against corruption and dared to touch Mr. Hun Sen’s business associates like Teng Bunma, the owner of Thai Bunruang Construction Co, Ltd., who refused to pay taxes on imports of construction materials. On 30th March 1997, the grenade attack on Mr. Sam Rainsy-led rally, which had killed 16 people and wounded more than a hundred, had specifically targeted Mr. Rainsy. It has been investigated by the American FBI which found that the attack was orchestrated by Mr. Hun Sen bodyguard unit posted nearby. In 2005, Mr. Sam Rainsy was barred from returning to the country after he had accused Mr. Hun Sen of bribing Prince Ranariddh to secure a coalition government after the 2003 election which the opposition and Prince Ranariddh himself claimed to have been riddled with frauds and irregularities. All previous attempts to assassinate Mr. Rainsy politically have all failed, but it seemed that Mr. Hun Sen might succeed this time if political compromise is not reached any sooner. The only political compromise that can facilitate the return of Mr. Rainsy would be a written apology from Mr. Rainsy to Mr. Hun Sen personally. Mr. Rainsy has said already that that is unlikely to happen. If Rainsy is unable to return, his party is likely to be significantly weakened and the prospect of its survival as his personalised party is finished. However, the party as a political entity will survive this political turbulence, but will morph into another party and takes up a new name and new identity.
Mr. Sam Rainsy, like his father Sam Sary, who survived a number of assassinations and has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity four times in 1994, 2005, 2008 and 2009, might go down in history as a traitor in the eyes of the ruling elites and their supporters in Cambodia, but will emerge as a hero in the eyes of Cambodia’s general population. His father, Sam Sary, who was one of the authors of the 1946 constitution, Cambodia’s first ever constitution, and one of the peace negotiators of the 1954 Geneva Conference, was ignominiously dumped from the government and forced to flee into the jungle in around 1958 after a fall out with the then Prince Sihanouk and died mysteriously in 1962, presumably killed by the government or the American CIA agents whom he had worked for. His sacking and his political scandal, dubbed the Sam Sary Affairs, had been parroted and demonically repeated by the government until it has been ingrained in the mind of the population that he is a traitor. And like his father, he could disappear into the political wilderness for good if a political reconciliation with Mr. Hun Sen is not reached any time sooner.
However, the persecution of Mr. Sam Rainsy for a crime of defending his nation will make him a political martyr and would reinforce his personal standing as a Cambodian political hero. On the contrary, the persecutors, the current ruling elites and the ruling CPP will be viewed with suspicion and seen as the traitors in the eyes of the Cambodian people. For this reason, Mr. Hun Sen and his ruling CPP will not gain politically from the persecution of Mr. Rainsy, but instead will only receive national and international condemnation. And for this reason, Mr. Hun Sen could do better without the national and international backlash by seeking a political solution and acquiescing to a political compromise with Mr. Sam Rainsy.
4 comments:
Khmerization,
Thanks for your article.
"Mr. Hun Sen could do better without the national and international backlash by seeking a political solution and acquiescing to a political compromise with Mr. Sam Rainsy."
Mr. Hun Sen has never had such a thought of making peace with Mr. Sam Rainsy if doing so would present even a smallest threat to his secure domination of the Cambodian political arena; after all, politics in Cambodia since the time of Sihanouk will always be as such that you will control the political environment in Cambodia without any regard to how you or your party may look outside Cambodia.
China and a number of Asian countries including Vietnam and Laos will always support the Hun Sen's government; no matter what Mr. Hun Sen does to the democracy in Cambodia. After all, in these countries democracy is their enemy anyway.
Europe and America will never take a stand for the sake of democracy on its own.
Democracy, freedom and justice are always proclaimed by these western countries to be of the utmost importance, but their importance has always and certainly been superseded by the western powers' interests in the region and their competition with China so they are words or concepts to be thrown here and there to embellish the concept of modern government supposedly every country should adopt.
Hun Sen and his advisors are smart enough to know exactly how to play politics with these western powers knowing very well how far to push their buttons without any serious or damaging consequences.
Sam Rainsy who now depends solely on the outside western world for some kind of intervention in order to come back home in time for the next election may never be able to come back at all.
For Sam Rainsy, to write a letter to offer an apology to PM Hun Sen may surely give him a chance to come back under the so-called political compromise in the spirit of national reconciliation; however, what does that actually mean?
To the general public it may mean something good and important, but to the critical minds, it simply means that Sam Rainsy acknowledges that his actions done in Svay Rieng are totally wrong and thus confirms or confesses that the Vietnamese have never encroached upon Cambodian land (when, in fact, they have). It also allows Hun Sen and the CPP to argue that what Sam Rainsy did in Svay Rieng was a political ploy to try to get his name and reputatation up in order to get votes and support from the Cambodian people.
Those who can help Mr. Sam Rainsy are the Khmer people inside the country who need to demand his return since he has done nothing wrong, but,as usual, the Khmers will never do anything serious to help even though they fully know that Mr. Sam Rainsy is right all along. This is Charet Khmer or Khmer characters which are not easily changed.
They want something good, but expect it to fall from the sky for them even though they and their children are the real person who shall benefit from and want it.
They won't die for a cause that is why Cambodia is Cambodia today! As usual they are good at being divided and tend to love to exist in different groups with no real understanding of the effects of compromise and unity for the common good. Look at the 4 parties who are supposedly against the CPP. Do you think they can unite and form one party? I doubt it!
Look at Sihanouk, with all the mistakes he has made in his political career and the destruction his policies have brought to Cambodia and her people, he has still managed to get his son crowned as king of Cambodia to continue his desired monarchy and himself considered and promoted to be the king father of Cambodia, the new title in the thousand years of Cambodian history.
What else can I say? I think, as smart as you are, you know what I mean.
Anet Khmer
Correction:
" ... their children are the real person who shall benefit from and want it."
Should be ... their children are the real persons who shall benefit from and want it.
Anet Khmer
Hun Sen is wrong to think that by suppressing and silencing any oppositions in Cambodia will give him political supremacy. He must be smart enough to think that the more he tries to suppress people, the more they will try to rise up against him. Just think about the Arab revolution recently. It is possible that some sorts of uprising in Cambodia might take place in the future if Mr. Hun Sen continue to suppress their expression and freedom.
Khmerization your opt its sound fair and accepatble,but your understanding about Sam, he was the best finance minister has ever had. that completly wrong, sofar I never heard Rainsy he talking about his finance profesional at all, Rainsy he only a bank employee in franch or the mortgager that make a living by service chargs or commission, he Rainsy never ever be able to run his own business, and as I see sir, Rainsy he is a failure in any walk of life. looke at the mess in SRP, KI, and many other newpapere he runed, his characteristic are fail in any feild he touch, no one see his superior or felt any presure, for the leader to get the jobs don he must be tough and boldly. he absolutly do not have that ability, he is a very very weak, messy and madness man I ever have had seen, wasn't he?. its very dangerouse to hire a man like him, sooner or later all employee will follow his bad, and messy,and lazyness character, good that Hun sen find out bad cancer cell early and kick Rainsy out, to stope him from ruining the whole nation. we need tough, hard working and caurage leader, not a gay or lady boy like rainsy. He Rainsy do not have disciplin and cleanliness in managerment he has no human skile or capacity to lead any one including his wife, he is very weak and lazy how you see hime as a good finance minister ever had, its ignorance claim and you know that yourself right?. Mike
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