A Change of Guard

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Thursday, 7 July 2011

Hun Sen: Victim or villain of the 1997 coup?


The SRP commemorates the 5-6 July 1997 coup d’état

Commemoration service conducted by the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

06 July 2011
By Ly Meng Hour
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Soy

Hun Sen raised the question that he was also a victim in that coup d’état (sic!).

On 06 July, the Sam Rainsy Party commemorated the 14th anniversary of the armed clash between forces loyal to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, then-first prime minister, and those loyal to Hun Sen, then-second prime minister. The clash took place in Phnom Penh in 1997. During the commemoration, opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced through video conference that justice must be found for the hundreds of people who died during the coup d’état to topple Ranariddh from his position as first prime minister.

The SRP organized a meeting at its party headquarter with the participation of more than 100 activists. The SRP organized a religious ceremony with the presence of 14 Buddhist monks representing the 14th anniversary of the 5-6 July 1997 coup d’état.

The religious ceremony was held to commemorate the bloody fight between forces loyal to Ranariddh, then-first prime minister, and those loyal to Hun Sen who was the second prime minister in 1997.

The 5-6 July 1997 clash led to the death of several hundreds of soldiers and generals who were loyal to Ranariddh.

During the meeting this morning, through video conference from Paris, opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced that justice must be found for those who died during the coup d’état which took place 14 years ago. Sam Rainsy also called on the people to provide additional proofs to him so that he can bring the case to the International Court of Justice, a case in which Sam Rainsy called for the arrest of the criminals who have bloodied hands and bring them to face justice. Through his remark, Sam Rainsy was pointing at Hun Sen.

During a bridge construction site inauguration in Takhmao, Hun Sen reminisced about the 5-6 July 1997, however, Hun Sen raised the question that he was also a victim in that coup d’état (sic!).

Nevertheless, the Funcinpec which used to be the enemy of the CPP, but which is now turned into a CPP sycophant, as well as the Norodom Ranariddh Party did not commemorate this event on a day which the opposition called the coup d’état event.

Instead, Funcinpec, the NRP and their CPP called the SRP’s commemoration an attempt for its political gain.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sound like civil war rather than coup. Both sides have guns and tanks. If you dont fight, then you stand to loose power. PM Hun Sen fought and won. Now you have the parties involved reconcil with each other and the people that died treated as casualities of war. This is nothing new for Cambodia's politics. After the KR took over; they killed unarmed Lon Nol soldiers as you can see in S21 site. Sihanouk did the same thing to Son Ngoc Thanh people, rounded them up and executed them at firing squard. This is what was taught to Cambodian political leaders from childhood. Can you sue a standing president at ICJ? I thought only a country to file suit to other country. I might be wrong but I thought that is what ICJ intention.

Anonymous said...

What should you do if Ranarith as
your opponent, during that time ?

Anonymous said...

10:00 AM,
It was a coup because Ranaridhh won the election and Hun sen lost the election. Hun Sen was in power because Ranariddh agreed to share power with Hun Sen because Hun Sen refused to give up power. When someone toppled an elected leader by force, it is called a coup. How can you accuse Funcinpec of launching a coup against Hun Sen? Funcinpec was the election winner and Hun sen was the loser. So, you mean the winner launched a coup against the loser? Ridiculous! If Funcinpec refused to share power, maybe UNTAC troops might force Hun Sen to give up power. Again, Hun Sen was not supposed to be in power because he lost the election. So, when the loser used force to topple the winner, it's called a coup.