A Change of Guard

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Friday 21 December 2012

Good, bad and ugly year for Cambodia in 2012

PHNOM PENH, 21 December 2012 (The Cambodia Herald) - Cambodia posted solid economic growth in 2012 and witnessed the first significant inflow of investment from leading donor Japan. But not everything was rosy.

The death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk in October plunged the nation into mourning with at least a million people lining the streets of Phnom Penh when his body returned from Beijing. The cremation on February 4 will be the first major royal funeral in half a century.

Cambodia's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2012 was meanwhile marred by the failure to issue a joint statement at the annual meeting of foreign ministers in July, the first such failure since the group was set up in 1967.

Some accused Cambodia of bowing to Chinese demands by ignoring the Philippines and Vietnam, which wanted the statement to include specific references to their territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

For exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, 2012 was a year of mixed fortunes. The National Election Committee removed his name from the electoral roll after his conviction for uprooting markers along the border with Vietnam. Efforts to win international support for Sam Rainsy, who is believed to be living in France, were largely in vain.


On the other hand, 2012 was a good year for Sam Rainsy and fellow opposition leader Kim Sokha, who heads the Human Rights Party. The two opposition parties merged into the National Rescue Party, which is now seen as the strongest competitor to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party in next year's elections.

Elsewhere in the opposition, Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando was sentenced to 20 years for his involvement in a secession in Kratie. Mam Sonando is no stranger to prison cells. Since returning from France in 1993, he was jailed in 2003 for inciting people to set fire to the Thai embassy. He was jailed again in 2005 for broadcasting false information and further incitement.

During his visit to Phnom Penh to attend the East Asia Summit in November, US President Barack Obama asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to release Mam Sonando. The
European Union has also sought his release.

As the nation prepares to enter 2013, The Cambodia Herald hopes the positives will outweigh the negatives in the coming year.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who wrote this?

Anonymous said...

To Management of
The Cambodia Herald,

You wrote only one-sided events and stories.
Are you under Dictator and Traitor Hun Sen's spell ?
Or, Have you sold yourself to Hun ?