Phnom Penh Post
By Vong Sokheng
Senate president
Chea Sim (C) is helped as he leaves a Victory Day celebration at the
Cambodian People’s Party headquarters in Phnom Penh, Monday, Jan. 07,
2012. Photograph: Hong Menea/Phnom Penh Post
Cheering the anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge, more than
10,000 members of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party gathered at its
headquarters yesterday to celebrate the victory of the party’s top brass
and the Vietnamese army over the genocidal regime.
But amid the January 7 revelry, a notable voice was missing. For the
first time in recent memory, CPP president Chea Sim did not deliver the
keynote address.
Sim, who is also president of the Senate, has increasingly found
himself out of the limelight while battling a string of illnesses his
aides insist are little more than the common cold.
Although he appeared at yesterday’s event — a key occasion for the
CPP to cement party ties — 80-year-old Sim had to be physically
supported by two assistants as he made his way to the stage. A third
bodyguard discreetly pushed a folded wheelchair behind the CPP stalwart.
An aide said yesterday Sim had a minor foot injury and stressed that he was suffering from nothing more than a sore throat.
“Samdech was not able to walk easily because of his sprained foot,
and he could not deliver a speech because he has a cold and a sore
throat. Otherwise, he has no problems,” Lieutenant General Yim Leang,
the chief of Sim’s bodyguard unit, said.
Officials have sought to placate concerns over Sim’s health in recent
years, but the ageing leader has repeatedly found himself begging off
from high-level events for medical reasons.
In August, government officials were forced to publicly shoot down
rumours that Sim had passed away after the news went speeding across
social networks and blogs.
Sim —who, along with Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly
president Heng Samrin, was one of the key Khmer Rouge defectors
appointed to the Vietnam-backed People’s Republic of Kampuchea in
January, 1979 — normally delivers the fiery, propagandist Victory Day
statement.
Yesterday, that role was taken over by Samrin, who is also CPP honorary chairman.
“Today is the 34th anniversary of the historic victory over the Pol
Pot regime on January 7, 1979, that saved the Cambodian nation from
genocidal rule. Because of the 7 January victory, the Cambodian people
have everything today and look to the future with hope,” Samrin told the
thousands of CPP members, students, girl and boy scouts, and foreign
diplomats.
“This year, we celebrate the 34th anniversary of the January 7
Victory Day for the overall situation in which the Kingdom of Cambodia
has been making progress in all fields,” he continued.
Recalling the “faithful” cadres among the senior CPP officials who
toppled the Khmer Rouge with the assistance of Vietnam, Samrin stressed
that countless lives were saved.
“The 7 January 1979 victory ended the darkest period, saved our
people’s lives in a timely manner, won back every right and freedom for
the people and established a strong foundation for the restoration and
reconstruction of Cambodia,” said Samrin.
At least 1.7 million people died of exhaustion, starvation and illness or were executed between 1975 and 1979.
Samrin also used the speech to publicly offer the party’s support for the candidature of Hun Sen in the upcoming elections.
“I would solemnly affirm, once again, the support for the candidate
of [Hun Sen] for the post of prime minister for the fifth legislative
term and terms thereafter,” said Samrin. “It will be the most important
and significant political event that will further the sustainable
development of Cambodia.”
But while the CPP took pains to laud January 7 as a day of
liberation, many remain adamant about their complex relationship with
the day, which also marked the start of a decade-long Vietnamese
occupation.
Opposition political activist Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian
Independent Teacher Association, said he continues to view it as a day
of invasion by Vietnam.
“Seven January is not a day to be grateful, because after, Vietnam
occupied Cambodia and many Cambodian people continued to die,” said
Chhun.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at
sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com
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