Phnom Penh Post
Prime Minister Hun Sen gives speech earlier. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post
If this type of the code of ethics comes into force, Hun Sen is probably the first person to go to jail.
"សែន សត្វគីង្គក់ កំពុងតែលក់ ថ្នាំព្យាបាលស្រែង ?" [Hun Sen the toad who has ringworm but he is trying to sell ringworm medicine to others - the phrase implies that if you haven't cured your own ringworm yet, how can you try to cure other people's ringworm - meaning "cleaning your ass first before you try to clean other people's asses"].
A law floated by the premier yesterday could see jail time for elected officials who hurl invective against one another in the
political arena, a proposal critics say is little more than a thinly
veiled attempt to stifle dissent and debate.
The suggestion, which came in a speech Hun Sen gave at the National
Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, was ostensibly in reaction to a
recent Post column calling for more civility on the campaign trail. But
the Prime Minister took the idea one step further, saying only an
ironclad law could prevent politicians bickering and mud-slinging.
“I fully support having a code of ethics for political party leaders
to use, but [a code of ethics] is not strong enough to bind the
insulter,” he said.
“Therefore, there must be a proposed law on how long the insulter’s jail term will be if insults such as ‘traitor’ are used.
“Whoever [among the] politicians dare, we will gather for a meeting
to draft a law and limit the types of Khmer derogatory terms that must
not be used.”
Hun Sen said the law could be drafted and passed while the National
Assembly was in its next three-month session, beginning in April.
While he didn’t call go into detail about which insults would result
in jail terms under the suggested law, Hun Sen listed a series of
phrases opposition leaders have used against him as examples of stinging
words. As in the past, he mentioned attempts to ridicule his loss of an
eye in the 1970s.
Referring to opposition Sam Rainsy Party members, he pointed out that
“they have attacked me as ‘blind-eye guy’, ‘traitor’, ‘having a Khmer
body with a Vietnamese head’,” adding that if he had ever thrown a word
or two back, it was only in response.
But Son Chhay, a long-time sitting Sam Rainsy Party legislator who is
a chief strategist for the newly formed Cambodian National Rescue
Party, said there was no doubt Hun Sen’s latest suggestion would be a
tool wielded by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to curtail
criticism. If Hun Sen were really serious about a civil dialogue amongst
elected officials, Chhay argued, the premier should be setting a better
example.
“We’ve heard from time to time language the prime minister has been
using, like calling his opponents criminals, or dog, or cat, no brain –
all kinds of words,” Chhay said.
“But we don’t mind, as long as we can respond to that kind of
language without facing serious consequences… Because you have a problem
with freedom of expression in this country, when you set up another law
to take people to court, you set up another law to summon restrictions
of freedom of expression.”
Legal and political analysts said yesterday that passing a law to
curb vitriolic banter amongst politicians was going too far, and that
there were already laws policing defamation that would cover the bases
of any personal insults.
“We have so many laws already; this is amid a criminalisation trend,
so it’s another law,” said Yeng Virak, executive director of the
Community Legal Education Center. “Millions of voters are the judge, not
the courtroom. The people, they know good and bad behaviour of
political leaders.”
Chea Vannath, a political analyst, said that while she agreed with
the reasoning behind the proposed law, its effects would be harmful.
“I wouldn’t support having a law, because the powerless would be vulnerable, particularly the opposition,” Vannath said.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said he could not comment
on the likelihood of such a law coming to fruition in the next session,
because he had not heard the exact phrasing of Hun Sen’s speech.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Vong Sokheng at
sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com
Joe Freeman at
joseph.freeman@phnompenhpost.com
2 comments:
Yet, he gets really pissed off when being called Ah Qwak, which by the way perfectly suit him.
Hun Sen is being hypocritical because he was the one who used the most obscene language against other people, calling them all sorts of names in his public speeches.
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