Straits Times
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (centre) greets supporters during
a Cambodian People's Party (CPP) ceremony marking the 34th anniversary
of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime at the CPP headquarters in Phnom
Penh on Jan 7, 2013. When Cambodia's "king father" Norodom Sihanouk
ceded power, experts say, it was not to his heir but to strongman
premier Hun Sen. -- PHOTO: AFP
PHNOM
PENH (AFP) - He towered over his kingdom through tumultuous decades. Yet
when Cambodia's "king father" Norodom Sihanouk finally ceded power,
experts say, it was not to his heir but to strongman premier Hun Sen.
Since his death in October in Beijing, Cambodia has paid homage to
the man who was king, prime minister, head of state, then king once
more, before stepping down in favour of his son Sihamoni in 2004.
An elaborate week-long funeral, which ends on Thursday, has drawn
throngs of mourners to Phnom Penh's streets to bid farewell to the
beloved royal, whose embalmed body had been lying in state for three
months.
The shrewd political operator remained a dominant figure for more
than half a century marked by independence from France, civil war, the
murderous Khmer Rouge regime, his own exile and finally peace.
But he leaves behind a politically weak institution.
When Sihanouk returned to the throne in 1993, analysts say it was only after striking a deal with prime minister and one-time Khmer Rouge cadre Hun Sen that allowed the premier to exercise full political power.
"This rather weird couple was a political set up," said Hugues Tertrais, a history professor at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris.
"As Norodom Sihanouk abdicated relatively early in favor of Sihamoni, the formula has remained the same, even though Sihamoni does not have his father's charisma."
The decision to pass the crown to Sihamoni, now 59, rather than to his oldest and more politically ambitious son Ranariddh was seen by some diplomats as an attempt to ensure the survival of the monarchy, albeit one with little power.
Widely seen as disconnected from his country's politics, Sihamoni -- a keen amateur dancer who was Cambodia's Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris at the time -- made what is widely described as a reluctant return to Phnom Penh.
Sihanouk's choice of heir was supported by Hun Sen, "perhaps because Sihamoni is apolitical and believed to be relatively pliable," according to a US diplomatic memo dated October 2004 published by WikiLeaks.
"Since reassuming the throne in 1993, Sihanouk has seen his power progressively eroded by powerful politicians, especially Hun Sen, and a more open political system," it added.
Sihamoni has since firmly stuck to his role as a symbolic head of state, respecting the deal struck between his father and Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has vowed to stay in office until he is 90, some three decades from now.
"Sihamoni has almost no freedom of action," said David Chandler, a Cambodian expert at Australia's Monash University.
The reluctant king is by all accounts "an admirable, astute but unambitious and apolitical person. He never wanted to be king. Hun Sen, to be safe, has more or less locked him in a box," he added.
More than ever, Hun Sen dominates Cambodian politics despite fierce criticism for overseeing a venal regime responsible for rampant land grabs and harassment of dissidents.
When US President Barack Obama visited in November, he held what he described as a "tense" meeting with the Cambodian strongman, explaining human rights violations were an "obstacle" to bilateral relations.
"Hun Sen is now more powerful than ever," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR).
"For anything happening in the country, all fingers are pointed to Hun Sen. That is what happened in the old days with Sihanouk."
Since 2008, Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (PPC) has held 90 of the 123 seats in the lower house of parliament, and there are few doubts that he will win elections in July.
His ambitions echo those of Sihanouk who remained in power -- or close to it -- for some six decades from independence to peace, the golden age of the 50s and 60s but also civil war and two million deaths under the Khmer Rouge.
"Hun Sen could be a kind of Sihanouk without the title. He has overcome all times and all changes," Tertrais said.
"Sihanouk has spent 63 years in power, or interested in power," he added. "This may well be a model for Hun Sen who became a minister at age 27 and is now aged 60. He still has a long time ahead of him."
But he leaves behind a politically weak institution.
When Sihanouk returned to the throne in 1993, analysts say it was only after striking a deal with prime minister and one-time Khmer Rouge cadre Hun Sen that allowed the premier to exercise full political power.
"This rather weird couple was a political set up," said Hugues Tertrais, a history professor at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris.
"As Norodom Sihanouk abdicated relatively early in favor of Sihamoni, the formula has remained the same, even though Sihamoni does not have his father's charisma."
The decision to pass the crown to Sihamoni, now 59, rather than to his oldest and more politically ambitious son Ranariddh was seen by some diplomats as an attempt to ensure the survival of the monarchy, albeit one with little power.
Widely seen as disconnected from his country's politics, Sihamoni -- a keen amateur dancer who was Cambodia's Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris at the time -- made what is widely described as a reluctant return to Phnom Penh.
Sihanouk's choice of heir was supported by Hun Sen, "perhaps because Sihamoni is apolitical and believed to be relatively pliable," according to a US diplomatic memo dated October 2004 published by WikiLeaks.
"Since reassuming the throne in 1993, Sihanouk has seen his power progressively eroded by powerful politicians, especially Hun Sen, and a more open political system," it added.
Sihamoni has since firmly stuck to his role as a symbolic head of state, respecting the deal struck between his father and Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has vowed to stay in office until he is 90, some three decades from now.
"Sihamoni has almost no freedom of action," said David Chandler, a Cambodian expert at Australia's Monash University.
The reluctant king is by all accounts "an admirable, astute but unambitious and apolitical person. He never wanted to be king. Hun Sen, to be safe, has more or less locked him in a box," he added.
More than ever, Hun Sen dominates Cambodian politics despite fierce criticism for overseeing a venal regime responsible for rampant land grabs and harassment of dissidents.
When US President Barack Obama visited in November, he held what he described as a "tense" meeting with the Cambodian strongman, explaining human rights violations were an "obstacle" to bilateral relations.
"Hun Sen is now more powerful than ever," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR).
"For anything happening in the country, all fingers are pointed to Hun Sen. That is what happened in the old days with Sihanouk."
Since 2008, Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (PPC) has held 90 of the 123 seats in the lower house of parliament, and there are few doubts that he will win elections in July.
His ambitions echo those of Sihanouk who remained in power -- or close to it -- for some six decades from independence to peace, the golden age of the 50s and 60s but also civil war and two million deaths under the Khmer Rouge.
"Hun Sen could be a kind of Sihanouk without the title. He has overcome all times and all changes," Tertrais said.
"Sihanouk has spent 63 years in power, or interested in power," he added. "This may well be a model for Hun Sen who became a minister at age 27 and is now aged 60. He still has a long time ahead of him."
6 comments:
Stop comparing Hun Sen to Norodom Sihanouk.
At least late Sihanouk was a national Hero at the beginning, but became a Traitor later.
Hun Sen was Traitor since the beginning. He is nothing but a Yuon puppet used by Hanoi to execute Ho Chin Mingh's Master Plan.
We, Khmers must remove him by votes and or by
other means.
Hun Sen can't be compared to Sihanouk. Hun Sen is a traitor who collaborated with Vietnam to cede Khmer territory. Sihanouk was national hero who gained independence from France, fought foreign invaders to liberate Preah Vihear and steered Cambodia clear of the Vietnam war.
I am a Khmer, I wish my leader articulate the precision related to our territorial integrity and sovereignty. Leaders of a country should NEVER acknowledge to the world that some body else legally own your lands and properties.
We should learn from the Vietnamese in protecting their territories, and we should really learn from HO CHI MINH in rescue and freed his people and his country from the foreign rulers, occupation, colonialization, and the cruelty treatment to his people by the foreign occupation. HO CHI MINH relentlessly fought for freedom, independence, self reliance, and the pursue of happiness and prosperity for his people, and he sacrifice his life for his people.
OUR KHMER LEADERS SHOULD EMULATE HO CHI MINH'S IDEAS, COMMIT, AND WILLING TO SACRIFICE LIKE MR. HO DID FOR HIS PEOPLE AND HIS COUNTRY.
The Vietnamese leaders stressed relating to the territories disputes with the Chinese as follows: Our Khmer leaders should do the same.
________________
VN takes peaceful line on East Sea
HA NOI (VNS)— Viet Nam's consistent position on East Sea-related issues was that they should be resolved by peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry' National Border Committee Nguyen Duy Chien made the statement in Ha Noi yesterday. He was answering a reporter's question on Viet Nam's response to the Philippines' decision to take China to an arbitral tribunal in accordance with Article 287 and Annex VII of UNCLOS.
Viet Nam believed that countries had the right to choose peaceful measures to resolve disputes in line with the UN Charter and international law, including UNCLOS, Chien said.
He also responded to a question relating to the China National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geo-information's plan to publish the "National Map of China" and the "topographic map of China" in a new vertical format that will include the "nine-dashed line", also called the "cow tongue" line, islands, rocks and shoals in Viet Nam's Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes.
Chien affirmed Viet Nam's indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes as well as its sovereign right and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea under UNCLOS.
All maps featuring false information on Viet Nam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, as well as its sovereign right and jurisdiction in the East Sea, were illegal and void, he stressed. — VNS
One can try to compare the 2 evils until kingdom come but what is the benefit of that??? After all, both idiots were/are of the same characteristics - evilish, treacherous, traitors to the Khmer nation from any angle, and worst of all they are bad leaders and possess no quality or potential to be a good one.
king was useless and a big liability to cambodia ever since the first day he tasted power over cambodia. Not having the king is probably better than having a useless king.
5:19 pm
You have the right to have different opinion and not sure, that you want to have a King, who use the power to lead the county. This system exist only in your mind and will not survive on the modern day.
You maybe know better the US constitution and the legal leading system of the US. But you have also to know other countries leading system. Because the world is too big and the US system did not fit into British, French, German, Italian, Spain or other countries systems.
Germany has a president. The German president short to say has no power, but he is still useful for their country and their people.
This case Cambodia has their own system. You like or not, but the King is there and has the responsible to unite the Khmer people and to represent our constitution and our country Cambodia to outside world.
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