by School of Vice
Cambodia’s parliamentary Opposition led by the Cambodia National Rescue Party is taking
a step in the right direction by calling for reform of the NEC; a body set up
to oversee the election process. The recently merged main opposition party [consisting
of hitherto two major political parties in the SRP and HRP] has given itself renewed
vigour and momentum, and a positive dynamic springboard for further expansion
and growth as the nation’s alternative to, and perhaps, the only hope, for
positive change in Cambodia.
These developments are also crucial in context of
widening not only the party’s electoral appeal as reflected in its readiness to
work and operate as an effective unified movement, but also in terms of
signalling forth a more serious credible image to the outside world whose vested
diplomatic and economic stakes in the country can still tilt the balance decisively
in the Opposition’s favour, and hopefully, through that channel, affect change
in the lives of millions and the fate of a much maligned nation with a long
history of misrules, external manipulations and interventions in its internal affairs.
The Opposition as such is not without its own faults
and weaknesses; the leadership personalities at its executive level are made up
of competent and, in the main, studious, educated and honest individuals whose
views and sentiments can be said to be far more measured and humanitarian, and
are thus more conducive to the task of national leadership in relevant fields, by means of comparison to their ruling counterparts and or their qualities and attributes.
However, this small body of leaders has been presented
with obstacles arising not only from its vicious and cunning adversaries [who
only play by their own rules], but more worryingly also from its rank-and-file
who are straddling ill-defined boundaries between two seemingly diametrically
opposed worlds or political cultures. Sometime ago I wrote a short piece about
the need for mobilisation and organisation and stressed the importance of
building the movement as a holistic force from the grass-roots up. I understand
this process could well take years to realise, but it cannot be completed any
sooner by not giving it the attention and urgency it is calling out for. Once a
strong, disciplined and unified movement is in place it will offer the party a
whole new complexion: a trump card and bargaining chip of real substance and
weight that will be impossible to ignore; something the party can deploy to its
own advantage and political gains within even a relatively peaceful yet affirmative and
exertive context.
The forth-coming election may well result in the
Opposition winning a few more parliamentary seats while the electoral reform
being called for remains unchanged. Yet as long as the ruling party feels that conceding
these few seats to the opposition camp will not have changed the electoral
formulae that guarantees its regular sweeping resumption of power every four
years or so, and as long as enough Opposition MPs are able to cling on to their
posts and seen to be making the right noises without the mandate or the
legislative power to enact those voices, then this ruling party will be more
than happy to play along.
And inevitably, history will condemn –rightly- the
Opposition’s feeble and unsavoury role and legacy in that state of affairs. Not
least, because, the vast majority of Cambodians and the land they inherit from
their ancestors are running short of time and drifting in different directions –
both are becoming increasingly estranged entities to one another.
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2 comments:
It is also not easy to convince the Khmer people and also hard to change for something new in our country. They only will do it again, when they feel safe and sure, because we Khmer have a lot of experiences from the last decades.
It was not so good as the politician promised. Every time we decided to change and got a new leaders, we were always struggling into a very bad and very worse situation.
3:38 pm, you are right because in the past changes happened through the barrel of guns. But this time, change will happen through the ballot box so the change will happen smoothly - only major change at the top but only minimal change at the bottom. When things changed by the ballot, that change will not cause chaos and turmoil, unless the loser refuses to step down like in 1993. If the election is organized by an independent body like in 1993 I believe that the opposition has a very good chance of winning. If the election is held under the present circumstances I don't have any hope because Hun sen will cheat to win because he controls the electoral body.
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