PHNOM PENH, 19th July 2013 (AFP) -- Born into an upper-class family,
Sam Rainsy began his career as a Paris-based banker but went on to
become one of Cambodia's most controversial and outspoken politicians.
The
self-professed democrat, who returned to his homeland on Friday after a
royal pardon for charges he maintains were politically motivated, is
the arch-rival of Cambodia's strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.
While
both seek to portray themselves as men of the people, they differ
hugely in style, said independent analyst Lao Mong Hay, a former
researcher for the Asian Human Rights Commission.
"Hun Sen is
uncultured, less educated, arrogant and ruthless, Rainsy more educated,
more cultured, and more civilised. Hun Sen is Machiavellian, Rainsy more
principled," he said.
After earning an MBA from France's INSEAD
Business School, Rainsy worked for various banks in Paris, joining the
Paribas group in 1988 before leaving to set up his own accountancy firm.
His education and "aristocratic background" mean he is not well versed in the language of the masses, unlike Hun Sen, said Hay.
"He
is a man of the people up to a point," Hay said, adding that Rainsy was
the first Cambodian politician to lead workers' demonstrations for
their rights in the mid-1990s.
"Because of this, many workers were and still are supporting him," he said.
Rainsy,
now 64, was born in Phnom Penh. He left his homeland and moved to Paris
at the age of 16, after the disappearance of his father, a politician
who is believed to have been killed by government agents after a failed
coup attempt.
He first became actively involved in Cambodian
politics while still in Paris in 1989 as an overseas representative of
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, then president of the royalist party
FUNCINPEC.
Rainsy, who is married with three children, returned
to Cambodia in 1992 after a major UN peacekeeping operation to stabilise
the war-torn country and hold democratic elections. He became finance
minister after FUNCINPEC took power.
But he soon fell out with
Ranariddh -- allegedly after pushing for stronger action against
corruption and the illegal exploitation of natural resources -- and was
forced to resign after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament.
Undeterred, Rainsy founded his own political party, which was later named the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).
While
he was addressing a political rally in Phnom Penh in March 1997,
assassins -- whom the FBI later concluded were connected to the
government -- threw hand grenades into the crowd.
At least 16
people were killed. The case remains unsolved to this day, although
Rainsy has in the past accused Hun Sen of being behind the attack.
Despite
widespread intimidation targeting his party, the SRP came third in 1998
elections, and Rainsy became the leader of the opposition in
parliament.
He fled after Hun Sen filed a criminal lawsuit
against him in 2005 for defamation over his claims of involvement in the
1997 grenade attack, and was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in
prison.
Rainsy, who has a French passport, was granted a royal
pardon the following year and returned after taking an
uncharacteristically conciliatory stance and recanting his accusations.
But
his occasionally rabid anti-Vietnamese rhetoric landed him in hot water
again after he made a series of strident speeches, culminating in his
uprooting a border marker in eastern Svay Rieng province.
He fled
Cambodia once again in 2009 and was sentenced in absentia to two years
in jail in January 2010 for inciting racial discrimination and
intentionally damaging border markers.
He was given an additional
10 years -- later reduced to seven -- in 2010 on charges of spreading
disinformation and publishing a "false map" of the border with Vietnam.
Rainsy
was handed another two-year jail term in April, 2011 for claiming
Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong had been a high-ranking member
of the Khmer Rouge regime.
In March he branded Hun Sen a "coward" for barring him from running in the upcoming election.
Aiming
to finally unseat Hun Sen, Rainsy recently joined with former rival and
veteran activist-turned-politician Kem Sokha to form the Cambodian
National Rescue Party (CNRP).
Analysts say its chances of
defeating Hun Sen in elections on July 28 will be helped by Rainsy's
return, although the strongman premier appears confident of re-election.
Rainsy's reputation will get a boost from his "coming back against all odds", said Hay.
"He'll become even more of a leader of a political force to reckon with."
- See more at: http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=NGE5NjMyYTEyZTQ#sthash.indmIVhO.dpuf
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