Peace is not just the silence of the guns, but the need to be obtaining liberty and justice

Re: Election anger? ‘Let it go’ [Mr. Mitton, the lecturer who should be lectured] 

By Anonymous

The Cambodian election is an improbable contemplation for many people and yet still satisfies a clique of power elite and their supporters. The government officers and their supporters say that it is time to move on. They say democracy in Cambodia is working well due to the fact that the opposition party has won 55 seats, no need for the opposition to challenge the outcome, and should let it go. They are plain wrong.

The democracy is not merely consisting of the multiple parties’ electoral system. It also consists of checks and balances with due processes. That being said, the opposition has requested the constitutional court to mandate the NEC on the behalf of the Cambodian people who believe the election has irregularities and frauds, even though CNRP knows all of these government bodies are under Prime Minister Hun Sen’s control. However, the process of checks and balances are necessary and it is part of the democratic due process.

Hun Sen supporters have viewed that under Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia is flourishing with economic growth of at least 7% per year. Change is not needed. They even claim that the opposition is a bunch of trouble makers who are disturbing a peaceful and prosperous Cambodia, and they should not organize any protest of the result of the election.

Protest is part of democracy as freedom of assembly, and without protest, the voice of the people may not be heard, and would be very much pretentious. Liberty is one of the ingredients of democracy where people can speak freely against the government without persecution and intimidation. By having tanks and armor personal carries and thousands of troops ready to suppress or even to kill the protesters is not democracy. By pointing a finger at CNRP as trouble makers is very much blaming the victims.

Prime Minister Hun Sen Supporters, perhaps, misunderstands the terminology of peace. Peace is not just the silence of the guns, but the need to be obtaining liberty and justice, where money can’t buy.

We agree there were no wars for last twenty years or so, but the people of Cambodia do not have the justice they deserve. Lands are being taken from them by the most powerful elites. When the people were staging protests against the government, they often ended up in prison, because the judicial system is not independent and transparent. A percentage of these lands have been leased for 99 years to the top foreign investors while those people who lost their lands get a few items from the Cambodian Red Cross such as a few bottles of fish sour and soy sour, a bag of rice, and a case of spring water. These foreign companies believe that the deal is legitimate and well protected by international law while the Cambodian power elites who are in joint ventures with the companies believes it would be benefiting their families for many generations to come. We know well that, what was legal in the past might not be legal today, and what is legal today might not be legal in the future, and being legal is not necessarily right. For example, during the Pre-American Civil War in which slavery was considered legal but not necessarily right. The 99 years deal between Hun Sen’s top brass and these companies may not be bound in the future. Those who steal lands and properties from the people are criminals and those who bought stolen properties are also criminals.