“Secret” Gov’t Letter Tells Groups to Support PM on Maps
Khmer Times/Chea Takihiro and Srey Kumneth
Sunday, 13 September 2015
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| A student watching Mr. Hun Sen speaks on Cambodia National Television. Photo: Chea Vannak |
“The regime is always ordering things like this from above. When their leader speaks, he needs to threaten someone to support him,”
PHNOM
PENH (Khmer Times) – A letter marked “secret” has been sent by the
ruling party to various groups telling them to support Prime Minister
Hun Sen on the issue of demarcating borders with Vietnam.
The
letter from senior Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) officials urges the
use of civil servants, the armed forces, monks and other community
leaders to underline the authority of Mr. Hun Sen on the issue.
“First,
manage, inspire and advise every circle, such as civil servants, armed
forces, teachers, monks, vendors, workers, farmers, students and social
organizations, etc., to make petitions galore to support the statement
of [Mr. Hun Sen] on Cambodia’s maps and border issues broadcast on TVK
on September 8,” read the letter, which was signed by CPP
Secretary-General Say Chhum.
“Second,
whenever [the petitions] are ready, please ask His Excellency to,
disseminate those petitions widely on various forms of media or on
social media such as Facebook, and you shall make one copy to send to
the cabinet of the central committee as soon as possible so that the
cabinet will be able to help disseminate the petition.”
After
the three-hour speech Mr. Hun Sen gave last Tuesday, the CPP hoped to
galvanize support for the government-led border demarcation process and
end the months-long back-and-forth between the ruling party and the
opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which says the
government is beholden to Vietnam and is giving away land by using
Vietnamese maps.
“Whether the letter is real or not is beside the point. The most important point is that the CPP showed Cambodians that the government is using legal maps,” said CPP spokesman Chhim Phal Virun.
“The
letter shows that the government is loyal to the people of Cambodia and
that they support the CPP and government on the maps and border issue.”
He refused to say if the letter was genuine or not.
CPP Habits
Political analyst Ou Virak said these kind of tactics have always been used by the CPP.
“This
is their old habit. It’s just a deceptive trick to have institutions
support this. If I am Samdach [Hun Sen], I am angry because my speech
alone was supposed to turn public opinion. They now have to force people
to support the CPP,” he said.
Kem
Ley, founder of the Khmer for Khmer Political movement, said actions
like these were the opposite of a democratic regime, which values free
speech.
“The
regime is always ordering things like this from above. When their
leader speaks, he needs to threaten someone to support him,” he said.
“This
letter shows that most institutions were forced to support this, and
didn’t do it willingly,” said CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann.
1 comment:
Action speak louder than word .It's show that no bodies care much about their pinhead leader madness say. All the past embroil and staunch supporters come out en mass is a fruitful of coerce or paying bribe, but rarely from their gut or volunteers and appreciation . Thugs or soldiers and third hand vicious gangsters just paid by ruling party to show off in any deployment . No wonder this fascist regime have a lot of unwillingness people supporters in the public eyes.
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