Hun Manet heckled at Montreal event

Manekseka Sangkum: 

If all these CPP "bright minds" behind Manet and his father think they can fool overseas Cambodians as they are accustomed to doing towards sections of the Khmer population in Cambodia where the state holds monopoly over most influential social institutions, they are being rudely reminded during this publicised PR exercise that even Khmer people and descents abroad appreciate the overall climate of democracy, the rule of law and human decency where citizens and communities can voice their legitimate concerns or grievances without being systematically sanctioned or silenced by the state as their compatriots usually are back in Cambodia under the current regime.

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People protest in Toronto, Canada last week as Hun Manet talks to members of the Cambodian diaspora. Facebook

Hun Manet heckled at Montreal event

Mon, 25 April 2016 ppp

Mech Dara

Hun Manet, the eldest son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is currently touring North America, beat a hasty retreat from an event over the weekend at a Buddhist pagoda in Canada after attendees began criticising his father’s regime.

Manet, who was confronted by protesters repeatedly during the US leg of the trip, was again confronted by a group of opponents during a Cambodian religious ceremony in Montreal.

A video posted online shows a woman, speaking through a loudspeaker, pushing the scion to elaborate on the situation in Cambodia.

Manet, who has presented himself as a peacemaker during the tour, initially invited the woman to discuss her grievances without a loudspeaker, but soon began making for the exit, as a chorus of criticism started up.

Another woman, who explained her husband was killed under the Khmer Rouge regime, said she had fled her homeland fearing war and had hoped things would have improved.

“But when I went to visit Cambodia, it was getting worse and worse,” she said, before requesting he stay.

“If you are good person, you should wait and listen to people’s views about what your father is doing every day . . . He’s a dictator.”

Another man chimed in. “You use the country as your funny game … Have you witnessed people are suffering?” he said.

However, one man, in support of Manet, berated the crowd for using a religious ceremony to confront the premier’s son.

“I want the politicians to get out of the pagoda . . . He came to respect the monks and did not come to offer propaganda,” he said. “If you want to hold a demonstration, you can do it outside.”