Minister: Democracy exists without opposition newspapers [Mr. Kanharith, "independent" means the media can write and speak freely without intimidation or threats from the government or any groups]

Cambodia's Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, left, attends workshop on "Safe to speak: securing freedom of expression in all media" today

 

PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Democracy still exists even though there are no opposition newspapers in Cambodia, said Khieu Kanharith, minister of information.

In the "safe to speak: securing freedom of expression  in all media" workshop to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, Cambodia's information minister said democracy is when all newspapers have their own freedom of expression, and has nothing to do with either having or not having an opposition newspaper.

"The most important thing is freedom of expression," he said.

There are a lot of view points being thrown around linking the opposition to the word “independent” or the government to the word “independent”, said the minister

"This is a mistake because saying that means independent analysts are on the opposition's side and this gives analysts a bad name," he added.

The word "independent" doesn't mean anti-government, he said, adding that “independent” means, we have our rights and freedom to express what is right and wrong.