Phnom Penh Post
By Cheang Sokha
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy in Myanmar in March. The self-exiled leader was denied entry into Thailand last week. Photo by AFP
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday denied he had pressured Thailand’s
leaders – or any other government in the region – to refuse opposition
leader Sam Rainsy entrance to their country.
Speaking at the
opening and groundbreaking of roads and bridges in Pursat province, Hun
Sen claimed that Rainsy had accused him of playing a part in the
Cambodia National Rescue Party president being refused entry to Thailand
last Tuesday.
“Maybe this convicted man places the highest value
in me, because it would mean that I not only have the right to give
orders in Cambodia, I also have the right to give orders in Thailand,”
he said.
Hun Sen said it was an “insult” to a “sovereign government” that an outsider could make decisions on its behalf.
To the Post’s knowledge, however, the CNRP leader has not publicly made the claims Hun Sen was referring to.
Rainsy
lives in self-imposed exile in France to avoid a lengthy prison term
resulting from what some say were politically motivated charges.
He was travelling to Thailand to promote his new book, We Didn’t Start the Fire: My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia.
“They
told me that I would be welcome back after the election,” Rainsy said
last week after immigration officials denied him entry. He declined to
comment further.
Hun Sen said that after leaving Bangkok, Rainsy flew to Singapore, where he was not allowed out of his hotel.
Earlier,
he had not been allowed to leave the airport in Kuala Lumpur to meet
with Malaysia’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, Hun Sen added.
“I
think it is suitable [for me] to lead the country and unsuitable for
you to because you cannot get into other countries,” the prime minister
said. “[You are] so cheap to put blame on Hun Sen.”
Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua declined to respond to Hun Sen’s speech.
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