Cambodia: Think Long Term Beyond July 28
My last two articles in this space --
"Building leadership for young Khmers," and "Understanding
nation building" -- describe my long term goals for the
developing leaders in Cambodia. I hope also to address other
elements of nation-building with a view that if the concepts
I advance are understood and applied, however slowly, change
may be effected and certain present and future problems
confronting Khmer society may be avoided or
minimized.
Unfortunately, many Cambodians perceive more
urgent problems that need solution now.
Some faithful
Khmer readers from inside Cambodia and abroad have expressed
their wish that my articles be published in the Khmer
language. There was a time when I laboriously typed Khmer
characters relatively quickly on an old Remington Khmer
typewriter, but today I'm a dinosaur at using a computer for
typing Khmer. Unfortunately, those who want to translate my
writings have other responsibilities, and I have neither the
old Remington nor the time.
There are disgruntled Khmer
readers who see my writings are "theoretical" and
"conceptual" whereas Cambodians want "doers" to make things
happen. I cannot but wonder if some of those readers never
thought that they themselves might be the "doers" who can
make things happen? I believe a leader is rarely if ever
born, that a leader is made; in nation building we need not
one leader but tens of thousands of leaders to take care of
many different fields, leaders who can be cultivated. Khmers
say, A vieach york mok thveu kang; A trang york mok thveu
kam; A sam ro'nham York mok thveu os dot – Make a
wheel out of bent wood; make a spoke out of straight piece;
make firewood out of twisted and crooked wood. In other
words, everything and every being has a place; should there
be no place, then make one! Look into the mirror. Can the
one who looks back be a doer?
Ches mok pi
riean
Ches mok pi riean, Khmers also say –
knowledge is acquired through learning. As an educator and a
teacher in my past, I am putting my thoughts and experiences
– and the thoughts and experiences of others – into
writing with the hope that it would help Cambodians in the
future.
This brings me to a book just published, The
Cambodian Wars, Clashing Armies and CIA Covert
Operations by Kenneth Conboy. Conboy's research puts the
lie to the common view that the Khmer Non-Communist
Resistance operating at the Khmer-Thai border in the 1980s
was ineffective. There were creative and innovative projects
initiated by the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed
Forces, including successful aggressive military actions
that brought down a string of the Vietnamese puppet Phnom
Penh regime's military bases along the Khmer-Thai border,
paving the way for the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. I am
grateful that Conboy's sense of history led him to devote
space in his book to record and analyze some of the
operations I developed and implemented in the resistance,
and to credit many who took great risks in the struggle to
establish a democratic government in Phnom Penh.
Conboy
wrote, too, on how noncommunist Cambodians, whether of
republican or monarchical political inclinations, were
unable to harmonize and unite. This should be a reminder for
today's Cambodian democrats. History can repeat itself. The
Khmer Sereika (freedom fighters) were intelligent and
determined, but they were weakened by a disunited
leadership.
I am reminded of my new Khmer friend from
Tacoma, Washington, Hoeurn Mon, a former Buddhist monk for
22years, who spent several hours in discussion with me after
my keynote speech in Tacoma in May. He taught me his
Buddhist perspective on my remarks, which was most useful
for me to learn.
Lord Buddha taught, Mon told me, in a
person's life journey one increases knowledge by listening
to what one never heard. Listening to what one has heard
before reaffirms one's point of view, refutes doubt, and
improves one's understanding and analysis. In life, Mon said
that one must learn, implement and study the result; that
Buddha's so'chek'po'lik means one needs to listen,
remember (digest), question, and write down; that the four
most common errors a person experiences include error
through unconsciousness, error through unawareness, error
for doing what should not be done, and error for not
considering what should be considered; that a learned person
speaks useful words and performs useful deeds
This
Buddhist framework reaffirms my view that improvement in
ways of thinking – values (high principles, freedom,
justice, rule of law), beliefs (in one's ability, human
dignity and worth), and interests (a harmony of
national-societal-individual) are more important long
lasting goals than physical and material change. Change in
intangible spiritual matters precedes the tangible. Knowing
is good. Productive quality thinking consisting of
creativity and criticality is vital. Thinking smart and
acting smart are good techniques.
About Khmer
politics
In thirteen days, Cambodian citizens will go
to the polls to cast their ballots either for the
continuation of the status quo under Prime Minister Hun Sen,
a former Khmer Rouge officer who was made Cambodia's
satellite Prime Minister by Vietnam's invading forces since
1985, or for the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue
Party led by self-exiled Sam Rainsy, sentenced to a 12-year
prison term on politically motivated charges.
According to
news from Cambodia, the CNRP has picked up increasing
support from the population in general although Hun Sen's
Cambodian People's Party is strong among the rural
population. In general, the news reports indicate that
people have grown tired of the same three old faces ruling
Cambodia, that even some in the CPP feel it's time for a
change in leadership, and that there are senior CPP members
who are anxious about the CNRP's growing popularity and
threat, an explanation for Hun Sen's warning that a civil
war will ensue should the CPP lose the election this July
28.
Some national and international observers predict Hun
Sen's election victory. Chairman of the US House of Foreign
Affairs subcommittee on East Asia, Steve Chabot, led
lawmakers in a hearing last week to discuss cutting off US
aid (more than $70 million per year) unless Hun Sen allows
free elections on July 28. Chabot said he has no doubt Hun
Sen will win through "political violence, corruption and
nepotism" to remain prime minister for another new term
(although Hun Sen has let it be known he will stay in power
for another decade).
I believe that a free and fair
election would send Hun Sen packing, just as the Cambodian
people voted for royalist opposition leader Nororom
Ranariddh in the first and last UN-supervised election in
1993. But Hun Sen threatened war in 1993 and had himself
made second prime minister until he pulled a coup against
Ranariddh in 1997. Today he is threatening war again. Why do
that if he is certain he is going to win? The people in
general, including some in the CPP want change.
To US
lawmakers' threat to cut off aid, the Hun Sen government
responded that it is the right of the US to cut off aid and
that the aid does not mean that Cambodia must be subservient
to US wishes. The Americans "can say whatever they want, but
the decision on the future of Cambodia" is in Cambodians'
hands.
Sam Rainsy's Return to Cambodia
Some
Cambodian readers have asked me for insight over the last
six months on the subject of Hun Sen's threats to arrest
self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy upon his return to
Cambodia. I quoted that hapless but eternally optimistic
hotel manager Patel in the film Best Exotic Marigold Hotel:
"Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all
right, it is not yet the end." In my article on February 1,
I theorized a Hun Sen in control of government machinery
since 1985 is unlikely to lose the election on July 28,
hence, it is logically a "win-win" move for Hun Sen to seek
a royal pardon for Sam Rainsy to return to Cambodia to
participate in the election.
In spite of Hun Sen's
persistent threats to imprison Sam Rainsy despite the
international community's appeals to let the Rainsy return
safely, I reasoned that the Khmer Ramvong – a
favorite traditional circle dance when participants dance
around and around in a circle – is a relevant metaphor for
the ongoing maneuvering in which the two politicians likely
are engaged. I reminded readers of the great baseball
catcher Yogi Berra's famous saying, "It ain't over till it's
over."
Recently, the US State Department asked the Hun Sen
government to allow Rainsy to return safely to Cambodia,
free from arrest. Police spokesman Kiet Chantharith told
Radio Free Asia Sam Rainsy would be arrested upon
arrival.
Things in Cambodia are not necessarily what they
appear, however, and I kept looking for signs that behind
the fog of words generated by the political Ramvong,
negotiations were underway.
Then, in a video posted to his
Facebook page, Sam Rainsy declared, "I agree to sacrifice my
life for national homeland, daring to die myself to rescue
the nation from catastrophe." There's no ambiguity in his
words. He upped the ante as US lawmakers threatened a
cut-off of aid. Following, Council of Ministers spokesman
Phay Siphan urged Sam Rainsy to write to Hun Sen "asking for
a compromise," and suggested that Sam Rainsy could ask the
Council of Ministers to seek a royal pardon from the
King.
Wasting no time, Sam Rainsy told RFA on July 9, "I
hope that there will be a negotiation ... to resolve the
issue among Khmers."
Aha!
On July 12, Hun Sen reportedly
wrote to King Sihamoni requesting "in the spirit of
reconciliation" a royal pardon for Sam Rainsy. On the same
day the King's decree granted the royal pardon.
Declared
Phay Siphan: "All of his convictions are clear now. He is a
free man, he is welcome back home and he can come back
anytime." A brilliant if not unforeseeable move.
Sam
Rainsy declared he would return to Cambodia "in the next few
days." In a statement, he said, "I would have returned even
in the absence of a pardon to highlight the condition of
democracy in my country."
Some thoughts
I have no
crystal ball about the future. I think Cambodians and the
international community spend too much time talking about a
free and fair election. While Hun Sen is in charge and
intending to remain in power for another 10 years there will
be no free and fair election, no level playing field.
Cambodians must think beyond July 28. The fight for rights,
justice, and the rule of law will continue. Looking for a
long pan to cook an eel is neither thinking smart nor acting
smart. Information on how to fight and destroy a
dictatorship is available from many sources. The strategies
and tactics need to be learned and applied.
While CNRP Sam
Rainsy's return is a small victory for democrats, "it ain't
over" yet. The political Ramvong continues. Each side
tries to tire out the other. It's a nature of Khmer
politics.
.................
The AHRC is not
responsible for the views shared in this article, which do
not necessarily reflect its own.
About the
Author:
Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from
the University of Guam, where he taught political science
for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States.
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