Phnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 17, August 25 - September 7, 2006
African President Robert Mugabe's spectacular misgovernment of Zimbabwe seems to be flavor of the month for Cambodian politicians criticizing the policies of their opponents.
Mugabe's destruction of his country's economy has been used by Prime Minister Hun Sen to illustrate the consequences he forecasts if other parties dislodge his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) from power and institute land reform.
But opposition leader Sam Rainsy has likened Hun Sen to Mugabe for his failure to stop the eviction of poor people from central Phnom Penh, and confirmed that when the Sam Rainsy Party wins power it will confiscate private land corruptly acquired and give it to the poor.
Hun Sen predicted disaster for Cambodia if other political parties take power in the national election scheduled for 2008.
"Now the language of Pol Pot campaigns is coming," he told hundreds of government officials and private sector representatives on August 15 at the launch of the National Strategic Development Plan.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to frighten you, but the political message from other political parties preparing to win victory and be Prime Minister, is that Zimbabwe's Mugabe will happen in Cambodia."
He said if his opponents won the election, they would rearrange the [ownership] of factories and hotels and land.
Therefore, workers should be ready to go back to the provinces and Cambodia would have to evict people again from the cities to the provinces and from one remote area to another just as under the Pol Pot regime.
Hun Sen said several political parties and an unidentified movement that has not yet formed a party are preparing to take power, and they might not recognize the existing national strategic development plan, nor business or investment contracts signed with the current government, and thus investors would be discouraged.
"If I am still Prime Minister in the next government there will be no problem," Hun Sen said.
In response, Rainsy told the Post on August 16 that Hun Sen and his ruling CPP were behaving like the dictatorship of Mugabe in their eviction of poor people from the center of Phnom Penh.
Rainsy said Hun Sen's CPP had a history of seizing land from the poor and giving it to the rich. And now Hun Sen was worried that because of the land grabs his party would lose the election in 2008.
He said Hun Sen had repeated his promise not to tax farmers' land, but the promise was meaningless because as long as the CPP remained in power the farmers' land would continue to be taken away from them. With no land, of course, the poor would pay no land tax.
Rainsy said the SRP will review all disputed land titles and contracts when it wins power, and any land that has passed to private investors irregularly or corruptly will be confiscated and given to the poor.
"Our party will not spend much time on election propaganda because the voters have suffered enough and know about the violence committed by the ruling CPP, such as the current forced evictions from the center of Phnom Penh," Rainsy said.
"What we can do is encourage a free and fair election and help eligible voters to register so that they can all go and vote."
Rainsy rejected the idea of forming an "Alliance of Nationalists" with Funcinpec, because he said the grassroots of Funcinpec were already joining the SRP.
"I think Funcinpec faces serious division in its leadership, and has no grassroots supporters," Rainsy said.
Mugabe's destruction of his country's economy has been used by Prime Minister Hun Sen to illustrate the consequences he forecasts if other parties dislodge his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) from power and institute land reform.
But opposition leader Sam Rainsy has likened Hun Sen to Mugabe for his failure to stop the eviction of poor people from central Phnom Penh, and confirmed that when the Sam Rainsy Party wins power it will confiscate private land corruptly acquired and give it to the poor.
Hun Sen predicted disaster for Cambodia if other political parties take power in the national election scheduled for 2008.
"Now the language of Pol Pot campaigns is coming," he told hundreds of government officials and private sector representatives on August 15 at the launch of the National Strategic Development Plan.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to frighten you, but the political message from other political parties preparing to win victory and be Prime Minister, is that Zimbabwe's Mugabe will happen in Cambodia."
He said if his opponents won the election, they would rearrange the [ownership] of factories and hotels and land.
Therefore, workers should be ready to go back to the provinces and Cambodia would have to evict people again from the cities to the provinces and from one remote area to another just as under the Pol Pot regime.
Hun Sen said several political parties and an unidentified movement that has not yet formed a party are preparing to take power, and they might not recognize the existing national strategic development plan, nor business or investment contracts signed with the current government, and thus investors would be discouraged.
"If I am still Prime Minister in the next government there will be no problem," Hun Sen said.
In response, Rainsy told the Post on August 16 that Hun Sen and his ruling CPP were behaving like the dictatorship of Mugabe in their eviction of poor people from the center of Phnom Penh.
Rainsy said Hun Sen's CPP had a history of seizing land from the poor and giving it to the rich. And now Hun Sen was worried that because of the land grabs his party would lose the election in 2008.
He said Hun Sen had repeated his promise not to tax farmers' land, but the promise was meaningless because as long as the CPP remained in power the farmers' land would continue to be taken away from them. With no land, of course, the poor would pay no land tax.
Rainsy said the SRP will review all disputed land titles and contracts when it wins power, and any land that has passed to private investors irregularly or corruptly will be confiscated and given to the poor.
"Our party will not spend much time on election propaganda because the voters have suffered enough and know about the violence committed by the ruling CPP, such as the current forced evictions from the center of Phnom Penh," Rainsy said.
"What we can do is encourage a free and fair election and help eligible voters to register so that they can all go and vote."
Rainsy rejected the idea of forming an "Alliance of Nationalists" with Funcinpec, because he said the grassroots of Funcinpec were already joining the SRP.
"I think Funcinpec faces serious division in its leadership, and has no grassroots supporters," Rainsy said.
2 comments:
This is very dirty and below the waist line punch from Hun Sen, the thugs leader,onto critics and opposition.
Scare tactic for the poor and the cripple of economic crowd.Also the hint to investors that without Hun Sen the consttitution and all laws are useless.Slow down big mouth,UN is still in New York and making sure the world does not collapse before or after Hun Sen.
China is not stupid since most investors are from China,therefore its government will make sure their citizens money are not in sewage unless all invested in the name of Hun Sen and clique.
Dictator usually scares people just like the rest from the past.Sihanouk did the same when he was kicked out of the government.
Now it is close to time to go whether peacefully or forcefully, Hun sen is digging heels in holes.
He has enough to live comfortably in Haiti or Cuba.Why don't pack and move bewfore landless people hung his neck for treason.
ahahahahah!
Cambodian people tend to forget!
AH HUN SEN and Robert Mugabe both a dictator! If AH HUN SEN know any better he would Robert Mugabe as an example! This show that AH HUN SEN is getting very old and getting very confuse!ahahahahahah!
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