By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The Senate approved the draft law on military conscription on Thursday, despite calls from more than 30 youth associations to delay the law's passage. Senate Secretary-General Oum Sarith said 51 Funcinpec and CPP senators voted for the legislation while the SRP’s two senators opposed the law. The law will not come into effect until it is signed by King Norodom Sihamoni and implemented by a Council of Ministers sub-decree, Oum Sarith said. The law would require all Cambodian men aged between 18 and 30 to register for military service and to serve 18 months in RCAF if called upon to do so. In a joint statement released Wednesday, the youth associations said the law was unnecessary as Cambodia is at peace. Yong Kim Eng, president of the People Center for Development and Peace, commented on Thursday that the Senate is uninterested in public opinion. "Senators never consider voters' concerns," Yong Kim Eng said. "The Senate is just a rubber stamp institution." But Oum Sarith said the Senate does make its own decisions and believes that military service for young people is a good idea. The military needs about 3,000 new recruits annually, he added. Reporters were unable to observe the vote on the Senate floor as the television room where proceedings are broadcast live was locked. Oum Sarith claimed the television room was being renovated.
4 comments:
I think young people will not vote for the legislators who never listen to their own people. We are bitterly disappointed with our representatives' decision.
The king, he going to signe no matter what happen because the hammer is on his head.
So he is the rubbered stamp king for Hun Sen gov't only not for the Cambodian people. He is at least try to find a middle ground. If he is only helping the bad situation worse to pro Hun Sen only not for the will of the people; then get rid of the king.
The King is the tool that CPP uses to legitimize their actions. As long as someone's willing to sign, the resposibility is always with the King.
Just look at the mysterious supplemetal border treaty with Vietnam as an example. With all the opposition abound, CPP sent it to the King anyway and like magic, the result inked and sealed.
No wonder Hun Sen is so protective of his tool.
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