Editorial by Pen Bona
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Five months prior to the election date, political defections are the talk of the town. This is an old trade in the country. However, this year, there are two changes as compared to the previous elections. The first change is that the defectors try to defect as discretely as possible, and they no longer hold press conference as their colleagues did in the past. The second change came form the fact that reactions from political leaders about this practice become more mature. In the past, politicians who defected were considered as traitors, while those who remained behind were considered as simple courtesans. Nowadays, comments are more measured, with the exception of the defections between the two warring royalist parties: Funcinpec and NRP. Between the latter parties, things do not change much even as time goes by, and their animosity towards one another remains alive.
Leaving one’s own party to join the competing party has now become common practice among the politicians, and they no longer respond to the expectations of the party activists. However, to most observers, this action highlights the weakness of democracy in the kingdom.
Two explanations about these defections can be contemplated: (1) It could reflect the lack of solid base for the political parties and they no longer answer to the expectations of their activists. Some deceived by their leaders try to find more clement weather elsewhere while hoping that their ideas would succeed there. (2) It could also point out to personal interest or personal conflicts.
A large number of Cambodian people condemn these defections. They consider that such politicians only look to maintain their position, or to acquire a new position. Thus, their motivations are far from the people’s expectations. They lose a large portion of their credibility, both in the eyes of the voters and in the eyes of their colleagues. Maybe this is the reason why these defectors do not want to see any publicity about their departure from one party to another.
Ideology, personal interests or any other reasons, these last minute defectors give a bad reputation to politicians. Therefore, they could clearly use some better training, (short of that) they should show better clear-sightedness (than the nefarious action they are taking now).
Leaving one’s own party to join the competing party has now become common practice among the politicians, and they no longer respond to the expectations of the party activists. However, to most observers, this action highlights the weakness of democracy in the kingdom.
Two explanations about these defections can be contemplated: (1) It could reflect the lack of solid base for the political parties and they no longer answer to the expectations of their activists. Some deceived by their leaders try to find more clement weather elsewhere while hoping that their ideas would succeed there. (2) It could also point out to personal interest or personal conflicts.
A large number of Cambodian people condemn these defections. They consider that such politicians only look to maintain their position, or to acquire a new position. Thus, their motivations are far from the people’s expectations. They lose a large portion of their credibility, both in the eyes of the voters and in the eyes of their colleagues. Maybe this is the reason why these defectors do not want to see any publicity about their departure from one party to another.
Ideology, personal interests or any other reasons, these last minute defectors give a bad reputation to politicians. Therefore, they could clearly use some better training, (short of that) they should show better clear-sightedness (than the nefarious action they are taking now).
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