Hun Sen: The Oligarchic Ruler Of Cambodia?

Sunday, June 15, 2008
Editorial by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

Click here to read Dam Sith's release

“Cambodia of today has been superficially viewed in many misleading ways. On the surface, it appears to be a full functioning parliamentary democracy, with the parliament and the prime minister elected for a 5-year term. Deep down, Cambodia is nothing but governed by an oligarchy - a government run by a small kleptocratic or plutocratic group with Prime Minister Hun Sen as the head.”

My poor Cambodia and her subjects have been governed by clumsy rulers for many generations. One way or the other, she has been ruled and misruled by despots, incompetent and corrupt leaders or simply by a small group of kleptocratic and plutocratic oligarchs. It is this reality that Cambodia remained poor and backward for generations.

Cambodia of today has been superficially viewed in many misleading ways. On the surface, it appears to be a full functioning parliamentary democracy, with the parliament and the prime minister elected for a 5-year term. Deep down, Cambodia is nothing but governed by an oligarchy - a government run by a small kleptocratic or plutocratic group with Prime Minister Hun Sen as the head.

The sad reality is that Cambodia of today is ruled or misruled by one man. Cambodia, if analysed thoroughly, has a hallmark of a despotic one-man show with his kleptocratic or plutocratic elites as his backbones and lifelines. His kleptocratic and plutocratic oligarchs are allowed to plunder and pillage Cambodia’s natural resources and to rob the villagers’ lands at free will. And with a stroke of a one man’s pen anything is achievable.

Coming back to my discussion topic, I would like to draw an attention of the readers of this article to one recent classic example of a one man rule. Many would view or tend to believe that Dam Sith’s arrest was simply derived from a defamation law suit brought on him by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. In my opinion, Hor Namhong’s defamation suit was just a pretext used to harass and victimise opposition politicians. Dam sith’s arrest was a case of a concerted effort by the Cambodia People Party’s (CPP) leadership, in particular Mr. Hun Sen, to get Sam Rainsy or simply to frighten him into fleeing the country. Facing with electoral defeat, the CPP and in particular PM Hun Sen, has deployed their effective weapons to kill Rainsy’s victory chances - and that is to destroy his party with coerced defections and with their intimidation tactic in order to send Rainsy into exile. But, this time, their attempt failed miserably because Rainsy was not intimidated. Realising that his tactic didn’t work, coupled with strong pressures from local and international human right groups, Mr. Hun Sen capitulated and, with a stroke of his pen, Dam Sith was set free.

The arrest of Dam Sith and his release from prison with only a stroke of a pen of a single man proved that Cambodia is a lawless state. While I applaud and appreciate the PM’s intervention for Mr. Dam Sith’s release, I also condemn with the way in which his incarceration and exoneration was handled. It was apparent that his arrest was orchestrated by Mr. Hor Namhong with Mr. Hun Sen’s blessing. The court or the poor judge was simply used as a political tool to formalise and legitimise the arrest. This was evident with Mr. Hun Sen’s intervention, when due judicial process was bypassed.

I agreed with Mr. Sam Rainsy when he said that, when a single person decides everything, a lot of time and energy was wasted. The Dam Sith saga has used up a lot of energy and has diverted a lot of attention from the more serious issues of land disputes, youth unemployment, health or economic problems that the nation is facing today. The problems facing the nation should be a more urgent issue of a responsible government. On the contrary, an irresponsible and a selfish PM thinks of nothing other than how to outsmart his opponents in order to rule forever. The resulting effect was that Cambodia and her people are the victims of his clumsy and selfish leadership. And Cambodia remained poor and backward, even with billions of international aid. This is what happens when a small group of kleptocratic or plutocratic oligarchs misruled the country.