Tuesday, 16 December 2008 Written by Mu Sochua, MP
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post
Dear Editor,
The Phnom Penh Post article published December 11, 2008, titled "Kingdom at crossroads as CPP extends control over government" is a good food for thought for all of us who are direct or indirect actors in the building of democracy in Cambodia.
We can have endless debates about what type of democracy Cambodia should enjoy or what is the path to democracy. But we cannot accept that a one-party state may be the foundation Cambodia needs for genuine democratic development, because the fundamental element of democracy is the existence of diversified ideas, voices and choices. A one-party state eliminates the environment for democracy to be rooted and to grow. The tight control of people's lives at the village level, and the culture of merits rather than rights for development and the "step-by-step" approach are all part of the carefully crafted democracy that the rulers will allow Cambodia to have.
The slow pace of reforms is not because of the lack of human resources, but it is rather a well-crafted pace to extend the power of the rulers. Corruption provides the means to control the power base and to even expand it. Stability comes at a high price for the poor, for the voiceless, for the human rights defenders and the activists.
Debates in parliament are controlled with rules and procedures that shut off the opposition. Mechanisms for checks and balances to control corruption, rule of law and reforms are weak, while donors continue to accept the same promises made.
How much longer will we let the elephants weep?
Mu Sochua, MP
Sam Rainsy Party
The Phnom Penh Post article published December 11, 2008, titled "Kingdom at crossroads as CPP extends control over government" is a good food for thought for all of us who are direct or indirect actors in the building of democracy in Cambodia.
We can have endless debates about what type of democracy Cambodia should enjoy or what is the path to democracy. But we cannot accept that a one-party state may be the foundation Cambodia needs for genuine democratic development, because the fundamental element of democracy is the existence of diversified ideas, voices and choices. A one-party state eliminates the environment for democracy to be rooted and to grow. The tight control of people's lives at the village level, and the culture of merits rather than rights for development and the "step-by-step" approach are all part of the carefully crafted democracy that the rulers will allow Cambodia to have.
The slow pace of reforms is not because of the lack of human resources, but it is rather a well-crafted pace to extend the power of the rulers. Corruption provides the means to control the power base and to even expand it. Stability comes at a high price for the poor, for the voiceless, for the human rights defenders and the activists.
Debates in parliament are controlled with rules and procedures that shut off the opposition. Mechanisms for checks and balances to control corruption, rule of law and reforms are weak, while donors continue to accept the same promises made.
How much longer will we let the elephants weep?
Mu Sochua, MP
Sam Rainsy Party
13 comments:
It's hard for those democracy-loving Khmers seeking to build a democratic government in Cambodia while it's still under the rulership of a savge and arrogant dictator and his greedy cronies, because they have been thinking this is the only golden opportunity for them and their offprings, which they cannot afford to let it easily slip away from their iron grips.
khmers wise and intellectual must anticipate the policies possible when this country is heading toward totalitarian or Junta's regime (even worse Zimbawe with Mugabe or Hun Sen). Antipate the policies if ever the country is slipping to Communism, which does serve interests for Hun Sen's Dynasty and cronies and which leaves millions of people weep like elephants.
Khmers need to achieve Democracy to servive...there is no better path for Cambodia in this time of neighboring countries as enermies and China thirsty to suck khmer's interest to feed china's people.
a concerned khmer
. . .and from thid day on, Khmers should never hope or dream that the Royal families will be able to restore Cambodia back to any condition better. Just take a close look at the messy ways they have conducted themselves . . . in a very cheap cheap manner ever. In the early 60's no one have ever dreamed that our beloved country could have headed straight to hell like this. A lot of our rulers are reckless, thinking nothing about the national interests but their own and they deserve our blames; the one we should blame first is King Sihanouk, who has had intoxicated pride and personal pleasure.
The bitch (Mu Sochua) doesn't know shit about how to bring about democracy.
of course not, however, please know that the party that won the election is usually the dominate one. and again, please study from the USA on how they can get along or work together, even after an election. of course, one party, either the democratic or republican party is going to win the election in the USA, but eventually, when all dust settled, everyone seems to get to work together with the winning party as the president (prime minister as the case in cambodia). and that is how things should be in cambodia, not continue fighting for power even after the final decision to who had won the election. cambodia still has a lot to learn about democracy. and please do learn from the USA style of gov't, not perfect, but the best form of gov't in the world, though! god bless cambodia.
To SRP – For crying out loud, why don’t you apply the same values and principles within your own party first? Only then, the population will listen to what you’re preaching.
1:12Am we not fight for power from your father Hun Sen!
we are crying for justice and be able to live as human and prevent our nation and race to be destroye!
May angel help who help people and destroy the greedy evil!!!!Hok Landy way of goodby if you can!!!!
It's not right to compare those Khmers to Americans. Of course, we are all human beings, but the Khmers mentality is quite different from that of Americans. How? We don't need to spend much time research or to study hard; let just know that America expanded from 13 states to 51 states. Why? Their leaders are patriotic, obeying their constitutions and principles, while ours are not, but using their costitutions as their comfortable mats to sit and shit on!
please don't miss the point. nobody is trying to compare khmer way to american way as that are two distinct culture; however, what some of us are trying to convey here is that, please observe and learn from those who are better than us. you know, in america, people there are very educated and they learned from experience and observation, etc...thus, laws there were created all the time due to experience a case by case basis. thus, it would be wise to LEARN and ADOPT from the american system, which by the way is the best system of gov't in the world as evidence by people from all over the world wanted to make america ( the USA) their home. why? because of good system of gov't that protects people's rights and make it safe for all people who are its citizens, etc... i just cambodia, as a tiny country on the face of earth would learn something from america. of course, we all can learn from everybody, include your adversaries, your friends, family, etc... it wouldn't be wise not to learn from everybody. thank you.
Khmer leaders rarely think others are better than themselves. If one does not believe me, just ask Hun Sen. We don't need to look at the big countries; let's just look at Israel, Taiwan, Singapore, Malasia, and many more that are more properous than Cambodia. In our country, do we lack educated people? Of course not; there are plenty of them, even more than the country needs, but why our country is going deeper and deeper in debt, and no one can find a better out of it? The answer is: our leaders are unpatriotic! They are the leeches of our nation.
2:32! Ah Kwack know that he is the lesser than a dog that why he use force and threath on people!
What those mother know is shelfish and uncare if their grand children became a whore
4:13AM – if Hun Sen, the country PM, is lesser than a dog, what is a loser like you worth? A horse shit?
12.34am, call your own mother a bitch? it was your mother who fucked up having you as her child,
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