Mr. Hun Sen’s politics of fears

22nd January, 2009
Opinion by Khmerization

“Mr. Hun Sen, please stop the politics of fears and invite all your critics to help solve our national and territorial problems before it is too late.”

Political violence and political threats have become Mr. Hun Sen’s famous political trademarks. And fears seem to be his political dictum. In the past, he has successfully reached his political goals and advanced his political agenda by creating and invoking fears throughout the political circles of his critics. Mr. Hun Sen’s un-statesmanlike behaviours never seem to have left his inner self. They are imbedded in his violent mind and his unfortunate upbringing, an upbringing that see him as one of the most lowly-educated and brutal Khmer leaders in the history of Cambodian politics.

During his speech at the inauguration of a governor’s office in Oddor Meanchey province recently, Mr. Hun Sen again has invoked fears by threatening to destroy the opposition’s newly-created alliance if they continue to criticise his policies. Forgetting that the oppositions are parts and parcels of the political and democratic process, Mr. Hun Sen has lashed out at them by mauling them in a vindictive and an uncompromising tone. He said and I quote: “it is not normal that the losers in the election give recommendations to the winner.”

The Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Right Party received more than 2 million votes and to that effect, they represent more than 2 million voices. In a democratic system, their advices and recommendations must be heeded. To maul them in an un-statesmanlike manner, employed by Mr. Hun Sen, is a betrayal of the democratic principle.

Mr. Hun Sen’s irritation resulted from the criticism of his policies toward border disputes with Thailand by the opposition parties and Mr. Sean Pengse, chairman of Cambodia‘s Border Committee based in France. They accused him of neglecting the borders and being lethargic in trying to resolve the border conflict with Thailand.

The oppositions, Mr. Sam Rainsy in particular, and Mr. Sean Pengse, are the thorns in Mr. Hun Sen’s eyes. Their raising of the border issues seem to have touched Mr. Hun Sen’s nerve. Instead of berating them publicly, Mr. Hun Sen should embrace their ideas and recommendations by inviting them to help solve the border problems. Border issues are national issues that affect Cambodians from all political persuasions, not just those who support Mr. Hun Sen‘s Cambodian People‘s Party.

Before I opine on Mr. Hun Sen any further, I would like to make some comments regarding his policies toward border conflict with Thailand. I believe that Mr. Hun Sen’s lethargic, and sometimes lazy, response to Thai invasion of Cambodian border areas will cost Cambodian territorial integrity dearly. Mr. Hun Sen’s flip-flops and back-flips on Preah Vihear issue has given Thailand the ammunitions to play games with him. Many times, he said he will raise the Preah Vihear issue at the Asean Summit. One day later, he said he won’t raise it. Last week, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, told the press that Cambodia will raise the Preah Vihear issue at the Asean Summit. One day later, the Cambodian government said that it will not raise the issue. Now, Mr. Hun Sen said that he will raise the Preah Vihear issue with the Thai PM, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, at the sidelines of the Asean Summit. These flip-flops have weakened the Cambodian positions and have given Thailand an ammunition in which to play games with Cambodia, as has been seen in many unsuccessful border meetings in the past because Thailand was not serious in withdrawing their troops from Cambodian territories.

Mr. Hun Sen has also lashed out at his critics for suggesting that he take Thailand to task at the UN Security Council (UNSC). He lectured his critics by saying that Cambodia can only complain to the UNSC if Thailand had invaded Cambodian territories. While many Cambodians saw Thailand’s forced entry to Preah Vhihear as an invasion, Mr. Hun Sen’s reason seem to suggest that Thailand’s invasion of Preah Vihear is not an invasion, but a territorial dispute. To suggest that the invasion of Preah Vihear by Thai troops is a territorial dispute and not an invasion, Mr. Hun Sen’s has amply given Thailand an ammunition to win a diplomatic war with Cambodia on this issue.

Mr. Hun Sen commented that, for over a hundred years and even during the Sangkum Reastr Niyum of Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia has never had any diplomatic relations with Thailand. This is the chance, he asserted, for Cambodia to engage Thailand diplomatically.

One must remember that Sihanouk’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime had successfully reclaimed Preah Vihear back from Thailand’s control. In one’s own conscious mind, one would rather lose a diplomatic relation with a neighbour than losing our national territorial integrity to our neighbour. To sum up Hun Sen’s words, he will trade our territories for a good relationship with a neighbour for his own political continuity. The Cambodian islands and territories lost to Vietnam through the 1979, 1982, 1983 and in particular 1985 treaties, are testaments to his policies of appeasements or self-political survival.

Mr. Hun Sen has launched a scathing attack on Mr. Sean Pengse for not protesting the loss of Koh Wai (Koh Poulo Wai island) to Vietnam when his was the Minister of Minerals and Energy in the 1960s and 1970s. According to a historical note, on June 07, 1957, Norodom Sihanouk, President of the Council of Ministers, requested in a letter to Lon Nol, then National Defence Minister, to ensure the protection of all islands located along the Gulf of Siam (thus also including Koh Tral), and in particular, the group of islands of Poulo-Pangjang (Khmer name: Koh Krachak Ses; Vietnamese name: Tho Chu), Koh Poulo Wai (Khmer name: Koh Ach Ses) and Koh Tang.

The subsequent Cambodian governments, including the Khmer Rouge regime, never gave up the claims of ownership of these islands. These islands have always appeared in Cambodian maps. But on July 07, 1982, after Hun Sen signed a territorial treaty with Vietnam, Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) and Poulo-Pangjang or Koh Wai (Tho Chu in Vietnamese) appear in the Vietnamese territory, on a map attached to the “Treaty on the Historical Water Zone between the Popular Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Therefore, on a self-conclusion, one can say that many Cambodian islands, including Koh Wai that Mr. Hun Sen accused Mr. Pengse of ceding to Vietnam, have been lost to Vietnam through the 1979, 1982, 1983 and 1985 treaties signed by Mr. Hun Sen himself with the Vietnam authority.

With the ways Mr. Hun Sen deals with border issues with Thailand, Cambodian territories around Preah Vihear, the Veal Entry pass, the Phnom Trop mountain top, Ta Moan Thom and Ta Krabey temples, which are currently occupied by Thai troops, will be lost to Thailand in the future.

So, Mr. Hun Sen, please stop the politics of fears and invite all your critics to help solve our national and territorial problems before it is too late.