Like Hun Sen, Like Abhisit

Op-Ed by Khmerization
24rd April 2010

“These two figures have achieved something similar in their long and short political career. Both came to powers through questionable means…..Both are very power-hungry and obstinately and poignantly refused to relinquish powers in the interests of their respective countries at a time when their countries faced political turmoil and crisis.”

The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Mr. Hun Sen, and the Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Abhisist Vejjajiva are two very different people, yet they have similar traits and many things in common. Mr. Hun Sen came from a peasant background, while Mr. Abhisit came from an aristocratic background. Mr. Hun Sen has no manners, while Mr. Abhisit is very well-mannered. Mr. Hun Sen is crude and rude, while Mr. Abhisit is well and soft-spoken. Mr. Hun Sen is lowly-educated, while Mr. Abhisit is highly educated. And both are sworn enemies from day one since the time of Mr. Abhisit’s ascension to the Thai prime ministership when his closest ally, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, allegedly swore to use Mr. Hun Sen’s blood to clean his feet just before Mr. Abhisit came to power.

However, these two figures have achieved something similar in their long and short political career. Both came to powers through questionable means, Mr. Hun Sen was propped up by the Vietnamese invading forces in 1979, while Mr. Abhisit was propped up by the royalist yellow shirt movement in 2008. Both are very power-hungry and obstinately and poignantly refused to relinquish powers in the interests of their respective countries at a time when their countries faced political turmoil and crisis.

Both had exploited the influence and the popularity of the royal institution to come to power and then cling on to it. Hun Sen lost the 1993 election, but, through Sihanouk’s pacifist approach, bullied his way into a coalition government with Funcinpec, then staged a bloody coup against it in 1997. Abhisit lost the 2008 election and bullied his way into the government after his royalist yellow shirt fellows, like Kasit Piromya, had successfully staged a long and, sometimes violent, civil unrest against the Thaksin-friendly governments of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Mr. Somchai Wongsawat.

Mr. Hun Sen cheated to win subsequent elections in 1998, 2003 and 2008, while Mr. Abhisit, with the connivance and conspiracy of the Thai king and the supports of the army, steadfastly refused to relinquish powers, despite protracted protests from very large groups of the red shirt movement. Both are despised and hated by the majority of their fellow countrymen. Both have used the Khmer-Thai border conflict to drum up supports and stoke nationalistic fervour among nationalists for their own political gains. Both pose a great danger to their countries’ progress, wellbeing and security in the long run due to their selfish interests. Both will damage their respective countries’ developmental progress and hamper the democratic process longed for by their own people due to their vested interests and power-hunger.

It is time for them to come to their senses and relinquish their grip on powers and leave the political scene and let other competent leaders take charge. It would be good and an honour if they can do a favour for their countries and their own people by stepping down from power and live as normal citizens of their countries because the longer they try to cling to power, the more damages they have done to their reputation, family honour and respective countries. But so far, there is no sign that they will surrender their power any time soon. As the saying goes ‘like father, like son’. And in this case ‘like Hun Sen, like Abhisit’.