Friday, March 29, 2013

គណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​បដិសេធ​​ព័ត៌មាន​ថា​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​រឿង​ពុករលួយ

ព្រោះតែខ្លួនភ័យខ្លាចប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ  ស្គាល់​ក្រយៅថាខ្លួនជាជនពុករលួយ  លំដាប់​អន្តរជាតិបានជា ហ៊ុន សែន ខំបញ្ជា​ទៅ​ក្រុម​កាំរហ័ស ឲ្យជួយប្រកែក ហើយ​មិន​យូរទេ ហ៊ុន សែន និងបញ្ចាទៅក្រសួង ស្ថាប័ន និងក្រុមអាម៉ី​អា​ថោង មួយចំនួន​ទៀតដូចជាមហាវិទ្យាល័ សកលវិទ្យាល័ ឬក៏ក្រុមអង្គការសង្គមស៊ីឈ្នួលជាដើម ឲ្យ​នាំ​គ្នាព្រុះថា ដាច់ជោរជុយសែន ជាជន​ស្អាត​ស្អំមិនខាន !
អង្គភាព​ព័ត៌មាន​និង​ប្រតិកម្ម​រហ័ស​នៃ​ទីស្ដីការ​គណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី បាន​ចេញ​លិខិត​ជា​ផ្លូវ​ការ​មួយ​បដិសេធ​ជា​ថ្មី​ទៀត ចំពោះ​ការ​ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​ព័ត៌មាន​របស់​កាសែត​អន្តរជាតិ​មួយ ដែល​បាន​ផ្សាយ​ថា លោក​នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ជាប់​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​អំពើ​ពុករលួយ។
ដោយ ខែ សុណង
2013-03-28 RFA
ការ​ប្រកាស​នេះ ធ្វើ​ឡើង​បន្ទាប់​ពី​កាសែត​អូស្ត្រាលី ឌឹ អេច (The Age) ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​អត្ថបទ​មួយ​កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​២៦ មីនា ថា ក្រសួង​យុត្តិធម៌​អូស្ត្រាលី កំពុង​បើក​ការ​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​លើ​ករណី​ពុករលួយ​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​រុក​រក​រ៉ែ ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន (BHP Billiton) ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​ជាមួយ​លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ដែល​គេ​និយម​ហៅ​ថា ជា​បុរស​ខ្លាំង​នៅ​កម្ពុជា។
ប្រធាន​អង្គភាព​ព័ត៌មាន​និង​ប្រតិកម្ម​រហ័ស​នៃ​ទីស្ដីការ​គណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី លោក ស្វាយ ស៊ីថា បាន​ហៅ​ការ​ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​អត្ថបទ​របស់​កាសែត ឌឹ អេច ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​ថា លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាប់​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​ក្នុង​រឿង​ពុករលួយ​ជាមួយ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​រុក​រក​រ៉ែ​អូស្ត្រាលី ថា​មាន​បំណង​បំផ្លាញ​កេរ្តិ៍​ឈ្មោះ​របស់​លោក​នៅ​មុន​ការ​បោះ​ឆ្នោត​សាកល​ជិត ​ចូល​មក​ដល់។

លោក ស្វាយ ស៊ីថា មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​២៨ មីនា ថា ប្រមុខ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​មិន​បាន​ធ្វើ​អ្វី​ដូច​ការ​ផ្សាយ​របស់​កាសែត​អូស្ត្រាលី ឌឹ អេច ឡើយ ហើយ​លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ក៏​មិន​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​រឿង​ពុករលួយ​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​លើ​ ករណី​ក្រុមហ៊ុន ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន ដែល​ជា​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​សារ​ជីវកម្ម​រុករក​រ៉ែ​អូស្ត្រាលី ធំ​ជាង​គេ​បំផុត​នៅ​លើ​ពិភពលោក។
លោក​ថា នេះ​ជា​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​បែប​ទុច្ចរិត និង​បំផ្លើស​ការ​ពិត៖ «ខ្ញុំ ​មិន​មាន​អ្វី​ថែម​លើស​ពី​អ្វី​ដែល​អង្គភាព​បាន​ចេញ​ផ្សាយ​នោះ​ទេ។ គោល​បំណង​យើង​បាន​និយាយ​ច្បាស់​ក្នុង​ហ្នឹង​ហើយ គឺ​ដើម្បី​យើង​បកស្រាយ​បំភ្លឺ និង​ទាល់​ចោល​អ្វី​ដែល​បាន​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​ខុស​ទៅ​លើ​នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី»
កាសែត​អូស្ត្រាលី ឌឹ អេច កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​២៦ មីនា បាន​ផ្សាយ​ថា សហព័ន្ធ​ប៉ូលិស​អូស្ត្រាលី​និង​ ក្រសួង​យុត្តិធម៌​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក កំពុង​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​ករណី​ពុករលួយ​នឹង​គម្រោង​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​រក​រ៉ែ​ បុកស៊ីត (Bauxite) នៅ​ខេត្ត​មណ្ឌលគិរី របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន។
កាសែត​បន្ត​ថា ឯកសារ​ការទូត​បង្ហាញ​ថា នេះ​ជា​លើក​ដំបូង​ហើយ​ដែល​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាប់​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​ដោយ​ផ្ទាល់​ក្នុង​ការ​ចរចា​រុករក​រ៉ែ​កាល​ពី​ឆ្នាំ​២០០៦ ជាមួយ​មន្ត្រី​ក្រុមហ៊ុន។ ឯកសារ​បញ្ជាក់​ថា លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ធ្លាប់​អះអាង​ក្នុង​កិច្ច​ប្រជុំ​ឯកជន​មួយ​ថា លោក​នឹង​ផ្ដល់​ដី​សម្រាប់​សម្បទាន​រុករក​រ៉ែ​ទៅ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន ១​លាន​ហិកតារ និង​អាច​មិន​យក​ពន្ធ​ពី​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ទៀត​ផង ហើយ​ថា ការ​សន្យា​របស់​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ដល់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​នេះ ធ្វើ​ឡើង​នៅ​មុន​ពេល​កិច្ច​ព្រមព្រៀង​រុករក​រ៉ែ​ឆ្នាំ ២០០៦។
តែ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន បាន​បញ្ឈប់​ដំណើរការ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា កាល​ពី​ឆ្នាំ​២០០៩​វិញ។ ក្រោយ​ពេល​អង្គការ​ឃ្លាំមើល​បរិស្ថាន​ពិភពលោក គ្លបល វីនេស (Global Witness) បង្ហាញ​ជា​សាធារណៈ​ថា ក្រុមហ៊ុន​នេះ​បាន​ផ្ដល់​ប្រាក់​ទឹក​តែ​ប្រមាណ ៣,៥​លាន​ដុល្លារ ទៅ​ឲ្យ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជា ហើយ​លុយ​ទឹក​តែ​នោះ​បាន​បាត់​មិន​ដឹង​ទៅ​ណា។
ទោះ​ជា​យ៉ាង​ណា​ក៏​ដោយ កាសែត​នេះ​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​បដិសេធ​ថា លោក​មិន​បាន​ទទួល​លុយ​នោះ​ទេ ហើយ​ផ្ទុយ​ទៅ​វិញ លោក​ថា ក្រុមហ៊ុន​នោះ​ជា​អ្នក​ប្រព្រឹត្ត​អំពើ​ពុករលួយ។
ប្រធាន​អង្គការ​តម្លាភាព​កម្ពុជា លោក ព្រាប កុល បាន​ធ្វើការ​អប់រំ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ និង​ប្រយុទ្ធ​ប្រឆាំង​អំពើ​ពុករលួយ ថ្លែង​ថា រាល់​ការ​ផ្ដល់​ដី​សម្បទាន ការ​ចុះ​កុងត្រា​ជាមួយ​វិនិយោគិន​ធំ ឬ​ដាក់​ដេញ​ថ្លៃ​លើ​គម្រោង​នីមួយៗ​របស់​រាជ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល ភាគ​ច្រើន​លោក​សង្កេត​ឃើញ​ថា ពុំ​មាន​តម្លាភាព ឬ​ប្រកាស​ដេញ​ថ្លៃ​ជា​សាធារណៈ​ឲ្យ​បាន​ទូលំទូលាយ​នោះ​ទេ។ ប៉ុន្តែ​រឿង​នោះ​នឹង​មាន​ការ​បែក​ធ្លាយ​នៅ​ពេល​ដែល​មាន​ទំនាស់។
លោក ព្រាប កុល៖ «ទម្លាប់​បែប​នេះ​គឺ​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​យើង​ឆ្ងល់ ហើយ​មាន​មតិ​គេ​រិះគន់ និង​មាន​ការ​សង្ស័យ​ដោយសារ​តែ​វា​មិន​មាន​តម្លាភាព។ អ៊ីចឹង​វា​មិន​ដឹង​ថា​តើ​នៅ​ពី​ក្រោយ​ខ្នង​នៃ​កិច្ច​ចរចា​នោះ​វា​មាន​រឿង​អី ​កើត​ឡើង? វា​មាន​ការ​ផ្ដល់​លុយ​ទឹក​តែ ឬ​ក៏​អត់? វា​គួរ​តែ​មាន​ការ​អនុវត្ត​តាម​របៀប​អភិបាលកិច្ច​ល្អ គឺ​មាន​ការ​ប្រកាស​ដេញ​ថ្លៃ​ហើយ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ណា​ដែល​មាន​សមត្ថភាព​គេ​អាច​ដាក់ ​តម្លៃ​ដេញ​ថ្លៃ​ទៅ ផ្ដល់​ផល​ចំណេញ​បាន​ច្រើន យើង​គួរ​ផ្ដល់​ឲ្យ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ហ្នឹង​ទៅ​គឺ​ជា​ទម្លាប់​ល្អ»
នៅ​ក្នុង​សេចក្ដី​បំភ្លឺ​របស់​អង្គភាព​ព័ត៌មាន​និង​ប្រតិកម្ម​រហ័ស​នៃ​ ទីស្ដីការ​គណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​២៧ មីនា បាន​សរសេរ​ថា វា​ជា​ការ​ប្រឌិត នៅ​ពេល​ដែល​បណ្ដាញ​ផ្សព្វផ្សាយ​ព័ត៌មាន​មួយ​ចំនួន​អះអាង​ថា ការ​ដក​ខ្លួន​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន គឺ​ធ្វើ​ឡើង​ភ្លាមៗ បន្ទាប់​ពី​មាន​ការ​ចេញ​ផ្សាយ​របាយការណ៍​មួយ​របស់​អង្គការ គ្លបល វីនេស ស្ដីពី​ការ​បាត់បង់​ទឹក​ប្រាក់ ៣,៥​លាន​ដុល្លារ​អាមេរិក​នោះ។
តាម​ការ​ពិត​ផ្អែក​លើ​ការ​វិភាគ​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន ប៊ីអេចភី ប៊ីលីថន ​នេះ បាន​ពន្យល់​យ៉ាង​ច្បាស់​អំពី​មូលហេតុ​នៃ​ការ​ដក​ខ្លួន​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ដោយ​ ហេតុផល​មួយ​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​ហេតុផល​ដទៃ​ទៀត​នោះ គឺ​កំណប់​រ៉ែ​បុកស៊ីត​មាន​បរិមាណ​មិន​គ្រប់គ្រាន់​សម្រាប់​ធ្វើ​អាជីវកម្ម​ ដែល​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​គម្រោង​នេះ​ពុំ​មាន​ផល​ចំណេញ​សេដ្ឋកិច្ច៕
កំណត់ចំណាំចំពោះអ្នកបញ្ចូលមតិនៅក្នុងអត្ថបទនេះ៖ ដើម្បី​រក្សា​សេចក្ដី​ថ្លៃថ្នូរ យើង​ខ្ញុំ​នឹង​ផ្សាយ​តែ​មតិ​ណា ដែល​មិន​ជេរ​ប្រមាថ​ដល់​អ្នក​ដទៃ​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

ខ្លួនកើតមហារីកសួតាំងពីរជិតចេតរយហើយ នៅតែ
ខំប្រឹងត្រដរខ្យល់ដល់ណាទៀត?វាគួរបែរទៅសន្សំ
សីលទាន ទើបប្រសើរ លោកមិនអាចយកឈ្នះលើ
សេចក្តីស្លាប់បានឡើយ ពេលជិតដាច់ខ្យល់ទើលោក
ដឹងខ្លួនថា អញសាងអំពើបាបច្រើនណាស់តើ!!!!
ទោះជាយ៉ាងណា បុណ្យនិងបាប​មិនអាចផាត់គ្នា
បាននោះទេ។​ធ្វើកម្មល្អ និង អាក្រក់អាស្រ័យ
ទៅលើចិត្តទាំងស្រុង៕

Anonymous said...

INCOME REVIEW SYSTEM?

Facebook's stock market debut left founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg with a paper fortune currently valued at $13 billion -- and a 2012 tax bill of around $1.1 billion.

Zuckerberg's whopping tax hit stems from his move last May to increase his stake in Facebook. On the day of Facebook's initial public offering, Zuckerberg exercised a stock option and purchased 60 million Facebook shares at a "strike price" of 6 cents each.

Even if those shares are never sold, the IRS treats them as ordinary income at the time the options are exercised. The rationale is that such options are a form of compensation, just like regular wages.

For Zuckerberg, that means reporting income last year of nearly $2.3 billion from his stock options alone. Add together the top 2012 federal tax rate of 35% and the top California rate of 13.3% -- the highest in the nation -- and you get a total tax rate of 48.3%.

That's before factoring in some deductions and any other income Zuckerberg collected last year. Only Uncle Sam and California's tax agency know exactly what's in Zuckerberg's return, but three California CPAs that CNNMoney consulted ran the numbers and believe Zuckerberg's bill for the year will probably exceed $1 billion.

That's really unusual ... even for billionaires.

"With numbers that large, it's usually capital gains, not ordinary income," said Toby Johnston, a partner at tax firm Moss Adams LLP's Silicon Valley office who works with wealthy clients. Investors profiting off their gains paid a significantly lower tax rate last year than Facebook's founder will. The highest federal capital gains rate in 2012 was 15%. It goes up to 23.8% (including a Medicare surtax) this year.

The Internal Revenue Service doesn't comment on the returns of individual taxpayers, but each year it releases aggregate data on the 400 U.S. tax filers with the largest reported incomes. The average top earner had income of $202 million and a federal income tax bill of $41 million for 2009, the most recent data available.

A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment on Zuckerberg's taxes.

To cover the giant bill he knew was coming, Zuckerberg dipped into his trove of Facebook stock. He sold 30.2 million shares during Facebook's IPO, taking in $1.135 billion. At the time, Facebook said in a regulatory filing that Zuckerberg planned to use the "substantial majority" of those proceeds to cover the taxes on his stock-option purchase.

And Zuckerberg has another big tax hit looming: He is still sitting on 60 million unexercised options that expire in late 2015. At Facebook's (FB) current share price, those options would generate taxable income of $1.6 billion if he cashed them in. If he cashed then in today at current tax rates, that would amount to a $826 million bill.

The U.S. Treasury will benefit from Zuckerberg's taxes. So will California, which is getting a windfall as thousands of Facebook employees cash in on stock grants and options. California expects to collect roughly $1.5 billion in tax revenue tied to Facebook's IPO, according to the latest estimate from the state's Legislative Analyst's Office.

So how do you pay a tax bill that's bigger than some nations' entire annual GDP? (We're looking at you, Grenada.)

California requires an electronic payment for all tax bills larger than $80,000, but the IRS will take a paper check for any amount.

Watching a sum that big vanish from your bank account sounds scary, right? The flip side is that at least you can afford it.

"Most people are thrilled, to tell you the truth," said Stan Pollock, a San Francisco area accountant who specializes in handling tax issues for tech workers. "I have had very few clients that get these huge windfalls who have resented paying the tax. They know they got lucky."

ATM balances 13K thousands riel $3.25

Anonymous said...



To save Cambodia from the neocolonialist Vietnam, we need a solid union amongst Khmer people.

Presently, Vietnam is using the CPP and Hun Sen to achieve its goal of annexing Cambodia.

To get rid of Vietnam’s dominance in Cambodia, Khmer people needs Hun Sen and the majority of CPP’s members to be on the Khmer nationalists side. And the situation and the circumstance have favored Hun Sen to do so. Hun Sen needs to help the CNRP to win this upcoming election and smoothly transfer the power to the new government.

With Hun Sen’s cooperation, it is extremely difficult for Vietnam to wage a fake civil war against the new CNRP’s government – after the CNRP wins the election.

The solidarity amongst Khmer is the catalyst that will repel all Vietnam’s attempts to finish Cambodia off.

Khmer people would like to solemnly exhort to Hun Sen to foresee the danger that Cambodia will be facing in the next few decades, and make a right decisive action by helping the CNRP to win this next election. Subsequently, Hun Sen and the CPP’s members will be safely protected by the new Khmer government.

We have suffered enough through Vietnam’s maneuverings.
It is time for Khmer to love each other and save our motherland.



Bun Thoeun

Anonymous said...

THE GREAT HUN DYNASTY part I

Hun Sen is worried

Prime Minister Hun Sen is neither foolish nor cowardly. He is shrewd and calculating. He is 60 and wants to stay in power until he's 90. He is busy building a dynasty of family members, friends and cronies.

Hun Sen wants a pliant Mam Sonando and a less combative Sam Rainsy in Cambodia to compete in the July election, which Hun Sen will make sure they cannot win, to legitimize his victory – a victory he will obtain by hook or by crook.

Early this month, Hun Sen's circle dance took a new turn: Government prosecutors dropped the two serious charges against Mam Sonando – insurrection and incitement to take up arms against the state – but kept the two less serious ones – obstruction of public officials and interference in the discharge of public duties. Strangely, the government added a third charge: Illegal logging under Cambodia's 2002 Forestry Law.

A Cambodian correspondent in Phnom Penh says he thinks Hun Sen knows the release of Mam Sonando before the election would project a "good image" for the ruling CPP, except the principled Mam Snando is a "fearless hero" for many Cambodians, hence, his release before the election may allow this vote-getter to "collect votes" for the CNRP.

About Sam Rainsy, my correspondent friend, a devout democrat, is blunt: "Whether Sam Rainsy is out (of Cambodia) or in (Cambodia), the CPP (will) win the election. But Sam Rainsy's presence in Cambodia would be an important pawn for the CPP to legitimize the (unfair) election." My friend says Hun Sen needs Sam Rainsy in Cambodia to legitimize his rule, but he needs a Sam Rainsy who serves CPP interests.

I recently observed that Cambodian opposition activists appear to be gaining momentum and grass-roots folks are happy that democrats have moved away from old grievances to a strategy that addresses their everyday concerns.

Hun Sen and the CPP were surprised before by election victory of the royalists in the 1993 UN-supervised free and fair election. This time they worry what a free and fair would bring.

The necessary implementation of "free and fair elections" is stipulated in Article 12, and in Annex 3 of the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, signed in October 1991 in Paris in the presence of the Secretary-General of the UN, by Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, People's China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, the Soviet Union, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia.

The signatories declared in their October 23, 1991 Final Act, to "commit themselves to promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia, as embodied in the relevant international instruments to which they are a party."

The world spent some three billion dollars to end the Khmer tragedy and ensure that the Cambodian people have "the same rights, freedoms and opportunities to take part in the electoral process."

Anonymous said...

THE GREAT HUN DYNASTY part II

Hun Sen Ayai

Early this month, Hun Sen introduced a different popular Khmer tradition into the political dialogue: Ayai Chhlawng Chhleuy, conversational wordplay by singers using witty comments in song to denigrate one another. Cambodia's election campaign does not begin until June 27 through July 26. But at the March groundbreaking ceremony of a Chinese-funded road-widening project in Kompong Cham, Hun Sen warned the audience of about 4,000: "When the election comes, if the people don't vote for (the CPP), we will be disheartened . . . All projects will be eliminated . . . Even a project like pumping water to dry farms." He would destroy buildings bearing his name, and warned Buddhist monks "there will not be a (Bonn) Kathen anymore" – referring to a Buddhist religious festival known as Monk's Robes Festival in October-November.

The prime minister does not miss an opportunity to label opposition activists, and belittle the opposition party, as having done nothing for the people.

Opposition activists are not sitting still. As Hun Sen lashed out, the CNRP – the new coalition party – floated a seven-point program telling voters what a royal government led by the CNRP promises:

An individual 65 years of age and older would receive monthly assistance of 40,000 riels
A worker's minimum monthly wage would be 600,000 riels
A functionary's minimum monthly salary would be one million riels
A farmer would be guaranteed to receive at least 1,000 riels per kilogram of rice
Poor people would receive free medical care
Youths would receive equal education opportunity and proper employment
The prices of oil, fertilizer, electricity and the interest rate on loans would be reduced

Can these promises be fulfilled? From this distance I cannot say, but my sources who are in Phnom Penh believe all seven points are "doable." One friend wrote in detail. The CNRP "platform" is "pragmatic and feasible; the money promised is not unreasonable. These are doable promises; they are necessary to help people survive in the current market, and Not (sic.) to make them rich."

To my further inquiries, he cited "mechanisms" available to fund all seven points: revenue from a transparent tax policy; revenue from reducing corruption; revenue from tourism; revenue from Economic Land Concessions; revenue from transparent development of natural resources. He thinks officials of the ruling CPP "might agree the CNRP program is feasible, too. This should make PM Hun Sen very concerned…"

Anonymous said...

THE GREAT HUN DYNASTY part III

A lesson to learn

A few days ago, Cambodia's CEN News network – said to be a "CPP-affiliate" – grabbed Cambodians' attention with an article in Khmer by Rattanak on March 10 entitled "His Royal Highness Samdech Krom Preah Nororodom Ranariddh Joins the Cambodian National Rescue Party?" citing "CNRP source(s)" alleging Ranariddh would be inducted as CNRP honorary president at its April 7 Congress.

A few hours later, CEN News published still another article by Rattanak, "FUNCINPEC Party Filed Lawsuit Against (Prince Ranariddh) for Theft and Sale of a Helicopter." CEN News alleges the lawsuit involved Ranariddh's corruption and theft of an MI-17 helicopter belonging to FUNCINPEC.

I inquired with my Cambodian and non-Cambodian acquaintances in Phnom Penh and abroad what all this meant. All responded within hours, starting with Sam Rainsy's denial of Ranariddh joining the CNRP. A ranking royalist in Phnom Penh immediately denied the existence of any lawsuit; soon after he affirmed FUNCINPEC "threatened a lawsuit" as a warning to Ranariddh against joining the CNRP. A British friend sent me a Cambodia Herald article that cited Ranariddh's spokesman Pen Sangha's reaffirmation that Ranariddh has resigned from politics, hence, no, the prince is not joining the CNRP, and "no such case" of lawsuit concerning the reported selling of the helicopter.

It is clear to me, based on my confidence in the sources on whom I consulted, that Ranariddh is not joining the CNRP and there never was a lawsuit about a stolen helicopter. But what motivated CEN News to report those allegations? As a "CPP affiliate," CEN News published articles with a purpose. Yet, could there be smoke without a fire? As my British contact says, could the Ranariddh story be a "stalking horse"?

Whereas CEN News maintains it obtained news of Ranariddh joining the CNRP from CNRP's reporting over the weekend, a friend in Phnom Penh who listened to the Voice of CNRP heard no reporting on Ranariddh over the weekend. Meanwhile an Open Letter floated on the Internet objecting strongly if indeed the CNRP has accepted Ranariddh into its fold. The letter accused Ranariddh of "selling his head to Hun Sen."

As we are a few months away from the election, we can expect more of the sensational and perhaps politically motivated news as above. I suggest we all be patient and not jump to conclusions. The circle dance can go on and on; it ain't over till it's over.

I would like to end this article by repeating what I wrote in my last article: In Cambodia, the least expected happens; what you see is not necessarily what it seems. Cambodia's autocratic regime will not last. Its end will come. Democrats must stay focused, civilized and determined. The fight against abuses will not end with the election.

Anonymous said...

THE STRONGEST MAN IN NÀḾḄƠĐĨÂ I

Hun Sen in My Eyes

Most of people in Cambodia even some international writers and politicians have named Hun Sen as the Strong Man of Cambodia. Why do they think this way? What does it mean by a strong man?

If I am not misunderstood the term of strongman identifying Hun Sen by them would have many senses. It means that Hun Sen is a competent leader, a strong and powerful leader, a leader who has many soldiers and military under his control and his political dynasty built up. These facts do exist in Cambodian political reality if we look into it without critics. Hun Sen always comes up in the media in Cambodia with pride and send the messages to all the Cambodians that Cambodian economic growth under his rule has raised quickly. He is the only liberator of the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge. He is the one who put the civil war in the country to an end in the late of 1990s. He is the only one who can lead Cambodia. He is the only leader who can secure peace, stability, and economic growth in the nation. He is the only one who can solve every problem in the country ranging from international issues to national issues and even to family issues from selling store to a hectar of land in conflict. He is the supreme commander-in-chief of the military, police, media and even the supreme commander-in-chief over the King’s institute, legislative and the court. Politically, he is able to centralize the absolute power under his leadership indisputably in Cambodia without check and balance system. And with all these, he is named as the Strong Man of Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

THE STRONGEST MAN IN ÑÀḾḄƠĐĨÂ II

However, I see it differently. In my eyes I see Hun Sen as one of the most unsecured and weakest leaders in the world just like Fidel Castro, Kim Jung Il, Thein Sein and many others. These leaders lead the countries by fear, by cheating, by keeping their own people in poverty, and by depriving their rights of true information, education, and basic freedom. They have no true respect from their subjects nor have they competence to be entrusted in their leaderships. They are surrounded by hatred, revenge, and enemy of their own people and even the democratic lovers around the world and they also reflectively live and lead in fear.

Just see some cases in order to identify Hun Sen as the most unsecured and weakest leader is that his orders about abolishing deforestation, the gangsters, corruption, the second-hand control along the national high ways, and land grabbing have never been listened to and carried out by officials under his government and most importantly wherever he goes there always be thousands of bodyguards, soldiers, and military personals to protect him from his house’s gate to the place he stops. Similarly, every TV station keeps propagandizing the good deed about him day and night even an inauguration of the five hundred meters of the paved street as his personal donation and great achievement. And there are many more.

In general, Hun Sen has live a life of fear even though he successes in his political life to be the Prime Minister for along time, his power doesn’t come from the true support and his competence but from threat, killing, cheating, suppressing, and subjecting our national sovereignty to Vietnam for the exchange of power. He has never been a real and positive strong leader because he never leads the country by standing on his own feet. Yet he leads by begging other nations, depending on alms, and by submission to neighboring countries. The strong leader definitively leads the country by facing the truth, critics, responsibility, and fearing no enemy in order to move the country forwards to prosperity, democracy, dignity, unity, peace, and independence.

As a response to this proof, have we ever expected him to be able to lead the country as strong leadeship’s demand? No, please do not expect that he has the ability to stand up and successfully protect the national interests from other countries’ invasion, when he can’t even stand up nor has he the courage to face with even the critics and the peaceful and unarmed demonstrations and strikes. Moreover, do not expect that he has the ability to bring about the economic growth for the country when his government can’t even enact the corruption law nor can he personally have the ability to fight against the deforestation and land grabbing. He is able for nothing. Therefore, Hun Sen in my eyes is nothing but the most unsecured ad the weakest leader only.

Anonymous said...

‘ The most dangerous man is that one that is afraid. ‘

4000 riel

Anonymous said...

THE LAST STAND?

Hun Sen Defends Son's Nomination

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has defended his ruling party’s decision to nominate his son and children of other party officials to run in upcoming national elections, rejecting suggestions he is laying the foundation for a dynasty.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said that critics have misunderstood the nomination of family members of officials of Cambodian People’s Party to run for parliamentary seats as an attempt to cement a succession.

“When the CPP made its candidate lists, they were leaked to the media and some people mistook it as creating a dynasty,” Hun Sen said, adding that critics were only paying attention to a few of the nominations.

Opposition groups have said that Hun Sen, one of the longest-serving prime ministers in the world, is paving the way for one of his children to succeed him.

A senior CPP member confirmed last month that Hun Sen's youngest son, 30-year-old Hun Many, will run for parliament in the July general election, along with his son-in-law, Dy Vichea, a senior police officer in the Interior Ministry.

There have been unconfirmed reports that Hun Sen's eldest son Hun Manet, 35, the chief of the ministry of defense's anti-terrorism unit as well as the deputy chief of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit, and his third son, Hun Manith, 31, an army colonel and deputy head of a powerful military intelligence unit, will also run in the polls.

The candidacies raised speculation that Hun Sen is setting the stage for his children to succeed him and establish a political dynasty.

Hun Sen said that the CPP made its nominations based on qualifications of the candidates.

“We don't just make the appointment, they must be qualified," he said, adding that it is important that young people run for office in order to replace aging politicians.

"No one starts their work when they are old.”

But speaking about what Cambodia’s voters want from their leaders, he added that his party has promised stability and that a change in government could “lead the people to misery.”

"They [the people of Cambodia] have been through many regimes. They want to know if they can rely on their direction with us or not. We have experienced changing regimes that lead to war across Cambodia."

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy

Hun Sen’s comments came as the opposition coalition National Rescue Party formally named its exiled chief Sam Rainsy as its choice to become prime minister if the party wins the elections.

The government has threatened to jail Sam Rainsy if he returns to Cambodia from France, where he is living in exile after being convicted of offenses linked to a protest over border demarcation with Vietnam in a case he says is politically motivated. He faces 12 years in prison.

But Sam Rainsy is confident of returning to participate in the July elections, saying international pressure on Hun Sen over the vote's legitimacy if he cannot stand in elections could convince the authorities to allow him back to the country.

Anonymous said...

The National Rescue Party also announced on Thursday that it has nominated Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha to be its National Assembly President if the party wins in the polls.

Sam Rainsy said that he believes that he will be able to return to Cambodia due to mounting international pressure on the Cambodian government.

"It is obvious [that I will be able to return], and there are a lot of positive signs,” he said from Singapore, where he was leading a meeting between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party that had joined forces to form the National Rescue Party.

“Whenever I am traveling somewhere, the country’s leaders warn Hun Sen's government that if the election goes ahead without Sam Rainsy, those countries would not recognize the election results and the new government," he said.

The U.S. and other foreign governments have said they are disappointed by Cambodia’s National Election Committee’s disqualification of Sam Rainsy based on a criminal conviction that “credible observers” say was politically motivated.

Ministry of the Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Thursday that the government will not request Sam Rainsy’s extradition and will not arrest him as long as he stays out of Cambodia.
THE LAST STAND II?

The National Rescue Party will hold its first-ever congress on April 7 and is expected to endorse Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha as its top two leaders.

The CPP will hold its party congress from March 16 to 17 to confirm Hun Sen as prime minister if the party retains power, Hun Sen announced Thursday.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT I

A Talk with Prime Minister Hun Sen

I had the privilege to interview Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, in January 1990. During our discussion, Hun Sen touched upon his reasons for joining the national liberation struggle back in 1970, his early opposition to Pol Rot, the dynamics of change since 1979, his government's relationship with Vietnam, and the recent Australian peace initiatives.

This interview was the highlight of my second trip home in six months. From 1975 until June 1989 I had been unable to return to Cambodia. Like many Cambodians, I had been separated from my family, of these people had made the decision to remain in Cambodia and contribute to its revival after the destructive Pol Pot years.

The National Liberation Struggle

Hun Sen was not interested in talking about his childhood, preferring instead to focus on how and why he joined the struggle against the Lon Nol regime: "At the age of 18, when most young men can study, finding a job, or getting married, I found myself in controversial political circumstances. ...The Americans had been dropping bombs on Memot, my birthplace. Being a Khmer and the offspring of the Angkorean age, I had no choice but to join the popular movement to fight against external aggression."

Hun Sen described how Memot, in Kompong Cham, had been secretly bombed by the United States for more than a year before Lon Nol seized power in March 1970. Before Hun Sen turned 18 he had received education up to matriculation level in Phnom Penh and had returned to work in Memot afterward.

At the time that Hun Sen decided to join the armed struggle, he claims he did not really understand its political dimensions. What he did know was that the Lon Nol regime could not last year long. Toward Prince Norodom Sihanouk, he was quite ambivalent at the time. Hun Sen also perceived that he would be killed if he returned home to Memot because of his involvement in the armed struggle. Yet Hun Sen conveyed his serious reservations about the direction the armed struggle was taking by 1974.

"It was clear that top and even middle-ranking cadres were being taken away to be executed. It even crossed my mind that had I sided with Lon Nol from the beginning rather than participating in the armed struggle, I could have sought refuge in France." One of his uncles currently living in France spent 4 million riels (about US $15,000) to obtain an exit visa.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT II

A Talk with Prime Minister Hun Sen

However, as the struggle unfolded and intensified, Hun Sen realized there would be no way for him to leave the liberated zones of Cambodia. The struggle also grew more radical. "People were being conscripted and together with their families were being forcibly relocated deeper into the liberated zones from which there could be no escape." He assumed that once the country was liberated this radical program would be reversed.

Yet Hun Sen was also aware that a form of rebellion within the movement was underway: "My problem was that as an insignificant person I could not do much about what was going on. During this time many of my friends were arrested and tortured. Even I was accused of being a lieutenant-general in Lon Nol's army by one of my friends." (This friend now works in the Foreign Ministry, but Hun Sen refused to identify him.)

The events of 1974 were rapidly eclipsed by the collapse of Lon Nol's regime in April 1975. In the days before Phnom Penh's liberation on 17 April, Hun Sen was badly wounded: "On the 16th I lost my left eye and was partially paralyzed as a result of a bullet entering the right side of my forehead and exiting through my left eye. I spent eight days in a coma and when I came out of the coma I saw all these people being evacuated."

Hun Sen went on at some length to explain why these sudden evacuations worried him, but he was assuaged by a common reply: "Angka [Communist Party of Kampuchea] has ordered us to leave our houses because the B-52s are going to bomb us. But do not worry, we will be allowed by Angka to return when the danger is over." Hun Sen knew from past experience that whenever Lon Nol's ground forces were defeated, bombers came in to destroy the newly liberated area. At t the time he was still very ill and did not realize the Khmer Rouge had more radical plans for the people.

He was "enlightened" at a meeting of his revolutionary army unit several days later: "The leaders talked about the socialist revolution, the democratic revolution, a revolution that not only had succeeded in eliminating the American imperialists and their supporters but that had also uprooted the old remnants of feudalism and merchant capitalism." Hun Sen claims that at this meeting he was forced to listen to the rationale for depopulating urban settlements and abolishing private property, currency, and all social classes. The talk at this meeting was of "pure equality where neither rich nor poor would exist in Cambodia."

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT III

Early Opposition to Pol Pot

Soon afterward he received permission to leave the hospital to visit his family, but on returning home he found they were about to be relocated some 40 km distance from their home. His father had already been separated from the family, arrested and tortured on the grounds that he had been a member of Sihanouk's Sangkum Reastr Niyum. "I thought by now my father should be free, but they continued their cruel actions against him... even after they were victorious. From that time I increased my anger and revenge to challenge the practices of those Khmer Rouge." So Hun Sen dates his real opposition to Pol Pot from the early days following the demise of the Lon Nol regime.

Hun Sen claims he spent much of 1975 in the hospital; given the nature of his battle wounds, this is hardly surprising. During this time he started to organize a movement to oppose the Khmer Rouge. Although many of his friends were arrested and then killed by the khmer Rouge, they refused to implicate Hun Sen in the opposition movement. Thus, he had some room to maneuver. Nevertheless, it was difficult to rebel against the Khmer Rough: "Under them it was a form of closed war, unlike the Lon Nol time where the war was open. Under Lon Nol people had room to maneuver, there was privacy, and there was a currency circulating to get things done. But under Pol Pot the policy of working and eating communally worked against people being able to rebel."

In 1976 Hun Sen received permission to marry four years earlier than the normal time allocated by the Khmer Rouge based on the fact that he had been wounded. His first child died soon after birth. There was a time void in our discussion: Hun Sen talked little about 1976, preferring to concentrate on what was happening by mid-1977. At the time, he crossed into Vietnam with some of his troops and asked Vietnam for support against Pol Pot.

"However, at the time Vietnam was unwilling to cooperate, kept me as a political refugee, and then suggested that I seek Thailand's backing instead. You see, at the time Vietnam still got on with Pol Pot. ...What changed matters was Pol Pot's ignorantly ambitious move to encroach upon first the territory of Thailand and then the territory of Vietnam. By this time Vietnam decided to support us against Pol Pot."

Hun Sen made the following point very strongly: "Remember, if we Khmer people who could no longer bear the brutal practices of the Khmer Rouge did not develop enough strength and insight to organize ourselves to challenge them, victory alone would not have occurred simply on account of the Vietnamese troops." He insists that external military intervention per se did not result in the overthrow of Pol Pot. Domestic opposition to the Khmer Rouge, he argues, was the catalyst that led to Vietnam's intervention being the catalyst to domestic opposition.

On a personal level, Hun Sen claimed that he was not an initial beneficiary of Khmer Rouge support, basing his argument on what happened to his wife after the birth of their second child. Despite the dispensation to marry early, his wife was arrested and tortured only 12 days after she gave birth in 1977. The Khmer Rouge attempted to break her resolve, but she stood firm like the others who survived the Khmer Rouge period. The focus of this opposition to the Khmer Rouge was based in the Eastern Zone, and when Vietnamese troops crossed into Cambodia late in 1978 "the Eastern zone was instrumental in breaking up most of Pol Pot's regular army. Only Ta Mok's troops were able to retain their strength whereas troops under Pol Pot's regular army. Only Ta Mok's troops were able to retain their strength whereas troops under Pol Pot's control did not retain their cohesiveness. ...They quintessential point Hun Sen seeks to make is that people in Cambodia were not simply passive opponents of the Khmer Rouge.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT V

The Dynamics of Change Since 1979

Hun Sen expressed at some length his irritation with those forces opposed to his government that persist in charging the regime with corruption and ineptitude. Rising to the occasion, he argues: "Our enemies at this last and most desperate stage of their attack have demonstrated to us by suing guns they cannot uproot us, so they resort to psychological warfare."

He went on to say that observers have incorrectly assumed there are parallels in the context of corruption between his government and the governments of Sihanouk and Lon Nol. If corruption contributed to their downfall, it does not follow that the present government will fall on this account. "It's easy to check on whether my ministers and I are corrupt. Check the banks around the world. Compare Lon Nol's or Sihanouk's ministers. They had foreign bank accounts, houses in France, houses in the United States. If my ministers have one or two houses inside Cambodia, why should that matter? It is our intention to keep all wealth in the country."

He claims these critics have not been able to produce one iota of evidence to prove corruption. This does not mean that he denies the existence of forms of petty corruption in Cambodia or claims that every government official is spotless. After all, "the government cannot afford to pay officials a salary to make ends meet." But Hun Sen also noted that people have the right to complain and that the government must be sensitive to these complaints. There is far more corruption in the border camps by critics of the government, he argued, than in Phnom Penh.

According to Hun Sen, to understand this argument the issue must be put in historical context. After the overthrow of Pol Pot in 1979, people were free to exchange whatever goods and services they had for other goods and services. "At the time gold was the important medium of exchange but most of this gold had been generated from activities prior to Pol Pot's time. People who were able to hide gold during this time could use it to trade with Thailand and, to a lesser extent, Vietnam." Without these hidden reserves of gold, the post-1979 rehabilitation of Cambodian society would have been even more difficult. The priority in 1979 was for people to meet their own basic needs by whatever means they could.

In March 1980 a formal monetary system based on paper currency was reinstated. From the outset, Hun Sen said, only a minority of government officials had access to this paper money. The vast majority of people still relied on barter, and gold retained its centrality as the most important means of payment. Simultaneously, the state sought to institutionalize economic development along socialist lines. Hun Sen compared the period 1979-1985 to the period where "the crocodile was waiting to receive the government, and to stay out of the crocodile's jaws the people worked day and night to strengthen the society and to meet their basic needs." However, the government was criticized as being a communist government because of its rigidities and shortcomings. Hun Sen claims most of this criticism came from people outside Cambodia, but he is prepared to admit that there was also domestic criticism.

For instance, in 1983, when he was still minister of foreign affairs, Hun Sen and 20 other cadres went to assist with transplanting rice at a village called Obekarom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The villagers, unaware of who he was, answered him rather mechanically when he asked them about how their solidarity group worked. But "one outspoken woman yelled out that it depends on how we are told to work, where we are told to work, and when we are to work. I thought about her reply and decided it was obvious that the people were not yet the masters or owners of their land. From then on I resolved to do my own research into how solidarity groups could be reorganized to rectify this unsatisfactory state of affairs."

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT VI

Today, Hun Sen said, all cadres and officials must spend some time in the countryside every month. Those with less hectic schedules are required to visit the countryside at least weekly. Hun Sen stressed that critics of the government have overlooked how ethnic Khmers and women are now better able to participate in the nonagricultural sector of the economy. In the past, "it was the Chinese who dominated the economy. As you can see the Chinese are still economically active but now the Khmers, especially the women, are also involved in the marketplace. That is a good thing and improves peoples' livelihoods. Moreover, even government officials can supplement their meager state incomes by being involved in private economic activity. We are asking people to be more self-reliant." Hun Sen juxtaposed the economic activities of people living in the country with those people living in the border camps, arguing that this represents the government's pragmatic and flexible response.

To illustrate this "pragmatic and flexible" approach since 1979, Hun Sen pointed out that, objectively, the political conditions in Cambodia have always been different than those in neighboring Vietnam. "Look at how the Khmers want the free market. The agricultural cooperative did not work interested in state control of the economy. This is where the Khmers differ from the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese, especially from the north, are used to the state controlling the economy." The problems associated with centralized state management meant that people became too dependent on the state, he said, citing the example of people shifting from province to province, caring little about the land they worked or the houses in which they lived-practices that would keep Cambodia economically backward. As a result, the state passed legislation in 1985 permitting people to own the land or occupy the houses in which they had been living when this legislation was passed.

Socializing the means of production in Cambodia, Hun Sen said, took away peoples' incentive to produce. This, he argued, was an objective law, one that could be readily observed empirically. After 1985, then, "the crocodile is no longer a threat because we are now on the land, and we prefer to be on the land where we can meet the tiger. Meeting the tiger is not as bad as the crocodile because there are trees on the land which can be climbed to escape the tiger."

These changes, Hun Sen argued, give the enemy little ammunition with which to attack the government. Hence critics of his government have to resort to the claims that it depends upon the support of Vietnam to survive and that the process of the "Vietnamization" of Cambodia continues unabated.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT VII

Not Vietnam's Puppet

Hum Sen has gone to some lengths to challenge his cirtics' claims that he is beholden to Vietnam. At the Jakarta Informal Meeting (JIM) held in 1987, he said to Sihanouk, "`Hey, dear prince, what do you call the movement against external aggression between 1970-1975?' Sihanouk answered, 'The national liberation movement.' To which I replied, `Okay, then you were the father of the Cambodian nationalist movement and I was its son.' But if Sihanouk accuses me of being the Khmer Rouge, then it means he has to be the father of the Khmer Rouge."

Hun Sen insists that expatriate Cambodians look more carefully at Sihanouk's activities. "From 1975 to 1978 did Sihanouk rebel against the Khmer Rouge? No, he did not. It was Heng Samrin, Chea Sim, and I who waged the struggle against the Khmer Rouge. As for Sihanouk, he has been with the Khmer Rouge the whole way and I want to stress this point to all Khmers living overseas."

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT VIII

Hun Sen constantly stressed his nationalist credentials, as well as his commitment to fighting against the forms of enslavement Pol Pot had imposed upon Cambodian society.

Referring to the process of "Vietnamization," Hun Sen dismissed his critics out of hand. He asked me, "How can we be accused of Vietnamization? Look for yourself as you have come home to see the reality. How many members of your family are married to Vietnamese? How many members of your family speak Vietnamese? What about your relatives, friends, and old work colleagues? You can see for yourself that English, Thai, French, Japanese, even Spanish are popular at our private schools, Ask everyone around you. Are they forced to learn Vietnamese? The answer must be no!

"I wish to make an observation about the nature of Khmer society. Khmer women can marry just about anyone except Vietnamese and Chams. Women can wear any style of clothing except that which is distinctly Vietnamese. How many Khmer women do you see wearing the Vietnamese dress (ary yay) or Vietnamese hat (duon)? Look at Sihanouk. He praises his foreign wife and no one complains. But should individual Khmers decide to marry individual Vietnamese, that is their private affair, their right, and this would not prove we are being Vietnamized."

With an eye to Cambodians living abroad, Hun Sen argued that his government is only too happy for assistance from this dispersed and diverse group. "If the overseas Khmers are so concerned with Khmer culture and our education, they should contribute to safeguarding our traditions. I welcome any assistance which can be offered. For instance, how about sending some medicine to keep the Khmer people alive and well so that they can defend the national interests of Cambodia? Please, I ask the overseas Khmers to come and help." Cambodians living abroad, he claims, are welcome to return home - to visit or to stay. It is his intention to highlight the flexibility of the current government in Phnom Penh.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT VIIII

However, despite Hun Sen's determined attempts to establish his nationalist credentials, he also argued that the presence of Vietnamese troops in Cambodia did not mean that Cambodia had been integrated into Vietnam. He drew parallels with the Lon Nol regime: "People who are currently criticizing us never accused Lon Nol of lacking independence. The Khmer Republic was recognized as an independent country. But how could Lon Nol be independent? Look at the military aid he got form the Americans."

In a pointed barb at the Khmer Rouge, Hun Sen claimed its fanatical obsession with "mastery" of Cambodia was completely negative. "Is it not better to be a `puppet' and continue to make progress, than to be the `master' of the country like Pol Pot and contribute to the genocidal destruction of the country?" To round off the criticism of those who would argue that he is a puppet of Vietnam, he asked, "What more do these people want from the government? Look at our record over the past 10 years. Look at the composition of our government. We have members from all factions. All these people stand on the principles of working in the national and people's interest and opposition to Pol Pot."

In concluding the discussion on this point, Hun Sen observed that the people living in Cambodia know the reality of their country's relationship with Vietnam better than external critics do.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT IX

The Future Prospects for Peace

Interested in gauging Hun Sen's reaction to the Australian government's peace initiatives, I asked him what he thought about Australia's real motives. He replied: "I consider Australia to be an independent country not under the domination of any one country. The Hawke Labor Government does not support Pol Pot. ...Geographically because of Australia's distance from Cambodia its political initiatives do not really benefit Australia. That is why the Australian proposal will be given serious consideration."

Hun Sen claimed that he has had wide-ranging discussions with Michael Costello, the Australian government's special envoy, including talks about the possible outcome of supervised elections. "In my talks with Costello we both agreed that the two opposing governments should stay as before and the United Nations should supervise elections. However, these supervised elections do not simply rest on what the government wants. It will be the people of Cambodia who decide the composition of any future democratically elected government. So if they choose Pol Pot, well, there is nothing I can do about it."

Nevertheless, Hun Sen also claimed it will be highly unlikely that Pol Pot will win any election. "We know the people don't want Pol Pot because they want schools to be open, markets to function, to lead normal family lives, and most importantly they don't want to be victims of genocide." His confidence here obviously rests on people's collective memories of life in Democratic Kampuchea between 1975 and 1979.

Yet Hun Sen also stressed that his government is negotiating from a position of strength. Its desire for peace is based on the premise that Cambodia cannot develop and prosper if the destructive war continues. Nevertheless, should the situation deteriorate, the government would be willing to fight: "You should not assume that we are unwilling to fight. At any time we can strike at the other forces and what little territory is under their control can be retaken. However, even though we have the capacity to increase the level of fighting at any given time we know the real losers in the fighting are the people."

Hun Sen went on to deny that the initiative in the military struggle lay with opponents to the government, but asserted that his government is more genuinely committed to the peace process than its opponents. He stressed that the existing leadership of the Khmer Rouge has no role to play in Cambodia because of its past genocidal practices. On this last point there is no room for concessions to be made.

Anonymous said...

ḤÙÝÑḤ ḤÊÑ FINAL ACT X

Conclusion

I have made a concerted attempt to represent accurately Hun Sen's points on major issues. I have made little attempt to analyze the substance of his arguments, my intent being to offer insights into Hun Sen's public thoughts on a range of issues. Quite obviously his past involvement in the struggle to topple Pol Pot, his relationship with other members of the People's Revolutionary Party, and Cambodia's relationship with Vietnam need to be analyzed in depth. Whatever the reader may think to Hun Sen's arguments, few would deny that his government has acquired a status and longevity unknown in Cambodia's recent and tragic past. What now remains is for the international community to engage constructively in the peaceful development of Cambodia. Right now this looks like a real possibility.

Notes

1 The Sangkum Reastr Niyum, or Popular Socialist Community, was the political organization Sihanouk used to rule the country from 1955 to 1970.

2 For accounts of what happened in the Eastern Zone - the administrative zone of Democratic Kampuchea that bordered vietnam - the best analyses are found in Vickery (1984) and Kiernan (1985).

3 The Khmers have "traditionally" equated the Vietnamese with the crocodile and the Thais with the tiger, but in this interview Hun Sen was making metaphorical reference to the inability to escape from the crocodile in the water and being able to escape from the tiger. In the period 1979-1985 it was somewhat problematic as to whether Cambodia and its people could recover from the Pol Pot period.

4 The Chams are the Khmer-Muslims who were the special object of Pol Pot's assimilationist policies (see pp. 64-66). Reports of Vietnamization in Cambodia were given some credibility by the work of French anthropologist Marie-Alexandrine Martin (1986). However, if some restrictive practices such as secretive teaching of French and English existed in the early 1980s, this is no longer the case. Being a trained social anthropologist myself, and being some-what more familiar with Khmer culture than Martin, I was surprised by attempts to revive traditional Khmer culture in Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

He is dealing with this or not, please waiting the result from US court and Australia court. Khmer proverb said that "the bandit has never said, he is bandit"

Anonymous said...

5:52am

A well written repport, well done!. Nevertheless, what happened to Srok Khmer, it was from the work of the outsiders alone, their aims were to destroy Srok Khmer and to swallow Srok khmer up, just like they did to Laos, Champ, Khmer Khrom, Kosh Tral Island (Phuc Quc) and still continue to encroach on khmerland (the bordering posts keep moving into cambodia land, as if they have legs) and the East-called 'khmer Surin' ( Land surrounding Phrear Vichear some 10km is missing)..

Therefore, it has already been planned by the outsiders, for some 4-500 years ago, and with the helped of the US, USSR and the Chinese supper power nations, made it possible in the destruction of the Cambodia nation. Cambodian did not know how to make guns, tanks or other war related weapons, only from the described nations above that contributed to the falling of this khmer nation, which led to the way it is today. It is not the Sihanock, Pol Pot, Lon Nol nor Hun Sen's faults, it was from the work the outsiders alone. In the end, 'the truth will always be the truth and the truth shall set us free' Gandhi.

What we need right now is to be independent just like the East and the West, that is free from being controlled by outsiders as 'every nation needs to have its own state sovereignty', white paper. Therefore, my final request is to perpetrators who involved in such war crimes against humanity to be brought to justice or to reconcile between them and us as 'victims' and to compensate us, to help us to rebuild our country and nation to its formal glory again or else 'karma' will continue to come their way e.g. tornado, cyclone, floods, tsunami, fire, earth qauke etc.

No one can live in peace unless 'justice is done on earth and in heaven...if not their souls will continue to haunt them until the end of time because God is right and just 'you can run but you can't hide', and because God is God, he knows every move you make, so might as well do good (no one is above the law not even the king or queen). I am not preaching about God but it is true, 'morality always come first', as 'the righteous will live forever and the wicked will be doomed' Proverbs (Bible and all other religion abroad).

Anonymous said...

9:55 AM

Very good description, and you should not be afraid to tell the Khmers (anti_GOD), the source of their downfall for 800 years.

Khmers during a great Empire worshiped GOD (The Creator) through Hinduism, they were powerful and very wealthy. Khmers who were tempted and became anti_GOD, they have continued to be defeated and been smashed until now. Still they (Khmers anti-GOD, cursing GOD) do not see their evil deeds against GOD.

The land of Khmer Empire was taken away, regardless the Khmers anti-GOD screaming for helps from the superpower nations (Christian Nations), things always GO Wrong.

Regardless how hard the Khmers Anti_GOD try to unite or whatever, things will never go on their ways. No humans including many Indian Buddhas who passed away thousand and million years ago, can save Cambodia from taking away by Viets and Thais.

The US/UK will never abandon Thailand and Vietnam, but they will abandon Khmers. Khmers are not important to them but the land of Khmers is important for them. They prefer to have Viets and Thais take the Khmers' land.
They closed their eyes knowing that the Viets are everywhere controlling Khmers behind Hun Sen, the small puppet.

All the old documents I read, not one document showed me that the superpower nations including France care about Khmers.

It is not a blame but it is a real issue that Khmers lack in life. Falling too deep into the foreign religion (Buddhism) and they're unable to amend for the sake of the nation is their downfall.

They saw nothing wrong that Buddhism has destroyed the entire great civilization (Khmer Empire), they blame others who dared to speak the true. The Buddhism encouraged million men almost the entire nation the becoming monks led the economy to collapse. Buddhism should be practiced by anyone who want to practice but it should not be adopted as a state Religion.

NO Nation can survive when the Economy collapsed.

Anonymous said...

The face of Khmer Neak-Lenh called Hun Sen. Good bye Khmers and welcome our new land, Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

12:29am
I agree with you 100%. Hundhism was a good religion too. They believe in Elephant God and to respect all animals and the recarnation of the life cycle etc... that human and nature 'co-exist', trees were not allowed to be cut down, they believe in spirit trees, they respect the five forces e.g fire, water, air, earth, sun, like one cannot live without the other. Which was and ancient beleive of coexistence and mainly all true anyway.

In other words, the theory of love and coexist was no different from of a morder Christainity anyway, where Lord Jesus talked about 'love is god and god is love...love one another as I have loved you...appreciate and respect every little thing around...treat others like you want to be treated etc...these are the theory of coexistence which is linked to christianity accept that Jesus died on the cross for our since to prove of his love for us

whereas Hunduism was more of the time of the God and Goddess where you only say the word and it shall be done, e.g. no one was allowed to lie and anyone does, they would just drop dead...or not a drop of blood was to be spelt from all living things, unless by its own natural caused, otherwise, their life will be shorten or 'a life for a life', which is happening right now. Each time you killed something, your life will be shorten in general. But in this mordern age Jesus said you can eat what god has created for us to eat as long as you keep the ten commentments is all that matters most.

But, because there both God and evils, there will always be good and bad people in this world. The only thing we can do though is to stand by those commentments and we will be fine, safe and sound,. Jesus once said 'those who come to me will never be hungry nor thirsty ever again and their lives shall be contented always'...so be blessed happy easter!.