Back from Exile, Cambodia’s Opposition Leader Brings Thousands onto the Streets
TIME Magazine | 19 July 2013
“I have returned to rescue the country,” Sam Rainsy told the cheering crowd of thousands
gathered Friday morning at Phnom Penh Airport. Cambodia’s opposition
leader has landed amid a general election campaign in full swing —
elections are slated for July 28 — but can be forgiven for missing the
first three weeks of campaigning. Convicted in absentia for
racial incitement and destruction of property, charges he insists were
politically motivated, the 64-year-old has spent the last four years
living in exile, mostly in Paris, until a royal pardon facilitated his
return as head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Prime
Minister Hun Sen, whose authoritarian rule has spanned 33 years, has
faced increased pressure from the international community to allow a
free and fair election. Yet many people remain perplexed by the sudden
change of heart that allowed his bitter rival’s return. And no one,
least of all Sam Rainsy, believes the looming poll will be clean.
There is little doubt that Prime Minister Hun Sen will soon to extend
his time in office by another five years. His Cambodian People’s Party,
or CPP, has guided the nation from the end of Pol Pot’s murderous Khmer
Rouge through a period of stability and guarded prosperity. Yet his
position hardly stems from popular assent. The CPP controls every form
of governance, including appointing judges, police officials, village
headmen and even the National Election Committee. Cambodia is blighted
by “systemic corruption so we have to put our house in order,” Sam
Rainsy told TIME prior to his return.
Yet taking on Hun Sen remains a colossal task. The former Khmer Rouge
battalion commander, who lost an eye in combat, was first installed as
Prime Minister in 1985 after defecting to the Vietnamese, who were
occupying Cambodia at the time. The CPP lost the country’s first
democratic elections to Prince Norodom Ranariddh in 1993, but the prince
decided to share power in the spirit of reconciliation. Such
munificence was wasted on Hun Sen, however, who launched a coup four
years later to regain his position as Cambodia’s sole leader. Little has
changed since this time, and although Khmers regularly go to the polls —
9.6 million are currently registered to vote under the gaze of
7,700-odd domestic and international observers — nothing is left to
chance.
Last month, all 28 opposition MPs were expelled from parliament
(after the CPP, which holds 90 of 123 seats, decided to disqualify
members of the two separate opposition parties that merged to form the
CNRP). Local officials, all working under the auspices of the CPP,
tightly control voter lists. Anyone thought to support the opposition
can be summarily struck off, while legions of “ghost voters” swoop in to
sway borderline ballots. Opposition groups allege that 10% of
legitimate voters are turned away from polling stations; another 10% of
voters are engaged in fraudulent practices that prop up the incumbents.
So while the veneer of democracy is served by Sam Rainsy’s presence, “it
will not change fundamental flaws in the election process, from the
imbalance in the media, flawed voters list, and partial election
management body,” says Laura Thornton, Cambodia director for the
National Democratic Institute.
Sam Rainsy is under no illusions about what lies ahead. After fleeing
Cambodia as a 16-year-old following the murder of his father, he
returned in 1992 and briefly held the post of finance minister. A
protracted battle with Hun Sen then forced him into exile in 2005,
accused of defamation. A royal pardon was issued a year later, but fresh
charges arose in 2009 when, in an ill-advised media stunt, he removed
six demarcation posts at the Cambodia-Vietnam border — a much disputed
frontier. Despite his latest reprieve, he is not registered to either
vote or stand as a candidate in the upcoming election, and his role must
likely remain that of cheerleader.
As with all elections, the Fourth Estate has a huge roll to play in
Cambodia this month, and, through nepotism or intimidation, virtually
all media back the CPP. Earlier this month, Hun Sen banned foreign media
broadcasts in the country, but made a swift U-turn amid an
international uproar. Voice of America and Radio Free Asia are the only
Khmer-language media that carry opposition views. Even Sam Rainsy’s
return is receiving minimal coverage in Khmer language press, according
to Thornton.
Hun Sen has meanwhile embraced alarmist rhetoric — warning
of an “internal war and external war” and, curiously, of an epidemic of
collapsing bridges should the opposition triumph. So why did Hun Sen
ask King Norodom Sihamoni to allow Sam Rainsy’s return? A few say that
the death of Hun Sen’s father, Hun Neang, on July 12 at the age of 89,
prompted some soul-searching. But the most likely answer is aid. The
U.S. has been vocal in calling for free and fair elections, and human
rights dominated conversation when President Barack Obama arrived in
Phnom Penh for frosty talks in November. Cambodia has a distinct aid
culture — there are currently 2,465 registered nongovernmental
organizations and associations, according to the Ministry of the
Interior, giving one of the highest charity per capita rates in the
world. USAID foreign assistance to Cambodia amounted to $76 million in
2012, and it is due to slightly increase this year.The freezing of these
funds will be hugely unpopular domestically.
Sam Rainsy’s combative rhetoric will undoubtedly enthrall in the 10
days until polling, and is very likely get him into fresh trouble on the
way. CNRP officials tell TIME that half-a-million people lined the
street from the airport to Freedom Park where he addressed the crowd,
and that the 10-mile journey took five hours. Local media heralded
the homecoming as possibly the largest opposition rally the country has
ever seen. “I think we are entering a new phrase in Cambodia history;
it is the beginning of something like the Arab Spring,” Sam Rainsy told
TIME by phone from Phnom Penh on Friday evening. Despite this optimism,
huge barriers must first be overcome before democracy in Cambodia is
anything more than a cynical façade.
7 comments:
FINALLY, HOME SWEET HOME!!!
Democracy in Cambodia has been a cynical façade for too long.
Hun Sen tries to act nice because he knows what is fate will be if he doesn't. The people will stand still if Hun sen turns to violence.
Rainsy, you are the man of dignity, courage and patriotic.
Even if you don't win this time, you are still in my heart. I respect you. I admire you. Never give up for at the end, you will win either way.
Unlike Ranarith (the pussy man) who cares only about money and sex. when went from First prime minister to a nobody because of his stupidity.
"The CPP lost the country’s first democratic elections to Prince Norodom Ranariddh in 1993, but the prince decided to share power in the spirit of reconciliation."
the new leaders, starting with this election, should set good example for all to follow. smart, wise leaders should change amend the law and help change the course of history once and for all, really! that's how you help to make real, lasting difference, leaders should think outside of the box, too, and envision what is better for cambodia and its citizens, etc... god bless all.
wake up, cambodia! modify and be different! use the developing world to help make a real, lasting difference once and for all!
Why would anyone question Mr.Sam Rainsy's integrity towards Khmer?
Please use your mother's gift (your brains) to analyse the two leaders' (Hun sen and Mr. Sam. Rainsy) past behaviours and characteristics.
Either Rainsy is a over his head about the possibility of getting elected to some governing position in the future, or his supports are idiotic to buy his idiotic statements, including "I have return to rescue the country". It's dumb to say that even if he's crazy enough to think that only him, and no one else, can somehow save the country. Having returned to Camobodia with no official polilitical vesting or military support, Rainsy might have fell for Hun Sen's strategy of keeping your enemy withing striking distance.
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