Heavy Security Amid a Loss of Legitimacy for CPP

By Phorn Bopha and Alex Willemyns - September 25, 2013

The past two days have seen some of the most conspicuous displays of government control of the capital in years, with military and riot police being deployed to ensure the safety of ruling CPP lawmakers and leaders being sworn in to parliament in the absence of the boycotting opposition.

Residents of Phnom Penh, many outraged at the swearing in of Mr. Hun Sen and his party amid the absence of 55 members of parliament, questioned Tuesday the legitimacy of a government formed behind such a security shutdown of parts of the city.

“They are afraid,” said So Thy, 59, at a coffee shop in Daun Penh district, explaining why the government had deployed security forces and erected razor-wire barricades throughout the city.

Mr. Thy said he believed the ruling CPP is troubled by people’s growing willingness to demonstrate against the government’s refusal to set up an independent inquiry into the disputed results of the July 28 national election.

“They are afraid of the people since they created a National Assembly that is not legitimate [and] they are afraid because they got their seats by stealing them,” Mr. Thy said, echoing the opposition’s criticism of the July election.

Another Phnom Penh resident, Sam Saroeun, 50, said that if the government had the support of the people as the election results suggest, it should be more than happy to open the swearing in of its lawmakers to the public. He also likened the recent behavior of the CPP government to a communist regime.

“If the people wanted them, they wouldn’t need to fence it all off to have a National Assembly meeting,” Mr. Saroeun said. “They are afraid of the people who are not happy with them…. Communist people always act like this.”

So Tha, a 34-year-old tuk-tuk driver, agreed that the security measures were overzealous and indicated that the ruling party was aware that it was pushing through the formation of a government after losing legitimacy and public support.

“All I can mention is the old saying about the cow with a wound on its back,” he said, comparing the government’s behavior to that of an ox driven paranoid by a fear that small birds could land on its deformity.

The government’s insistence on pushing forward with its swearing in despite the opposition’s spirited campaign against the validity of the election could create bigger problems for itself in the future, said 38-year-old Thun Sovannarith.

“It is not a legitimate government,” he said. “The barricades mean the government is dictatorial…[and this] will lead the people to go hardcore.”

“I have to make myself be patient with this government.”

So Vann, 47, who said he had participated in the demonstrations that overthrew com­mu­nism in Hungary while studying there in 1989, agreed that an already angry public would only get angrier if the government re­mained intransigent in negotiations with the opposition.

“It’s like pumping air into a tire. With too much air one day it will explode and people will protest for change,” he said, lamenting the possible outcomes if the CPP continues to respond to its legitimacy problems with force.

“People won’t be calm since they are not happy with the new government. This government has stolen power and cheated power [from the opposition],” he added.

Chaktomuk commune police chief Chup Chet said late Tuesday that the razor-wire barricades surrounding the Royal Palace had been removed following the orders of a high-ranking government official after the uneventful swearing-in of Mr. Hun Sen at the National Assembly.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan denied that the police presence in the city over the past two days is an indication that the government faces a legitimacy problem, and said that it is the appropriate response to threats of rebellion from the opposition.

“It’s law and order, every nation does the same thing. After the election, the CNRP called for demonstrations throughout the country and we, as a government, are trying to maintain order…against a strategy of rebellion,” he said, explaining that the government was up against behavior it had not had to deal with during previous mandates.

“Now we have incitement from the CNRP. They call the government ‘yuon,’ call it corrupted and incite the people against the government, even though they are in the minority,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Eang Mengleng)

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