05 Jan 2009By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French
In the morning of Monday 05 January, thousands of brochures depicting the glory of the ruling party were distributed to passers-by.
The distribution scene looks like an election campaign: a seller giving out brochures bearing the CPP logo with the photo of Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Heng Samrin on the cover, to her customers coming to eat breakfast in her shop.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the KR regime, the CPP distributed to the citizens thousands of copies of this 12-page-brochure boasting the constructions undertaken in the country following the fall of Pol Pot. Everything is included there: from the dark KR period which is illustrated with black and white photos along with piles of skulls, desolated roads, working camps, then came the liberation and finally the reconstruction era which lasts until now.
With loads of color photos of nice roads, oil platforms, buildings under construction, dams and schools, the brochure boasts the major works undertaken during the past few years.
“For 30 years, the CPP has always lived with the people, sharing their joy and hardship. The CPP prevented the return of the genocide regime, put an end to civil war, and rebuilt the country from zero to its current development,” the legend in the brochure stipulated.
One hiccup in all this: the CPP gave the impression of being in charge of the latest developments, while omitting to indicate that the major portion of these constructions was in fact undertaken with International aid.
The distribution scene looks like an election campaign: a seller giving out brochures bearing the CPP logo with the photo of Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Heng Samrin on the cover, to her customers coming to eat breakfast in her shop.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the KR regime, the CPP distributed to the citizens thousands of copies of this 12-page-brochure boasting the constructions undertaken in the country following the fall of Pol Pot. Everything is included there: from the dark KR period which is illustrated with black and white photos along with piles of skulls, desolated roads, working camps, then came the liberation and finally the reconstruction era which lasts until now.
With loads of color photos of nice roads, oil platforms, buildings under construction, dams and schools, the brochure boasts the major works undertaken during the past few years.
“For 30 years, the CPP has always lived with the people, sharing their joy and hardship. The CPP prevented the return of the genocide regime, put an end to civil war, and rebuilt the country from zero to its current development,” the legend in the brochure stipulated.
One hiccup in all this: the CPP gave the impression of being in charge of the latest developments, while omitting to indicate that the major portion of these constructions was in fact undertaken with International aid.
