5-golden-star General Hun Xen angry to see proposition to remove the army away from his arm's reach

Hun Sen blasts opposition's proposal to put army under king's control

Wednesday, 10 March 2010
By Khmerization
Source: Kampuchea Thmey

Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted the opposition's proposal to put the national army under the control of the king in place of the current arrangement where all troops are under the tight control of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, reports Kampuchea Thmey.

On 6th March, Son Chhay, MP from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, floated the idea that the king should be given full control of the army to make the army truly neutral.

Speaking to disabled veterans in Ta Ken Koh Sla commune in Chhouk district of Kampot province on 8th March, Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted such suggestion as ignorant of the role of the king under the constitution.

He accused the opposition of wanting to turn the Cambodian monarchy into a Nepalese monarchy which has been abolished recently, in an apprarent threat to abolish the monarchy shall it not be subservient to him. In the past, Mr. Hun Sen had several times threatened to abolish the Cambodian monarchy whenever the current king Sihamoni or ex-king Sihanouk were reluctant to approve his policies.

The Cambodian constitution stipulates that "the king reigns but shall not rule". However, in a separate article of the same constitution, the king was described a "the commander-in-chief of the armed forces".

'Tug of War' Over Top Military, Defense Ministry Posts Said Stirring Up Again

07 Apr 08
By Den Sorin
Moneaksekar Khmer
Translated from Khmer by Anonymous

A high-ranking Cambodian People's Party [CPP] official said that despite agreement within the CPP concerning the positions in the armed forces, it is not yet certain that there would be no changes because contestants are waiting to see the balance of forces between the two sides and the post-election actual situation first.

Previously Hun Sen wanted to have Neang Phat replace Tea Banh as Defense Minister and Kun Kim as armed forces Supreme Commander. However, if such an arrangement was made Hun Sen would have total control of the armed forces and Chea Sim would then be even more meaningless than now when he is already meaningless. Therefore, the party elders urged both sides to exchange positions between Ke Kimyan and Kun Kim, for Hun Sen wanted Kun Kim to replace Ke Kimyan as armed forces Supreme Commander while Chea Sim wanted Ke Kimyan to replace Tea Banh as Defense Minister.

Hun Sen consented to such a trade-off and the situation inside the CPP concerning power in the armed forces became calm for a while. However, recently the tug of war inside the military ranks within the CPP stirred up again because Hun Sen wanted to change his mind concerning the top post in the Ministry of National Defense as he did not wish to see Ke Kimyan have it.

The CPP official meanwhile said that Hun Sen recently strongly censured Tea Banh for not knowing how to use diplomatic language when he talked with the Vietnamese leaders, leading the state news agency controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam to publish a report about Tea Banh's call on the Vietnamese Defense Minister to provide assistance in maintaining security during the elections, a report promptly quoted by the state-controlled Agence Khmere de Presse.

The CPP official said that the Defense Minister is expected to handle the administration's political affairs. Therefore, the Defense Minister needs to be a person well-versed in diplomacy. Because Tea Banh showed his inexperience in diplomacy Hun Sen wanted to remove him from the Ministry of National Defense while the Chea Sim side wanted Ke Kimyan to replace Tea Banh since Ke Kimyan's seat at the armed forces Supreme Command was snatched by Hun Sen and given to his close confidant Kun Kim. However, Hun Sen now wants to renege by expressing his desire to take over both the armed forces Supreme Commander's and the Defense Minister's posts. This has caused quite a commotion inside the party.

The CPP official further disclosed that Hun Sen has steadily promoted Neang Phat in preparation for him to be seated in the Defense Ministry's top post. People inside the armed forces previously predicted that the Defense Minister's seat would surely go to Moeng Samphan, an in-law of Hun Sen, because Moeng Samphan was seen getting promoted quite often. However, after Moeng Sampohan stopped being a Hun Sen in-law, Hun Sen instead reserved this top post at the Defense Ministry for Neang Phat. For this reason, Neang Phat has been seen promoted to four-star general and made Hun Sen's personal adviser with a rank equal to that of a minister. He recently was given the title of Senior Minister so that he could hold the Defense Minister's post.

The CPP official said that in this third term Defense Minister Tea Banh is also Deputy Prime Minister. In the next term the Defense Minister probably will not double as Deputy Prime Minister, but will be just a Senior Minister. Nevertheless, the question of who between Ke Kimyan and Neang Phat will be Defense Minister has no sure answer to it yet because the key to Hun Sen's remaining Prime Minister is still in the hands of the Chea Sim group. Therefore, if Hun Sen really goes back on his word there surely will be an implosion of problems.