Sam Rainsy declares border victory

SRP members and journalists listen to Sam Rainsy speak via video link at the party’s Phnom Penh headquarters on Monday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Tuesday, 02 February 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy has claimed victory in reversing what he says are a series of Vietnamese border incursions in Svay Rieng province, six days after he was sentenced to two years jail for uprooting border demarcation posts.

Speaking by video link from Paris to supporters at the Sam Rainsy Party headquarters on Monday, Sam Rainsy said his symbolic act had drawn attention to the eastern border and forced Vietnam into withdrawing three other border posts in the vicinity. “We are very lucky we have had a victory in forcing Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia,” he said.

“This is the first time in history that the yuon have withdrawn from Cambodia,” he added, using the racist epithet for the Vietnamese.

Sam Rainsy said also that he will soon embark upon a tour of those countries that were signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords to file complaints about the incursions. The tour is set to begin with a visit to the United Kingdom next week.

The SRP says its claims are substantiated by a series of maps it released last month showing border markers 184, 185, 186 and 187 sitting hundreds of metres inside Cambodia’s legal territory as defined on French- and American-drawn maps.

“The east is more dangerous than the west, because we have all joined forces against Thailand.… But the government has done nothing about the yuon,” Sam Rainsy said.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, dismissed Sam Rainsy’s comments, saying the evidence was based on inaccurate Google Earth maps.

“Sam Rainsy’s evidence is not true. If Sam Rainsy says it is true evidence, we want him to bring it to show us,” he said.

Sam Rainsy starts video conference campaign to meet with supporters

01 February 2010
By Leang Delux
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Today, the Sam Rainsy Party has organized a meeting with party activists at its Phnom Penh headquarter. Similar meetings will also take place in various other provinces.

Several hundreds of people came to the meeting with Mr. Sam Rainsy on Monday afternoon at the SRP party headquarter. According to Yim Sovann, SRP spokesman, those who were invited to attend the meeting were mainly local party leaders in Phnom Penh city.

Yim Sovann indicated also that this is a new type of meeting, and it will also be held in various other provinces and locations where Internet access is available to setup a video conference.

Yim Sovann explained that it was a meeting between Sam Rainsy and party supporters, and during the meeting, exchanges can be made between Sam Rainsy and all his supporters.

Hang Puthea, the executive director of Nicfec, added that a show of activity [such as this video conference] is better than nothing. However he said that the meeting is only taking place through voice exchange, and whether one wants it or not, it is not like a face to face meeting. However, Yim Sovann seems to be confident on the organization to this type of meetings.

CPP MP Cheam Yeap said that it could be efficient, but only for a small group of people who live near large urban centers. For SRP supporters at the base or along the countryside, they could not reach Mr. Sam Rainsy.

The UN Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights (UN OHCHR) in Cambodia issued its reaction on 29 January, stating that it regrets to see Mr. Sam Rainsy being sentenced. It also stated that it regrets to see the court is used to react to a public problem.

On the other hand, the UN OHCHR seems to blame Mr. Sam Rainsy also, it indicated that he could have raised his concerns about the current process of border demarcation and sought clarification from the relevant authorities or the border demarcation committee, or discussed them at the National Assembly or otherwise publicly.

Video Meeting Joins Local, National Government

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
11 January 2010

Local authorities and military commanders joined a weekly meeting of ministers Friday through video conferencing in Phnom Penh that officials say will strengthen communication between central government and outlying authorities.

Governors, council chiefs and other officials from 24 municipalities and provinces joined in discussions at the weekly Council of Ministers meeting, along with six commanders from military zones, in what Prime Minister Hun Sen called a historic moment.

The meeting was meant to “speed up” human resources development in technology to provincial and city governors and others, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the opposition supported the measure, “to help promote the prevention of corruption, deforestation, road reparation, project development and the protection of people’s security and safety.”

However, while an effort to strengthen its effectiveness through technology was positive, he said, “the government should additionally increase its willingness to respect and fairly implement the law.”

Land-grabbing and other “injustices” continue to plague the populace, he said.

Ny Chakrya, a lead investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the video conferencing would provide an element of transparency to the government, while “providing urgent information to local government’s to fulfill their work and to agree on the goals of the government.”

The video conferencing could be shown on television networks for people to watch, he said, “because people sometimes want to know what the cabinet decides and whether the local government fully implements the decisions of the cabinet.”

Cambodia's IT Strongman touts e-gov in a country where not many people have Internet access?

Cambodian PM touts e-government

23.01.09
Trend News

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced plans to install video-conferencing facilities at key military headquarters throughout the country to promote e-government, national media said on Friday.

The move would reduce government spending on transportation and improve national security, English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post quoted him as saying.

"We are moving towards e-government, and we will continue to install video-conferencing systems at all regional military headquarters for commanding soldiers," he said.

"With video conferencing, we can reduce costs and work faster," he said, noting that military and civilian officials would need to attend fewer meetings in person.

In terms of national security, the technology will facilitate communication with military officials stationed far from Phnom Penh, as the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of National Defense will use the technology, he added.

After returning from a trip to Kuwait last week, the premier participated in a video conference with 23 provincial governors, an experience that convinced him of the benefits of investing further in the technology, Xinhua reported.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Tuol Kasaing's IT Man

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Hun Sen’s latest whim: Everybody must have videoconference equipment so I can give them orders directly

21 Jan 2009
By Im Navin
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

During his visit to Oddar Meanchey province, Hun Sen asked officials in his administration to equip themselves with videoconference equipment “so as to save money”.

During the inauguration a new administrative building in Oddar Meanchey, Hun Sen indicated that he just acquired videoconference equipment, just like all the officials in the 24 provinces.

Hun Sen said: “This will allow me to give direct orders following my reading of local media. Thanks to this, provincial officials no longer have to come to Phnom Penh and this will save transport cost.”

Hun Sen also asked the army to equip themselves also, especially along land and maritime border control posts.

Other ministries and departments should also convert to this “new gadget,” Hun Sen added.