Sam Rainsy Party welcomes all donor participants at the Consultative Group (CG) Meeting and wish you a fruitful dialogue with representatives of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) regarding issues that we believe should be considered to promote socio-economic progresses in the Kingdom.
SRP is pleased to hear that the international donors and NGO community, in dialogue with the RGC, have expressed their commitment to supporting the Royal Government's plans on poverty reduction, social integration and the strengthening of civil society. The actual and swift implementation of these plans by the RGC will eventually bring about a meaningful and sustainable change in the standard of living for all Cambodians.
Emergence of a New Political Consensus
As you all know, the recent weeks have seen significant and positive political changes taking place in the Kingdom, reducing political tensions and creating an atmosphere for inclusive and transparent dialogues on sustainable development. This new consensus represents the most serious attempt by all concerned to achieve political and national stability and promises to place profound responsibility on Cambodian leaders at all levels and their public pledge to deepen democracy beyond the restrictive confines of party-based political and parliamentary processes and the current notions of judiciary and civil society.
Agenda for National Development
The National Strategic Development Plan (2006-2010), along with the Millennium Development Goals, represent a vision of concrete aspirations of the Cambodian government and its people and set the stage for interesting discussions at this CG gathering, to draft a common platform of action in the years to come.
SRP believes that there are three fundamental challenges facing Cambodia in the immediate future:
SRP is pleased to hear that the international donors and NGO community, in dialogue with the RGC, have expressed their commitment to supporting the Royal Government's plans on poverty reduction, social integration and the strengthening of civil society. The actual and swift implementation of these plans by the RGC will eventually bring about a meaningful and sustainable change in the standard of living for all Cambodians.
Emergence of a New Political Consensus
As you all know, the recent weeks have seen significant and positive political changes taking place in the Kingdom, reducing political tensions and creating an atmosphere for inclusive and transparent dialogues on sustainable development. This new consensus represents the most serious attempt by all concerned to achieve political and national stability and promises to place profound responsibility on Cambodian leaders at all levels and their public pledge to deepen democracy beyond the restrictive confines of party-based political and parliamentary processes and the current notions of judiciary and civil society.
Agenda for National Development
The National Strategic Development Plan (2006-2010), along with the Millennium Development Goals, represent a vision of concrete aspirations of the Cambodian government and its people and set the stage for interesting discussions at this CG gathering, to draft a common platform of action in the years to come.
SRP believes that there are three fundamental challenges facing Cambodia in the immediate future:
- first, fighting against corruption and establishing systems of good governance, in order to increase public accountability;
- second, protecting social peace by providing peaceful, legal and democratic means to freely express popular discontent and by properly investigating and addressing social injustices as soon as they are exposed. SRP is concerned that a large majority of Cambodians are faced with pressing social and economic needs that have not been met. Yet, the current development programs and institutional weaknesses continue to hamper external aid from going to those people who need it most.
- third, achieving sustainable and equitable economic development by a complete overhaul of the management of natural resources and by a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth.
Meeting these challenges will require different policy responses from the government and its development partners. They will require concerted action in a number of areas, including improving the oversight role of Parliament, strengthening legal, judicial, and regulatory1 frameworks and institutions, increasing investments in human capital and promoting gender equity, particularly in primary education and primary health care, developing infrastructure by fostering public-private partnerships.
Poverty Reduction and Improving Access to Livelihoods
Despite some economic growth, poverty reduction, particularly in the rural areas remains very weak, resulting in increased inequality and poor distribution of benefits. Programs on poverty reduction will have to be deepened and implemented in a consistent manner if they are to result in any significant progress.
There is growing evidence that landlessness and land-related poverty are escalating among the rural poor. As much as 80% of Cambodia's land area belongs to the RGC. Unfortunately, these precious resources have not been well-managed. It is important to remedy the weaknesses in the management of state lands and thereby promote land distribution with equity.
The formation of a National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes composed of representatives of RGC, civil society and political parties represented in Parliament, is a first step in the right direction. This newly-created Authority must be given the necessary means to investigate and solve land disputes in a smooth way. Towards this end, we call for new and active provisions reflecting the determination of the government and its donors to proceed forcefully and effectively against land grabbing in order to strengthen land tenure security, an important condition for agricultural development and food self-sufficiency.
In parallel to the resolution of land disputes by the newly-created National Authority, SRP encourages that systematic land titling operations, such as the ones that have been launched in largely undisputed rural and urban areas, be speeded up in all the other parts of the Kingdom.
We believe that government-donor support to increase food security must be based on the concept of food sovereignty and should include the rights of peoples and communities to make decisions on food and agriculture and the rights of communities to land and productive resources, with particular recognition of the rights to resources, opportunities, equality and justice, for women, the rural poor and the indigenous communities. SRP urges that RGC fully respect the Communal Land Rights of Indigenous People and intensify the fight against deforestation and illegal concessions.
Enhanced Social Equity and Strengthening Support to the Social Sectors
SRP takes note of significant progress made in education and health sectors, but serious concerns remain in the forefront of our agenda. SRP appeals to our donors to further support the attainments of the increased early childhood care, accelerated opportunities for universal access, retention and achievement in elementary education, and reduction in gender disparities.
Corruption and Building Good Governance
We all recognize that corruption undermines development and that our efforts towards poverty reduction cannot be achieved in a sustainable manner without addressing the issues concerning good governance and the fight against corruption. The poor suffer the most from corruption, generating widespread distortion of policies, incentives, squandering of public resources.
The RGC has a broad range of programs and policies to reform the public sector and improve governance, one of the key pillars of the government's Rectangular Strategy. Notwithstanding government's promises made to the donor community repeatedly over the years, corrupt practices are pervasive, institutionalized and on the increase. SRP is concerned that large-scale corruption and embezzlement of resources, carried out with impunity, have worked to encourage the proliferation of administrative corruption at every level of the government.
SRP fully endorses the anti-corruption priorities that the RGC and its donors have set for the coming year and would like to continue it support to the areas of governance reform and anti-corruption. In practical terms, SRP requests our development partners to adequately fund and resource the anti-corruption efforts of the government. In terms of action, SRP looks forward to:
Poverty Reduction and Improving Access to Livelihoods
Despite some economic growth, poverty reduction, particularly in the rural areas remains very weak, resulting in increased inequality and poor distribution of benefits. Programs on poverty reduction will have to be deepened and implemented in a consistent manner if they are to result in any significant progress.
There is growing evidence that landlessness and land-related poverty are escalating among the rural poor. As much as 80% of Cambodia's land area belongs to the RGC. Unfortunately, these precious resources have not been well-managed. It is important to remedy the weaknesses in the management of state lands and thereby promote land distribution with equity.
The formation of a National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes composed of representatives of RGC, civil society and political parties represented in Parliament, is a first step in the right direction. This newly-created Authority must be given the necessary means to investigate and solve land disputes in a smooth way. Towards this end, we call for new and active provisions reflecting the determination of the government and its donors to proceed forcefully and effectively against land grabbing in order to strengthen land tenure security, an important condition for agricultural development and food self-sufficiency.
In parallel to the resolution of land disputes by the newly-created National Authority, SRP encourages that systematic land titling operations, such as the ones that have been launched in largely undisputed rural and urban areas, be speeded up in all the other parts of the Kingdom.
We believe that government-donor support to increase food security must be based on the concept of food sovereignty and should include the rights of peoples and communities to make decisions on food and agriculture and the rights of communities to land and productive resources, with particular recognition of the rights to resources, opportunities, equality and justice, for women, the rural poor and the indigenous communities. SRP urges that RGC fully respect the Communal Land Rights of Indigenous People and intensify the fight against deforestation and illegal concessions.
Enhanced Social Equity and Strengthening Support to the Social Sectors
SRP takes note of significant progress made in education and health sectors, but serious concerns remain in the forefront of our agenda. SRP appeals to our donors to further support the attainments of the increased early childhood care, accelerated opportunities for universal access, retention and achievement in elementary education, and reduction in gender disparities.
Corruption and Building Good Governance
We all recognize that corruption undermines development and that our efforts towards poverty reduction cannot be achieved in a sustainable manner without addressing the issues concerning good governance and the fight against corruption. The poor suffer the most from corruption, generating widespread distortion of policies, incentives, squandering of public resources.
The RGC has a broad range of programs and policies to reform the public sector and improve governance, one of the key pillars of the government's Rectangular Strategy. Notwithstanding government's promises made to the donor community repeatedly over the years, corrupt practices are pervasive, institutionalized and on the increase. SRP is concerned that large-scale corruption and embezzlement of resources, carried out with impunity, have worked to encourage the proliferation of administrative corruption at every level of the government.
SRP fully endorses the anti-corruption priorities that the RGC and its donors have set for the coming year and would like to continue it support to the areas of governance reform and anti-corruption. In practical terms, SRP requests our development partners to adequately fund and resource the anti-corruption efforts of the government. In terms of action, SRP looks forward to:
- The proper implementation of the Anti-Corruption Legislation and SRP should like to monitor them very closely with you all.
- The enactment of the Right to Information legislation. SRP believes this is of particular importance in as much as information is the oxygen of democracy.
- Public Sector Pay Reforms: SRP believes that this is essential to the improvement of government's capacity to deliver goods and services effectively, efficiently and with integrity. In this SRP emphatically insists in developing a fully accountable civil service. Better recruitment and promotional policies and limiting the size of the public workforce will result in effective pay reform and better motivational incentives for those who remain.
Independence of the Judiciary: The independence of the judiciary is a cornerstone of every democratic society. It takes on added importance when the individual and human rights of citizens are at stake. The perception of politically motivated proceedings are damaging to public confidence in the judiciary and the rule of law.
Given the enormous political and social difficulties in bringing to trial the leadership of the Khmer Rouge, there have been recent developments in this area and it is expected that some of those responsible for the genocide of the 1970s will answer to the courts in the coming year.
Combating a Culture of Impunity and Strengthening the Work of National Audit Authority: The continued perception of the general pervasiveness of a culture of impunity with respect to crimes and corruption hampers development of public sector in the Kingdom. Administrative sanctions, dismissals and prosecutions appear to be rare and poorly publicized throughout the executive. The current crisis in public procurement must be addressed. SRP believes that corruption cannot be controlled unless public officials and employees know that they are likely to be caught and the punishment will be severe.
Building ethics and integrity in public office: Despite some progress, the National Audit Authority (NAA) is not fully functional. SRP should like to strengthen this Authority with powers to independently review and report on public financial and procurement management, public facilities and assets management. To be meaningful, the NAA should make public semi-annual reports on issues of importance to the public. The work of the NAA should be made more transparent by inclusion of representatives of the opposition party, of NGOs and civil society in its reviews and should work more closely with Cambodia's donors.
Development of Democracy
After a series of events that have marked 2005 as a year of setback for democracy, a new political environment has emerged in the beginning of 2006, raising the hope of a new culture of dialogue between government on the one hand and parliamentary opposition and civil society on the other. This opportunity for Cambodians to debate among themselves in order to find the appropriate solutions to the country's problems will be lost if fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, association, demonstration, freedom of the press, workers rights, are not strictly respected. We appeal to the donor community to make respect for these rights, a top-level priority for the RGC.
As the institution that represents the people, the Parliament should play an active role in overseeing government policies, and expenditures. The donor community should work to strengthen the legislative institutions and encourage legislators to fulfill their oversight duties and work more closely with them in order to ensure adequacy to the people's needs and effective utilization of international aid.
In conclusion:
As a political party committed to multi-party pluralism, we will primarily focus our efforts for the government to create policies and programs, in a framework of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, a national environment favorable to social development, to the eradication of poverty, to enhancing productive employment and reducing unemployment, and to fostering social integration. Further, we will advocate that such efforts aim to reduce the imbalances between the economic and social sectors and between the regions. Our role as an opposition party will strive hard to protect the weak, to put emphasis on the right to differ, to create and to innovate in our search for solutions to issues of national interest.
Finally, it has been in the spirit of partnership that SRP has taken this opportunity to highlight a number of issues that are of concern to us and require the priority action by the government and its development partners at this CG meeting. Success in furthering equitable socio-economic development calls for tackling corruption, building good governance and demands collaboration between government, opposition parties, civil society and all of Cambodia's development partners.
Phnom Penh
24 February 2006
Given the enormous political and social difficulties in bringing to trial the leadership of the Khmer Rouge, there have been recent developments in this area and it is expected that some of those responsible for the genocide of the 1970s will answer to the courts in the coming year.
Combating a Culture of Impunity and Strengthening the Work of National Audit Authority: The continued perception of the general pervasiveness of a culture of impunity with respect to crimes and corruption hampers development of public sector in the Kingdom. Administrative sanctions, dismissals and prosecutions appear to be rare and poorly publicized throughout the executive. The current crisis in public procurement must be addressed. SRP believes that corruption cannot be controlled unless public officials and employees know that they are likely to be caught and the punishment will be severe.
Building ethics and integrity in public office: Despite some progress, the National Audit Authority (NAA) is not fully functional. SRP should like to strengthen this Authority with powers to independently review and report on public financial and procurement management, public facilities and assets management. To be meaningful, the NAA should make public semi-annual reports on issues of importance to the public. The work of the NAA should be made more transparent by inclusion of representatives of the opposition party, of NGOs and civil society in its reviews and should work more closely with Cambodia's donors.
Development of Democracy
After a series of events that have marked 2005 as a year of setback for democracy, a new political environment has emerged in the beginning of 2006, raising the hope of a new culture of dialogue between government on the one hand and parliamentary opposition and civil society on the other. This opportunity for Cambodians to debate among themselves in order to find the appropriate solutions to the country's problems will be lost if fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, association, demonstration, freedom of the press, workers rights, are not strictly respected. We appeal to the donor community to make respect for these rights, a top-level priority for the RGC.
As the institution that represents the people, the Parliament should play an active role in overseeing government policies, and expenditures. The donor community should work to strengthen the legislative institutions and encourage legislators to fulfill their oversight duties and work more closely with them in order to ensure adequacy to the people's needs and effective utilization of international aid.
In conclusion:
As a political party committed to multi-party pluralism, we will primarily focus our efforts for the government to create policies and programs, in a framework of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, a national environment favorable to social development, to the eradication of poverty, to enhancing productive employment and reducing unemployment, and to fostering social integration. Further, we will advocate that such efforts aim to reduce the imbalances between the economic and social sectors and between the regions. Our role as an opposition party will strive hard to protect the weak, to put emphasis on the right to differ, to create and to innovate in our search for solutions to issues of national interest.
Finally, it has been in the spirit of partnership that SRP has taken this opportunity to highlight a number of issues that are of concern to us and require the priority action by the government and its development partners at this CG meeting. Success in furthering equitable socio-economic development calls for tackling corruption, building good governance and demands collaboration between government, opposition parties, civil society and all of Cambodia's development partners.
Phnom Penh
24 February 2006
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