By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
"Funcinpec is afraid that the CPP is angry.
[Nhiek Bun Chhay] stays with the government,
so he has no influence. He must listen to the prime minister."
—Koul Panha,
Director, Committee for
Free and Fair Elections
[Nhiek Bun Chhay] stays with the government,
so he has no influence. He must listen to the prime minister."
—Koul Panha,
Director, Committee for
Free and Fair Elections
Around 100 disgruntled Funcinpec officials who were recently sacked as provincial governors, deputy governors and police chiefs confronted royalist party Secretary-General Nhiek Bun Chhay Thursday, accusing him of allowing the ruling CPP to fire them from their government positions, officials said.
At the closed-door meeting at Funcinpec headquarters, the irate officials demanded to know whether their coalition with Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP was still valid, and loudly heckled Nhiek Bun Chhay for failing to protect them, said Iv Borin, who was recently sacked as deputy provincial governor of Kratie province.
"We are not happy when Funcinpec officials are removed and the party stays calm," Iv Borin said by telephone after the meeting.
"The CPP wants to destroy Funcinpec's structure," he said.
He also disputed government claims that it had fired Funcinpec officials as part of its efforts to reform.
"The CPP wants to frame Funcinpec for corruption," he said. 'The government removed me because I am a Funcinpec member. The CPP threatened that if I didn't join them they would fire me," he added.
Nhiek Bun Chhay called the meeting, which began at 9 am. Funcinpec officials noted the names of reporters who tried to attend the meeting, then told them to leave the compound. One party member who attended said on condition of anonymity that he doubted Nhiek Bun Chhay could get his job back.
Nhiek Bun Chhay could not be contacted for comment.
Ok Socheat, public affairs adviser to Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh, agreed that most of the participants want Nhiek Bun Chhay to demonstrate better leadership.
"Nhiek Bun Chhay never protects the party members," he said.
Prince Norodom Chakrapong said the embattled secretary-general is too close to the CPP to properly defend his own party.
The prince filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against Nhiek Bun Chhay earlier this month for accusing him of trying to form a breakaway political party named after Prince Ranariddh.
"The party's secretary-general must be independent," he said. "He cannot confront the government because he is holding a government position."
Funcinpec spokesman Kim San declined comment.
Government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said the government removed 43 Funcinpec governors and deputy provincial governors in recent months to trim down an increasingly bloated provincial government bureaucracy.
He also claimed that most of the removed officials had paid bribes to get their positions, and that Funcinpec had failed to nominate skilled candidates who could have done the jobs but were too poor to pay the party for their positions.
"The protesters should examine their abilities," he said.
The recent arrests of Puth Chandarith, Funcinpec's former Kampot provincial governor, and Mour Kimsan, the Ministry of Rural Development's director of a suspended World Bank Project and a Funcinpec official, were decided by the courts rather than the government, Khieu Kanharith added.
Mour Kimsan was charged on Tuesday with embezzlement related to the World Bank corruption scandal. He became the first government official implicated in the multimillion-dollar scandal, which involves seven government ministries.
Puth Chandarith was arrested on Sunday and accused of corruption and land grabbing while he was governor of Kampot. He has denied any wrongdoing, and his party claims the motives for his prosecution are political.
Between March and May, roughly 69 Funcinpec members were expelled, were replaced or resigned from government or parliamentary positions, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development said in a report released Monday. The report was scathing about the CPP’s growing political omnipotence in Cambodia.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the CPP appears to have made the removals in order to purge the government of Funcinpec officials.
He added that Nhiek Bun Chhay is probably also afraid that if he brings the concerns of his party colleagues to the attention of the CPP, he too could lose his job.
"Funcinpec is afraid that the CPP is angry," Koul Panha said.
"[Nhiek Bun Chhay] stays with the government, so he has no influence. He must listen to the prime minister."
At the closed-door meeting at Funcinpec headquarters, the irate officials demanded to know whether their coalition with Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP was still valid, and loudly heckled Nhiek Bun Chhay for failing to protect them, said Iv Borin, who was recently sacked as deputy provincial governor of Kratie province.
"We are not happy when Funcinpec officials are removed and the party stays calm," Iv Borin said by telephone after the meeting.
"The CPP wants to destroy Funcinpec's structure," he said.
He also disputed government claims that it had fired Funcinpec officials as part of its efforts to reform.
"The CPP wants to frame Funcinpec for corruption," he said. 'The government removed me because I am a Funcinpec member. The CPP threatened that if I didn't join them they would fire me," he added.
Nhiek Bun Chhay called the meeting, which began at 9 am. Funcinpec officials noted the names of reporters who tried to attend the meeting, then told them to leave the compound. One party member who attended said on condition of anonymity that he doubted Nhiek Bun Chhay could get his job back.
Nhiek Bun Chhay could not be contacted for comment.
Ok Socheat, public affairs adviser to Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh, agreed that most of the participants want Nhiek Bun Chhay to demonstrate better leadership.
"Nhiek Bun Chhay never protects the party members," he said.
Prince Norodom Chakrapong said the embattled secretary-general is too close to the CPP to properly defend his own party.
The prince filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against Nhiek Bun Chhay earlier this month for accusing him of trying to form a breakaway political party named after Prince Ranariddh.
"The party's secretary-general must be independent," he said. "He cannot confront the government because he is holding a government position."
Funcinpec spokesman Kim San declined comment.
Government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said the government removed 43 Funcinpec governors and deputy provincial governors in recent months to trim down an increasingly bloated provincial government bureaucracy.
He also claimed that most of the removed officials had paid bribes to get their positions, and that Funcinpec had failed to nominate skilled candidates who could have done the jobs but were too poor to pay the party for their positions.
"The protesters should examine their abilities," he said.
The recent arrests of Puth Chandarith, Funcinpec's former Kampot provincial governor, and Mour Kimsan, the Ministry of Rural Development's director of a suspended World Bank Project and a Funcinpec official, were decided by the courts rather than the government, Khieu Kanharith added.
Mour Kimsan was charged on Tuesday with embezzlement related to the World Bank corruption scandal. He became the first government official implicated in the multimillion-dollar scandal, which involves seven government ministries.
Puth Chandarith was arrested on Sunday and accused of corruption and land grabbing while he was governor of Kampot. He has denied any wrongdoing, and his party claims the motives for his prosecution are political.
Between March and May, roughly 69 Funcinpec members were expelled, were replaced or resigned from government or parliamentary positions, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development said in a report released Monday. The report was scathing about the CPP’s growing political omnipotence in Cambodia.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the CPP appears to have made the removals in order to purge the government of Funcinpec officials.
He added that Nhiek Bun Chhay is probably also afraid that if he brings the concerns of his party colleagues to the attention of the CPP, he too could lose his job.
"Funcinpec is afraid that the CPP is angry," Koul Panha said.
"[Nhiek Bun Chhay] stays with the government, so he has no influence. He must listen to the prime minister."
3 comments:
All funcipec members should be arrested for corruption from head to toes. This group of monsters has created more suffering to Cambodian people after Pol Pot. They came with no monies from their host countries and made millions from victims of Khmer rouge. They are also animals
Nhiek Bub Chhay is a pussy and a coward for not backing up his party!!! He is a puppet to the CPP party and a puppet of Hun Sen. CPP abuses it's power and they are all low life Cambodians that have no education. CPP is a modern day Khmer Rouge! They should all be hanged and slaughtered!
Yeah, let's kill the animals.
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