Original report from Phnom Penh
17/04/2007
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy Tuesday compared the work of many Cambodian village chiefs to the leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
The chiefs threaten villagers and rule through the same tactics of fear as the Khmer Rouge, he said at a ceremony commemorating the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975.
"The current village chiefs are good at threatening the people and following the Khmer Rouge village chiefs' thinking," Sam Rainsy said. "Most people do not like the current village chiefs."
Some ruling party members took umbrage to the opposition leader's remarks.
"He should investigate every village. If there is suppression in any village, he should go there and ask the people," Phnom Penh's Stung Meanchey district chief, Yin Kith Seng, said. "We reconcile the people. I let the people choose the party. Go ahead and ask around. When something is wrong I say it is wrong. I do not discriminate. Go ahead and ask Sam Rainsy party local officials. They know about me, there is no problem."
Commune elections April 1 unseated some chiefs, including a small increase for the Sam Rainsy Party, but many of the old chiefs, and their old ways, remain.
The chiefs threaten villagers and rule through the same tactics of fear as the Khmer Rouge, he said at a ceremony commemorating the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975.
"The current village chiefs are good at threatening the people and following the Khmer Rouge village chiefs' thinking," Sam Rainsy said. "Most people do not like the current village chiefs."
Some ruling party members took umbrage to the opposition leader's remarks.
"He should investigate every village. If there is suppression in any village, he should go there and ask the people," Phnom Penh's Stung Meanchey district chief, Yin Kith Seng, said. "We reconcile the people. I let the people choose the party. Go ahead and ask around. When something is wrong I say it is wrong. I do not discriminate. Go ahead and ask Sam Rainsy party local officials. They know about me, there is no problem."
Commune elections April 1 unseated some chiefs, including a small increase for the Sam Rainsy Party, but many of the old chiefs, and their old ways, remain.
4 comments:
Yes that is a good and real Democratic in Cambodia.
I agree with SR and his ideas 100%.
It's time to stop the ways of the communists.
The duty of government is not just
to support the people, but to work
for the good of the people. What
good is it to anyone if we allowed
wild beasts to do whatever they
please?
Let's think out of the box. Let's first count the number of layers of administration in Cambodia from the bottom up:
1. Village chief;
2. Commune council;
3. District office;
4. Provincial office;
5. Ministry: lowest office;
6. Ministry: middle office;
7. Ministry: high office
8. Ministry: Director-General
9. Ministry: Under-secretary of state;
10. Ministry: Secretary of State;
11. Ministry: Minister.
One concrete example: A colleague and I registered our NGO. We went through the administrative layers from the bottom to the top. At the ministry, we noticed that the letter of approval had been initialed by five officials, that is it had passed through five different officials, before the minister signed it in the end. This is the reality. If Cambodia was a private company, it would go bankrupt by the sheer weight of its administrative layers. These administrative layers are like multiple layer umbrellas (chhat ruot)in Buddhist temples which provide no shade.
The Cambodian people are over-ruled.
Let's think about eliminating two lawyers at the bottom: no village chiefs; no provincial offices. All powers and responsibilities of the provincial authorities should be tranferred to district authorities. All powers and responsibilities of village chiefs should be trabsferred to commune councils. Districts and communes have more or less the same size of the population to look after. Many issues should be decided only at the district level. District offices should be located in such a way that people can make a day trip by bicycle to get things done there, leaving home in the morning and getting back in the evening. Only serious matters go to the ministry.
At the ministry, there is a need to abolish at least two layers to cut down the bureaucracy and save time and resources.
Furthermore, each office must have a performance pledge. For instance, registering the birth of a baby at a commune office should be completed with a copy of the birth certificate given to its bother and/or father within 20 minutes; the same for registering a marriage, notifying the wedding of one's children, certifying one's address or one's conduct, etc...
At land registry offices: just say 30 days after receiving the application.
At vehicle registration offices: 5 days after receiving the application.
Etc...
Etc...
Staff should also serve people with curtesey. "Can I serve you, Sir/madam? Are you attended to? Can I help you? can you queue up, and wait your turn? First come, first served"
There should also be periodic evaluation of the performance for the promotion of staff, for further improvement, for correcting flaws in the procedure, for further skill training for staff, etc...
This is what is called "administration as service, people as clients", or " citizen-centered public administration" or public management.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
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