The assassination of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career

Op-Ed by Khmerization
30th January, 2010

“when it comes to Cambodia’s national interests, in particular the issues of border encroachments and in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity, Cambodian political leaders from all political persuasions cannot afford to fight each other along the line of political ideology. For the sake of Cambodia’s national interests and survival, they must put aside their differences and work together for the common good to save Cambodia from extinction.”

Mr. Sam Rainsy had landed himself in political hot waters when he led the villagers to uproot the border markers on 25th October 2009. Whether out of his patriotic instinct or a crave for a dramatic publicity stunt, in split seconds, he had uprooted six temporary wooden border markers in a spontaneous response to the villagers’ outcry when temporary border markers were planted in their rice fields without their knowledge and permission. This action, as a final straw, could seal his political fate and see the possible death of his political career, if a political solution is not found as he has been convicted and sentenced to two years jail for the political drama.

Opinions are divided on Mr. Sam Rainsy’s action. The opponents of the present government and the proponents of Mr. Sam Rainsy, in particular border critics, are adamant that border encroachments by Cambodia’s neighbours are real and happened on a grand scale and that Mr. Sam Rainsy’s action are appropriate under the circumstances. On the contrary, proponents of the government, who are convinced that border encroachments are just an invention of the opponents of the present government, think that Mr. Sam Rainsy had, in his short-sightedness and political immaturity, committed crime that endangers Cambodia’s national interests and damage good relations with Vietnam.

In Cambodia’s polarised and politically fractious and factional society, people tend not to view things independently and in a very rational way. They tend to tow the political line or policies taken by their political parties or political idols. The issues of Cambodia’s border problems with Vietnam is a perfect example of Cambodians towing political lines, as leaders and supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) are vigorously trying to whitewash border encroachments by Vietnam and trying to smear Mr. Sam Rainsy for having exposed the encroachments. If this political trend continues into future generations, Cambodia will be at greater risks of losing its political, cultural and national identity and Cambodia’s borders with its neighbours, in particular, will even be at greater risks of being neglected and left undefended.

Many Cambodian patriots and opponents of the ruling CPP consider Mr. Rainsy’s action as the first step of stoking of national interests to instil the momentum in the border campaigns that will have far-reaching effect in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity. And the evidences of border encroachments presented by Mr. Sam Rainsy, including maps and photographs, stoked national awareness and awakening amongst the general population, including some CPP leaders and, particularly, amongst overseas Khmers and Khmer academic circles in Cambodia and around the world.

Mr. Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodian Border Committee, had accused Mr. Rainsy of fabrication and invention of documents. However, he admitted recently that Vietnam had indeed encroached on Cambodian borders on the spots where he refuted Mr. Sam Rainsy’s evidences of Vietnam’s encroachments.

Many political analysts and observers viewed Mr. Sam Rainsy’s conviction and sentencing by the notoriously corrupt and biased Cambodian court as nothing short of a travesty of justice and a farcical show trial designed to whitewash and legitimise the ruling party’s crackdowns on the oppositions and its critics in a campaign of political intimidation to silence dissenting voices. To put it point blank, the trial is a political assassination of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career in an attempt to weaken the Sam Rainsy Party and then engineer and orchestrate its break up, in the kind of wedge politics that has been employed effectively by the ruling CPP in the past.

But, when it comes to Cambodia’s national interests, in particular the issues of border encroachments and in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity, Cambodian political leaders from all political persuasions cannot afford to fight each other along the line of political ideology. For the sake of Cambodia’s national interests and survival, they must put aside their differences and work together for the common good to save Cambodia from extinction.