By Sam Borin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
In his reaction given to RFA last night, opposition leader Sam Rainsy still maintained that the yardstick that should be used to measure progress in Cambodia should be based on the comparison of the progress made in neighboring countries, as well as the progress made in other developed countries in the world.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy who just arrived from France very recently, said that he still maintained his previous stance in which he claimed that Cambodia cannot move towards real progress if it were to be compared with that of neighboring countries.
Sam Rainsy said: “I am maintaining that the progress in neighboring countries is 10 times better than ours. In Thailand for example, people have work, and their salaries are 10 times more than us. They have 10-20 times more roads, schools, hospitals than us. As for Vietnam which was also a victim of a war where the US dropped so many bombs on, and it also sustained 30-40 years of war during the French colonial regime, it was destroyed much more than us, and even though it was a communist country, their leaders were responsible and they led their people to prosperity that is 2 to 3 times better than us.”
Even though several authors wrote that Cambodia fell into Year Zero between 1975 and 1979, and that the country cannot be reconstructed as well as other countries during such short period of time, Sam Rainsy blamed on the corruption and the lack of responsibility of the current leaders still.
Sam Rainsy added: “Japan after World War II was heavily bombarded by the US, and even 2 atomic bombs were dropped and turned Japan into ashes, but in 1964 – 19 years after the end of the war in 1945 – with good and non corrupt leaders, Japan rose from the ashes and became an economic Superpower, and the Japanese had the highest living condition in Asia. But, in our country, 30 years after the Khmer Rouge – not just 19 years like in Japan – it has been 30 years already and the majority of the Cambodians are still living in poverty, some are getting even poorer because they lost their lands, their forests, their fishes, they are poor because of corruption, because of the inabilities and the lack of responsibility of our current leaders.”
During yesterday’s inauguration of a school in Santuk district, Kampong Thom province, and the presentation of a directive plan to build sufficient number of junior high schools and high schools to fulfill the Cambodian population needs by 2010 or 2011, Hun Sen alluded to a politician, whom he declined to name, who allegedly used to cheat in the past. Hun Sen said that he can measure progress by comparing the start of his (political) journey to the current location where he is now standing.
Hun Sen said: “There are some politicians who dare not talk about it. There is no need to compare to the Pol Pot regime, and the comparison must be made with developed countries instead. Oh Sir, now we must know where we came from, and how far we have walked to? But, they do not dare (talk about it?), if you are scared, make it clear that you are scared, you shouldn’t cheat while talking. Some other leaders said that there should not be any comparison to the Pol Pot era, if compared to the Pol pot era, the Pol Pot era was better and Pol Pot was right. But now you want to compare with developed countries. Now, let’s talk about Thailand, they never had wars, they just had a war in its southern region, and the minor coup d’état which took place, besides that they were always developing (their country), they never saw destruction, did they not? But for us, we destroyed all the way to the roots. Vietnam after the war ended also rebuilt its country while in Cambodia, the destruction was made all the way to the roots.”
Nevertheless, Sam Rainsy, who used to say that the Cambodian people are getting poorer and poorer, replied to a question asked by RFA last night, by calling on the current government leaders to recognize their leadership mistakes rather than blaming the Khmer Rouge.
Sam Rainsy said: “Our country is destroyed by the leaders who came after the Khmer Rouge regime, in the lat 10-20 years. Was it the Khmer Rouge who destroyed the forest (during the KR regime)? In fact, it was done by the leaders who came after the Khmer Rouge regime instead. Was it the Khmer Rouge who allowed the immigrants and the Vietnamese to catch all the fishes from the streams, lakes and rivers in our country? It was not the Khmer Rouge, it was those who came to replace them later on. Was it the Khmer Rouge who sold the state belongings, the people belongings to international thieves (Mafia), to the crooked companies which confiscated lands belonging to the people, and making them poor? The Khmer Rouge case dated from 30 years back, what I am talking about is the destruction of the nation in the past 10-20 years only. They shouldn’t blame the Khmer Rouge on everything that they did wrong. They should accept their own mistakes – mistakes which are caused by corruption, dictatorship, lack of capabilities.”
The verbal exchange between the two main Cambodian political leaders took place at a time when the upcoming general election is only about 5-month away. Prior to this, the situation was calm.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy who just arrived from France very recently, said that he still maintained his previous stance in which he claimed that Cambodia cannot move towards real progress if it were to be compared with that of neighboring countries.
Sam Rainsy said: “I am maintaining that the progress in neighboring countries is 10 times better than ours. In Thailand for example, people have work, and their salaries are 10 times more than us. They have 10-20 times more roads, schools, hospitals than us. As for Vietnam which was also a victim of a war where the US dropped so many bombs on, and it also sustained 30-40 years of war during the French colonial regime, it was destroyed much more than us, and even though it was a communist country, their leaders were responsible and they led their people to prosperity that is 2 to 3 times better than us.”
Even though several authors wrote that Cambodia fell into Year Zero between 1975 and 1979, and that the country cannot be reconstructed as well as other countries during such short period of time, Sam Rainsy blamed on the corruption and the lack of responsibility of the current leaders still.
Sam Rainsy added: “Japan after World War II was heavily bombarded by the US, and even 2 atomic bombs were dropped and turned Japan into ashes, but in 1964 – 19 years after the end of the war in 1945 – with good and non corrupt leaders, Japan rose from the ashes and became an economic Superpower, and the Japanese had the highest living condition in Asia. But, in our country, 30 years after the Khmer Rouge – not just 19 years like in Japan – it has been 30 years already and the majority of the Cambodians are still living in poverty, some are getting even poorer because they lost their lands, their forests, their fishes, they are poor because of corruption, because of the inabilities and the lack of responsibility of our current leaders.”
During yesterday’s inauguration of a school in Santuk district, Kampong Thom province, and the presentation of a directive plan to build sufficient number of junior high schools and high schools to fulfill the Cambodian population needs by 2010 or 2011, Hun Sen alluded to a politician, whom he declined to name, who allegedly used to cheat in the past. Hun Sen said that he can measure progress by comparing the start of his (political) journey to the current location where he is now standing.
Hun Sen said: “There are some politicians who dare not talk about it. There is no need to compare to the Pol Pot regime, and the comparison must be made with developed countries instead. Oh Sir, now we must know where we came from, and how far we have walked to? But, they do not dare (talk about it?), if you are scared, make it clear that you are scared, you shouldn’t cheat while talking. Some other leaders said that there should not be any comparison to the Pol Pot era, if compared to the Pol pot era, the Pol Pot era was better and Pol Pot was right. But now you want to compare with developed countries. Now, let’s talk about Thailand, they never had wars, they just had a war in its southern region, and the minor coup d’état which took place, besides that they were always developing (their country), they never saw destruction, did they not? But for us, we destroyed all the way to the roots. Vietnam after the war ended also rebuilt its country while in Cambodia, the destruction was made all the way to the roots.”
Nevertheless, Sam Rainsy, who used to say that the Cambodian people are getting poorer and poorer, replied to a question asked by RFA last night, by calling on the current government leaders to recognize their leadership mistakes rather than blaming the Khmer Rouge.
Sam Rainsy said: “Our country is destroyed by the leaders who came after the Khmer Rouge regime, in the lat 10-20 years. Was it the Khmer Rouge who destroyed the forest (during the KR regime)? In fact, it was done by the leaders who came after the Khmer Rouge regime instead. Was it the Khmer Rouge who allowed the immigrants and the Vietnamese to catch all the fishes from the streams, lakes and rivers in our country? It was not the Khmer Rouge, it was those who came to replace them later on. Was it the Khmer Rouge who sold the state belongings, the people belongings to international thieves (Mafia), to the crooked companies which confiscated lands belonging to the people, and making them poor? The Khmer Rouge case dated from 30 years back, what I am talking about is the destruction of the nation in the past 10-20 years only. They shouldn’t blame the Khmer Rouge on everything that they did wrong. They should accept their own mistakes – mistakes which are caused by corruption, dictatorship, lack of capabilities.”
The verbal exchange between the two main Cambodian political leaders took place at a time when the upcoming general election is only about 5-month away. Prior to this, the situation was calm.
