Hun Sen talks about life as a prime minister09 May 2007
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The Cambodian prime minister complained that life as a prime minister is very difficult to show up in public, or wherever there is a crowd.
He said: “Others go to the Soriya market, the Lucky market, unlucky me only, I never get to go anywhere like others, if I were to go, wouldn’t there be a riot at the market? Therefore, all I can do is watch commercials [on TV]. Some people and a number of our government officials, they can go to the market, go out to eat noodles, drink coffee, as for me, when I want noodle, the time I get it, it’s already stale, what to do? [For me] to go to a hotel, it has to be a reception for guest.”
These are the words pronounced by the prime minister following a three-week absence where his officials claimed that he came down with a flu.
During the distribution of graduation diplomas at the Institute of Human Resource Development, in Phnom Penh, yesterday, the prime minister declared that he does not think that in the future, when he will be old, he could continue his position as prime minister forever.
Hun Sen said: “How long can one live? Let’s say this, for me, I think that I can live another 30 years, this is not bad, but it could happen. However, this does not mean that I can hold on to power for all the 30 years, the reason we are doing what we are doing now is that we only want to ensure for our children and grandchildren, the next generations, we must leave them good fruits, a good legacy so that they do not have to suffer like our generation did.”
Hun Sen, the Cambodian leader, held his position as prime minister since the 80s, since under the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) which was later renamed as the regime of the State of Kampuchea. Later on, he continued his prime minister position after the 1993 general election, and he held on to this position successively up until now. He declared that in his life as prime minister, he has a lot of experiences, in particular, he is imbued with 10 types of experiences which he dubbed: the 10 types of unbalanced visions. He said that all Cambodian prime ministers must know his 10 experiences in order to rule the country.
Yesterday, Hun Sen also indicated that among his 10 experiences, he admitted to one mistake which is related to the unbalance in the civil servants’ salaries.
Hun Sen said: “The needs, the living condition of our civil servants, of our soldiers, along with their salaries, there is no balance yet, not at all. We are currently making efforts to be frugal in our expenses, and increasing our revenues, in order to increase the salaries of our civil servants, soldiers, and also our teachers as well.”
He said: “Others go to the Soriya market, the Lucky market, unlucky me only, I never get to go anywhere like others, if I were to go, wouldn’t there be a riot at the market? Therefore, all I can do is watch commercials [on TV]. Some people and a number of our government officials, they can go to the market, go out to eat noodles, drink coffee, as for me, when I want noodle, the time I get it, it’s already stale, what to do? [For me] to go to a hotel, it has to be a reception for guest.”
These are the words pronounced by the prime minister following a three-week absence where his officials claimed that he came down with a flu.
During the distribution of graduation diplomas at the Institute of Human Resource Development, in Phnom Penh, yesterday, the prime minister declared that he does not think that in the future, when he will be old, he could continue his position as prime minister forever.
Hun Sen said: “How long can one live? Let’s say this, for me, I think that I can live another 30 years, this is not bad, but it could happen. However, this does not mean that I can hold on to power for all the 30 years, the reason we are doing what we are doing now is that we only want to ensure for our children and grandchildren, the next generations, we must leave them good fruits, a good legacy so that they do not have to suffer like our generation did.”
Hun Sen, the Cambodian leader, held his position as prime minister since the 80s, since under the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) which was later renamed as the regime of the State of Kampuchea. Later on, he continued his prime minister position after the 1993 general election, and he held on to this position successively up until now. He declared that in his life as prime minister, he has a lot of experiences, in particular, he is imbued with 10 types of experiences which he dubbed: the 10 types of unbalanced visions. He said that all Cambodian prime ministers must know his 10 experiences in order to rule the country.
Yesterday, Hun Sen also indicated that among his 10 experiences, he admitted to one mistake which is related to the unbalance in the civil servants’ salaries.
Hun Sen said: “The needs, the living condition of our civil servants, of our soldiers, along with their salaries, there is no balance yet, not at all. We are currently making efforts to be frugal in our expenses, and increasing our revenues, in order to increase the salaries of our civil servants, soldiers, and also our teachers as well.”
