Sam Rainsy still plans to hold a demonstration

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced on Tuesday afternoon that he still plans on holding an anti-inflation demonstration in the near future. Speaking to reporters following his return from visiting the US and Canada, Sam Rainsy said that the SRP still plans to hold a peaceful demonstration for the second time in the near future. Sam Rainsy said: “We will not sit in one single spot anymore. We will not trust the Phnom Penh authority anymore. This new demonstration will include a march along various streets in Phnom Penh.” Sam Rainsy added: “This demonstration will be held for two major goals: (1) to protest about the price inflation problem, and (2) to demand that the government increases the salaries for factory workers, civil servants, in line with the current price increase of goods. According to Sam Rainsy, the demonstration he plans to lead for the second time, will be held in May, but the date is not fixed yet. On 06 April 2008, Sam Rainsy held an anti-inflation demonstration once already. At that time, there were about 300 persons who joined this demonstration which was held in once single spot in front of the new National Assembly building only.

SRP plans to organize a new anti-inflation demonstration

17 April 2008
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

The SRP plans to hold an important meeting on Thursday to plan a new non-violent demonstration in Phnom Penh city, with the aim of demanding, one more time, that the current Cambodian government intervenes to lower the soaring price of goods on the market and to drag down the galloping inflation in Cambodia currently.

Eng Chhai Eang, SRP Secretary-general, told RFA: “Tomorrow, we will hold a meeting of the party permanent committee, because when we organize (the demonstration), we must inform the authority. We will not hold it the same way as we did before where the authority was creating obstacles for us. We still set up an actual plan. In the next few days, we will make the decision.”

He indicated that the meeting will decide on the non-violent demonstration march, and the schedule date for holding this upcoming demonstration, which could take place either in April or at the beginning of May.

Kem Sokha, HRP president, who used to make the same demands from the government, said: “These demands are the rights of the Cambodian people. The government must provide security so that the people can express their opinion freely. The HRP had thought about the gasoline price increase, and the increase of the price of other goods. We demand to hold a (public) forum, but the government did not give us the authorization to hold it.”

Touch Naroth, Phnom Penh police commissioner, warned about the SRP’s plan to hold a demonstration in the near future by saying: “I did not receive this information yet, but if it is illegal, then we will take measure to stop it.”

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy led a demonstration once already on 06 April, in front of the National Assembly. This location was authorized by the Phnom Penh city hall and the Ministry of Interior. Only about 300 persons joined this demonstration, whereas the SRP planned to have about 5,000 participants.

Sam Rainsy and party officials accused the city of Phnom Penh of closing all roads leading to the city, in order to prevent SRP supporters from the provinces from participating in the demonstration.

Regarding the plan to hold a new demonstration by the SRP, Prime minister Hun Sen issued a warning on 13 April, claiming that he will used armed force to quell this demonstration if this demonstration will turn into a People power protest to topple his government before or after the July 2008 general election. However, SRP officials reacted by saying that there is no need to fear the People Power if the current government is truly a democratic one.

Opposition Threatens Second Strike

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy during the SRP anti-inflation demonstration (Photo: SRP)
A very young gasoline street seller replenishing her stock. The current price of gasoline in Cambodia stands now at almost 5,000 riel ($1.25) per liter. (Photo: AP)

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
14 April 2008

The opposition will hold another public demonstration in coming weeks if the government fails to check the rising cost of goods, party president Sam Rainsy said Monday.

The party held a demonstration of about 300 people April 6, but Sam Rainsy said he would lead a larger one in late April or early May through the main streets of the capital.

Cambodians have been feeling the sting of inflation in recent months, with the cost of goods, including rice, as much as doubling.

The government has sought to curb the rising prices by enacting a partial ban on the export of rice, injecting government subsidized rice into the market and lifting a ban on pig and pork from Vietnam.

Sam Rainsy said Monday he would hold a demonstration with or without permission from municipal authorities and accused the police of barring supporters from the April 6 rally.

Police have denied those allegations.

“I will inform Phnom Penh Municipality about the demonstration,” Sam Rainsy said. “Even if the Phnom Penh municipality does not permit it, [the party] will still hold that demonstration.”

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Man Chhoeurn said decisions over demonstrations were not officially his to make, but he warned that the Sam Rainsy Party should first seek permission before demonstrating.

“If he does not do in the right way, we have difficulty understanding this,” Man Chhoeurn said. “It is better that [he] should ask for permission.”

Hun Sen's gov't did not do enough yet, price of goods still high

Commodities Prices Still High, Despite Anti-inflation Protest

8th April 2008
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

Up until today there is no response from the government to opposition leader’s demand, who, a few days ago, led an anti-inflation protest to ask the government to take measures to lower the prices of goods, which have skyrocketed in the last few days.

The opposition leader, who is a former finance minister, Mr. Sam Rainsy, has blasted the government for not taking any measures to curb the price rises due to fear that any measures (to curb the rises) might affect their own interests. As a result they allowed the commodities prices to rise higher than the prices in other countries.

Mr Sam Rainsy said: “That’s why they did not want to lower the taxes, as demanded by us. We demanded that they stop imposing taxes, but they did not stop and instead they taxed more because it benefited them personally. And they provide exclusive rights of monopoly only to their cronies. They never take any actions on important issues or they just take actions lightly.”

Last Sunday, Mr. Sam Rainsy had led a peaceful protest with the participation of about 300 people to demonstrate against the high commodities prices, in particular the petrol price.

In the protest, he had set out three points for the government to tackle the commodities prices, such as cutting petrol excise and reducing the profit margins by the petrol distributing companies. Secondly, end the monopoly of any rogue traders who have continually increased the prices of goods at their own will regardless. Thirdly, properly manage the economy by stabilising the currency. Fourthly, control the printing of money and fifthly, reform land systems- that is to distribute lands to the citizens who have no land to farm.

All of Mr Sam Rainsy’s demands have been rejected by the government spokesman, who accused Mr. Sam Rainsy of raising the issues as an election campaign to win votes in the upcoming election.

Mr Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, claimed that the government had subsidised the fuel, had not raised any taxes, had banned the exports of rice and had resolved many land disputes, as have been seen recently.

Mr Kanharith said: “The government continues to lose taxes and for a long, long time the government dares not increase any taxes. We impose taxes in term of the weight of goods, not on the quantity of the imports. He knew what was happening around the world. The prices of rice have risen around the world so the farmers are very happy about that. So what the government needs to do is to increase the salary of the workers, imports meat, bans rice exports for 2-3 months in order to bring down the prices of rice.”

It must be noted that the World Bank’s report of late 2007 stressed that the prices of foods in Cambodia had increased by 20% and the prices of petrol had increased by 12%.

As of today, the prices of rice are stable and dropped slightly after the government took emergency actions (to curb the price rises), but the price of petrol had increased to 5,000 riels per litre (~US$1.25/litre) and there is no sign of it coming down any time soon.

If Hun Sen is mocking the SRP demo why was he so afraid to authorize it? And why did he pay so much interest to what was said during the demo?

Hun Sen (L) and Sam Rainsy (R)

Hun Sen: Sam Rainsy is less popular than a simple comedian

9 April 2008
By Pen Bona
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

During a visit to Kandal province on Tuesday 08 April, Prime minister Hun Sen mocked opposition leader Sam Rainsy for the low participation in the demonstration held last Sunday in front of the National Assembly. “He said that he would organize a huge demonstration, but at the end, he could only gather 300 people. This is pathetic,” Hun Sen declared while adding that the opposition leader is in fact much less popular than some comedians. “A simple comedian on the scene could command easily 5,000 spectators,” he said.

For Hun Sen, there are several reasons which explained this low participation. First of all, the Phnom Penh city dwellers “are fed up with the traffic jams caused by these demonstrations.” Next, following the demands made by Sam Rainsy regarding the price inflation of goods, he said that the price inflation “follows the world context and my government has put enough efforts in it.” Finally, to Hun Sen, this anti-inflation demonstration is a strategic error by Sam Rainsy, because the market sellers, the majority of whom are SRP supporters, were the objects of the criticisms raised during the demonstration.” If Sam Rainsy accused the authorities of preventing his party members from joining the demonstration, Hun Sen totally denied it. “The demonstration cannot lower the price of goods, but, on the contrary, we must produce more to take action on prices,” Hun Sen replied.

Nevertheless, Sam Rainsy plans to organize a 2nd demonstration of 01 May, during the celebration of the International Labor day.

Anti-inflation Protest: A Moral Victory for Sam Rainsy And Democracy

“Price rises can be contained if the right and effective measures are applied. Salary increases can be achieved if Hun Sen has the political will to get tough with corruption. Money to fund the pay rises can be found through the elimination of corruption.”

Monday, April 7, 2008
Editorial by Khmerization

However small in size and not able to march in a grand scale, the anti-inflation protest on Sunday was a moral victory, not just for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), but for the democratic process as a whole. To a degree, it was seen as a victory of democracy over dictatorship.

Sam Rainsy has not only killed two birds with one stone, he has killed three birds with only one stone. The protest had produced three vital outcomes. First, by being able to obtain a permission to protest is a victory in itself. It is a victory over Hun Sen’s draconian rules which had long banned public demonstration. By persistently pushing for a permission to hold that protest, Sam Rainsy had opened a gate and set a precedent for more protests of this sorts, while at the same time succeeded in sending Hun Sen’s anti-demonstration draconian rule to its eventual death. Secondly, the protest, if anything at all, has succeeded in drawing national and international attention to the plight of the poor, the high costs of living and the lower wages of the Cambodian workers- public servants in particular. Thirdly, as it is election time, the protest itself and Rainsy’s demand for a pay rise to hundreds of thousands of public servants can be seen as a huge electoral drawcard and a shrewd political manoeuvrings which can possibly translate into an election victory in the July election, if the election is free and fair. With these three factors looming in Hun Sen’s head, he cannot ignore the reality. First, Hun Sen cannot ban public demonstrations anymore because he has given permission to Sam Rainsy to hold one. Secondly, to make an electoral impact, Hun Sen cannot ignore low wages and the skyrocketing of commodities prices. He has to raise public servants’ salary in commensuration with the high costs of living. He must also take actions to bring down the prices of other commodities as he had done with the prices of rice.

On another note, I wish to opine on the decry of the Human Right Party (HRP) over Sam Rainsy’s success in obtaining the permission to hold this protest. While I do sympathise with the fact that their request for the permission to hold a protest against the skyrocketing of fuel prices was not granted, I do not sympathise with their decry over the permission granted to the SRP. If the HRP was fair dinkum, to use an Australian phrase, in their concerns for the welfare of the people, they would have called on their supporters to join in with the SRP supporters in order to maximise an ability to mobilise and motivate the affected general population to participate in large numbers. This sort of decry can only come out of jealousy, and with the two parties having the same goal- and that is to defeat Hun Sen at the election- this sort of decry against one another is not helpful to their cause. It can only play into Mr. Hun Sen’s hands. Therefore, I call on these two parties to support each other in future actions.

On a last note, I wish the authority, and in particular Mr. Hun Sen, to open up to the reality by solving these crises sooner rather than later. Price rises can be contained if the right and effective measures are applied. Salary increases can be achieved if Hun Sen has the political will to get tough with corruption. Money to fund the pay rises can be found through the elimination of corruption. And this, I mean, the incomes from illegal logging, Angkor Wat concessions and the proceeds from the sales and concessions of public lands and properties etc., must be deposited into the state treasury accounts, instead of allowing them to flow into the pockets of corrupt officials.

Sam Rainsy: "In order to lower the price of rice and other foodstuffs, land must be distributed to farmers to increase food production"

Opposition: High Prices Preventable

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
08 April 2008

Click here to listen to the program aired April 7 in Khmer

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Monday one factor in the high price of rice was local middlemen who buy unhusked rice for cheap, process it, and sell it back at a higher rate.

The high mark-up on processed rice was too much to ask most consumers and farmers, he said, and it was only one domestic reason prices have been hurting Cambodians.

"We are all victims," Sam Rainsy said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."

"The rogue businessmen make a huge profit at the expense of farmers and consumers," he said.

The government has faced increasing pressure to curb inflation and last month put a ban on the export of rice and injected subsidized rice into the marketplace.

Sam Rainsy meanwhile held a demonstration of a few hundred people Sunday to protest the rising cost of living.

Sam Rainsy said that middlemen pay only 900 riel for a kilogram of rice, then process it and sell it back on the market for almost 4,000 riel.

He said a reasonable price of rice should be about 1,500 riel.

In the last few months, prices of rice and other foods have gone up across Asia and around the world.

Many governments, including Cambodia, have taken steps to stabilize the price and to ensure enough supply in their countries.

They have temporarily suspended rice exports and have issued government-owned rice to alleviate the problem.

In another measure the Cambodian government last week boosted the wages of garment factory workers by $6.

However, Sam Rainsy said he was not impressed.

That amount was not enough to counter inflation, he said.

"The price of consumer goods has doubled. Therefore, salaries have to double too," he said. "What can you do with six extra dollars? I have met some farmers who told me that their children used to send them money from the cities to help them out. But now, they say they have to send rice to their children in the cities because their children no longer make enough money to support themselves."

Sam Rainsy admitted that food prices increase everywhere in the world. However, he said, in other countries they don't go up as drastically as Cambodia. Also, in other countries, incomes are higher than Cambodia, so people's lives are not affected as badly as in Cambodia.

The key to lower food prices is land distribution, he said.

"In order to lower the price of rice and other foodstuffs, land must be distributed to farmers to increase food production," he said. "When food production is increased, prices will go down. Therefore, we have to give the land back to the people so that they can grow crops."

Two major political parties are disappointed by the government

Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Kampuchea Thmei newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The SRP and the HRP expressed their disappointments on the government about demonstrations demanding the lowering of the price of goods and commensurate salary raise.

SRP MPs Eng Chhai Eang and Chea Poch accused the government of preventing people from participating in the demonstration held on Sunday 06 April.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said during the demonstration that because of the closing the roads into the city by the authority and the large presence of the joint police force, demonstrators were intimated and this is the reason why only a small group of people came to join the demonstration organized by his party. On the other hand, Pa Socheatvong, the deputy city governor, denied that there was any prevention made by the city of Phnom Penh.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Mu Sochua, SRP Deputy Secretary-general, indicated that, even the party could not attract 5,000 participants for the demonstration because of restrictions imposed by the authority, the SRP had distributed 30,000 leaflets in the city of Phnom Penh already.

On another issue, Kem Sokha’s HRP also issued a statement accusing the government of discriminating against his party regarding the holding of demonstration, based on Article 4 of the political party law.

The HRP statement indicated that the Phnom Penh authority and the government authorized the SRP to hold its demonstration, but, to the contrary, the government discriminates against the HRP which asked to hold a public forum in Phnom Penh on many occasions, to find a solution to lower the price of gasoline, however, the city of Phnom Penh rebuffed the HRP’s request twice already. The HRP asked whether there is any secret between the SRP and the government for the government to authorize the SRP to hold this demonstration.

Regarding the complaint made by the HRP, an official from the city hall indicated that the city hall never prevented the HRP from holding its public forum, but that it asks that this forum is done at a gathering venue, or at the HRP party headquarters so that it can guarantee security and order.

Chea Mony: Low participation in the SRP anti-inflation demonstration due to lack of cooperation

Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union of Workers in Cambodia (FTUWKC), indicated that the anti-inflation demonstration organized by the SRP had a low participation because the SRP did not coordinate with the unions in order to attract more demonstrators. Chea Mony told The Mekong Times about the two causes of low participation in the SRP demonstration: (1) his union did not call on garment workers to participate in the demonstration, and (2) the SRP organized the demonstration without discussing the coordination from the union, otherwise, his union would have distributed leaflets or informed workers about this demonstration. Chea Mony regrets that the SRP did not coordinate with the union, he said that there was no garment workers participating in the demonstration.

HRP unhappy that only SRP was able to hold demonstration

Sam Rainsy waving Cambodia and party flags during the SRP-led anti-inflation demonstration (Photo: Chauk Chey, Koh Santepheap)

Rights Party Decries Opposition Rally

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 April 2008

The Human Rights Party rebuked authorities for allowing an opposition inflation demonstration Sunday, claiming the government had been unfair in denying permission to hold a gathering on fuel prices in February.

The Sam Rainsy Party, the only opposition party with seats in parliament, gathered several hundred demonstrators in Phnom Penh Sunday to protest high inflation rates.

The Human Rights Party said it had been denied a similar demonstration in February. The statement was a further separation of the two parties ahead of elections.

The Human Rights Party was formed by former rights advocate and politician Kem Sokha, following commune elections last year.

"HRP cannot accept the discrimination, bias and inequality of rights and freedoms made by the government for political parties," Keo Remy, vice president of the Human Rights Party, said Monday. "Because this opposes the principals of the law and democracy."

The party members "condemn the government for violating the law," he said. "The Human Rights Party asked the authorities for a public forum to find a way to reduce the price of fuel, but the government and authorities denied this. But why, if Sam Rainsy asks for a demonstration, does the government allow the Sam Rainsy Party to do it? We question what's behind the permission."

Cambodian law provides for the freedom of assembly, but the government is often criticized for preventing marches and demonstrations.

The city "had no secrecy behind the Sam Rainsy permission to hold a demonstration," Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong said Monday.

"The Sam Rainsy Party proposal for public expression was clear, but the HRP proposal for a public forum we didn't understand clearly their purpose," he said.

Ny Chakriya, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the government had violated the law by not allowing the HRP gathering in February.

Sam Rainsy said Monday his demonstration Sunday had been allowed thanks to pressure from US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli.

Armed forces prevented some from joining the rally, he added.

"The Sam Rainsy Party will hold the next demonstration without asking permission from the authorities, by walking into the public street," he said.

US Embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle said Monday the ambassador had called on "all interested parties" to work together for the right of "peaceful assembly," but had not "pressured" the government.