Norwegian Diplomat: Cambodia Faces A Challenging Task

ScandAsia-Norway

Cambodia is facing a natural resource boom, prompting donors and non-government organisations (NGOs) to warn that without measures to improve financial transparency, promote better governance and curb corruption, the potential windfall could be squandered.

"It is not necessarily a blessing for a country to be endowed with petroleum resources", Arne Walther, a Norwegian diplomat said. Norway is cited by many as a success story in terms of how to handle the issues raised by an influx of petro dollars.

"It is how governments arrange for their resources to be extracted and how revenues earned are used that determine the success or failure of being a petroleum endowed state", Walther said. "I believe Cambodia faces a challenging task in planning and developing its petroleum sector and developing policy and instruments for channelling the future oil and gas revenues in a best possible way for the benefit of Cambodians. It is actually a momentous task."

"We realise the opportunities that petroleum revenues may afford us to improve the livelihoods of the Cambodian people," Deputy Prime Minister Sok An told the gathering. "The translation of the capital value of oil reserves into the stored capital value of our people through improved health and social conditions and education is very important for the long term prosperity of Cambodia."

Corruption! Two Million Dollars Per Month Squandered By Mr. Hun Sen

“Prime Minister Hun Sen has elevated at least 70 ruling party politicians to new titles and ranks within the government in the last few months at a cost to the national budget estimated at $2 million a month.” - Phnom Penh Post

Editorial by Khmerization
Originally posted at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

About a week ago, I editorialised that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered the national budget by unnecessarily appointing all opposition defectors who joined the CPP to many high paid government positions. Now it is evident that Mr. Hun Sen has just corruptly squandered public money to the tune of two million dollars per month by promoting 70 of his CPP stooges unnecessarily. Mr. Hun Sen seemed to wrongly think that, as a prime minister of a country, he has the right and can appoint anyone at his own will. Mr. Prime Minister, you are wrong!

In a parliamentary democracy, under a constitution that was written and approved by the constituent assembly of which you were a member, the prime minister is accountable and is answerable to the constitution, to the parliament and to the people. And in a fully democratic country your actions are unconstitutional and are impeachable by parliament.

In 1974? President Richard Nixon was impeached and forced out of office due to a moronic action of one of his party workers who broke into the opposition candidate’s office and stole some documents. In 1975, an Australian prime minister, Mr. Gough Whitlam, was sacked by the Governor-General due to a very ambiguous reason. As of this week an Australian minister is facing the sack after he appointed his friend to a high paid government job. These are just a few examples that have been actioned in a fully democratic country that Mr. Hun Sen should be aware of.

Coming back to the $2 million a month spent on the wages of the 70 newly appointed CPP stooges, it is pure corruption. The $2 million squandered in such a fashion is just a tip of the iceberg. If the opposition is correct, when they claimed that there are thousands of unneeded government advisors, it meant that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered $30 million a month, or $360 million a year. Coupled with $500 million (World Bank figures) a year lost through corruption, it meant that Cambodia has lost $860 million a year because of official corruption. Considering that the Cambodian economy is a small economy, this amount represented a titanic amount.

So, how Mr. Hun Sen can be stopped? Well, MP Son Chhay has done a small step by strongly reminded Mr. Hun Sen, through his media appeal and letter to the Prime Minister himself, that there will be legal consequences if the prime minister does not right his wrongs.

Another measure would be that the parliament move a motion to censure the prime minister over his actions, request for an audited lists of appointments and audited salaries being spent on those appointments. If his appointments were found to be corruptly unjustified he should be impeached and force out of office. This measure is a wishful thinking and would most definitely fail because all of the CPP parliamentarians, due to their vested interests, will not agree to move such a motion to impeach their prime minister. But such a measure, success or without success, must be tried. If Mr. Hun Sen is allowed to do whatever he wants, without regard for the laws and without anyone putting a stop to it, Cambodia would still be poor as long as Mr. Hun Sen is still the prime minister. Poor Cambodia!