Hun Xen the Only Leader of Cambodia? ហ៊ុនសែនជាមេដឹកនាំតែម្នាក់គត់សម្រាប់កម្ពុជា?
Jan 7, 2010
Hun Sen (Xinhua)January 7, 2010
By Sokhoeun Pang
Originally posted at: http://sokheounpang.wordpress.com/
Hun Sen is the only PM candidate for the Cambodian People´s Party (CPP). Xinhua:
In Seam Riem 26 -01-2005, Pin Sisovan and Lor Chandara of Cambodia Daily has it about Hun Sen who seemed that Cambodia must have him and he must be for thePprime Minister for life who said during a school inauguration speech in Siem Reap and broadcasted on Apsara radio.
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., in his article: Giving Up Freedom to Settle for Peace, clearly pointed out that:
Other concern is that Hun Xen is not a leader for all Cambodians, but he is the leader who forgets his root, is corrupt, and has no vision for the future of the nation at all. Best to say he is a leader of his family, his CPP and his master – Hanoi. Tom Fowthrop from Guardian News wrote in his article: The Leader who goes on and on that:
Notice: To vote him out of the power must be not easy because he controls everything(see here). Moreover, he has also illegal viets to help vote for him including many other tactics like vote buying, threat, and even killing.
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) reassured Thursday that Prime Minister Hun Sen is the only candidate for the prime minister from its party for the next elections.It doesn´t need Chea Xim to reassured this to us this time at all, because Hun Xen himself has many times said that he is the only person who can lead Cambodia and he will lead Cambodia until he dies or he is 90 years old.
Giving speech at the party’s commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the downfall of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime, Chea Sim, president of the CPP and president of the Senate said that “Hun Sen will be the only candidate from his party for prime ministerial position” in next general election.”
In Seam Riem 26 -01-2005, Pin Sisovan and Lor Chandara of Cambodia Daily has it about Hun Sen who seemed that Cambodia must have him and he must be for thePprime Minister for life who said during a school inauguration speech in Siem Reap and broadcasted on Apsara radio.
“If the prime minister is safe, the people are also safe. If the prime minister dies or resigns, a new prime minister cannot ready be picked, and the whole [government] Cabinet will be dissolved,” he said.Asia Time Craig Guthrie on his article: Towards Hun Sen´s Cambodia , also raised Hun Sen´s intention to rule Cambodia until he is 90. Hun Said this in 2007.
“If I died today… [deputy prime ministers and ministers] will automatically be terminated from their posts,” he added. “There will be chaos…. It is not a funny issue.”
Hun Sen said someone had suggested it was “time for Hun Sen to resign.”
“In the past he has said he has no intention of standing down as prime minister until he is at least 90 years old. This would be a remarkable run: he became the Vietnamese-backed premier of Cambodia in 1985, when he was 33.”Ron Glukman in his article: Cambodia Building Boom, also reafirmed the will of Hun Sen to grip on power as long as he can that:
“Asia’s longest serving leader, and victor of several coups, Hun Sen has regularly sided with development. In June 2007, the folksy PM, vowing to keep power until he’s 90, claimed credit for a property boom that sent prices of bare land to $1 million. “Without me, without my rule, it would be worth only $500,” he told reporters.
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., in his article: Giving Up Freedom to Settle for Peace, clearly pointed out that:
“Ironically, no Cambodian is in a better position than Sen himself to redress the imbalance of values and principles, and stability and order. But he is the man who said he would stay in power until he’s 90, and would not leave power even if he would not win the elections.”Politically, Hun Xen who is a power-crazy man will never leave the power to others due to his crimes and his personal greed for power. Khiev Kanharith once said that it was not the first time that Hun Sen kep saying about the PM cadidate for Cambodia.
Though Hun Sen’s latest come just days before the CPP’s annual party congress on Friday and Saturday,the CPP has no plans to talk about Hun Sen’s leadership at the meeting, said government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.Practically and politically, we would never care whether Hun Xen is to lead Cambodia until he is 90 or he dies if he is a good and competent leader. But the problem is that Hun Xen is a criminal leader who is even a puppet of other country- Vietnam. In The New York Time, Seth Mydan wrote:
“We don’t think about that yet,” he said.
During the congress, the CPP plans to appoint more members to the party’s permanent committee, Khieu Kanharith said, but declined to elaborate. He added there was nothing unusual in Hun Sen to speculating about the future of the premiership.
“I think more than 50 times now he has brought up the issue", Khieu Kanharith said.
“Still only 45 years old, Mr. Hun Sen has been his nation’s leader in one capacity or another for more than a decade, but until now he has never held complete power on his own.”But do we belive that Hun Xen today is the alone capitain of Cambodia? I think many of us will say “NO“. Because Hun Xen is always a puppet of Hanoi.
“From 1985 to 1993 he was Cambodia’s leader in an administration installed and controlled by Vietnam. From 1993 until last Sunday,July 1997, he shared the premiership with a man he clearly despises as effete and incompetent. People who know him say he has yearned for the stature he believes he deserves.”
Today, at a news conference that followed the Cabinet meeting, he was able to say, ”I am the captain alone.”
Other concern is that Hun Xen is not a leader for all Cambodians, but he is the leader who forgets his root, is corrupt, and has no vision for the future of the nation at all. Best to say he is a leader of his family, his CPP and his master – Hanoi. Tom Fowthrop from Guardian News wrote in his article: The Leader who goes on and on that:
“It is strange that Hun Sen, who shares his humble beginnings with Brazil’s Lula and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, has no agenda for the poor, no instinct to curb the grotesque excesses of the ruling elite, and has made no attempt to protect the small farmers that he is descended from. For all his intelligence and political skills, Hun Sen’s success was based on survival, not a vision of the future. Bolstered by the recent discovery of offshore oil, the CPP has no development model other than the prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank, which are easily grafted onto the corruption and get rich-quick mentality of his business cronies, military generals and his police chiefs.”Through this, I hope that all Cambodians who dearly love our country and the people of Cambodia will come together and united in order to by all means topple him or vote him out of power if we are to protect our nation from danger towards real peace, independence, development, democracy, and justice. WE MUST NOT LET HIM LEAD OUR COUNTRY ANY LONGER!
Notice: To vote him out of the power must be not easy because he controls everything(see here). Moreover, he has also illegal viets to help vote for him including many other tactics like vote buying, threat, and even killing.
The 31st anniversary of Cambodian division?
Anniversary Marks Division Among Cambodians
By Heng Reaksmey and Kong Sothanarith
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 January 2010
January 7 has become a contentious date in Cambodia. On the one hand, it marks the beginning of the end of the Khmer Rouge, who were ousted on the date in 1979 by Vietnamese forces and Cambodian defectors of the regime.
The ruling party marks the day as the beginning of victory over the regime and of peace that was formalized in accords in 1991. Opposition members and others say the day should be remembered as the beginning of a decade-long Vietnamese occupation, and not of liberation.
Cambodian People’s Party officials gathered at their headquarters Thursday morning to mark what they term “Victory Over Genocide Day.”
Chea Sim, who is the president of the CPP and of the Senate, told those assembled that the 31st anniversary marked a day that “saved our nation and people from the genocide disaster” of the Khmer Rouge.
Since the defeat of the Khmer Rogue, “our nation has ceased a time in history that is full of internal conflicts, wars, tragedy and the state of being underrated,” he said. “We have got out of this darkness, which actually gave us valuable lessons and experiences.”
The ruling party supports the Khmer Rouge tribunal, he said, “in trying crimes committed by senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea regime.” However, he said the party opposed “attempts for using [the court] for ill intention with impact on peace, national reconciliation and development, which have been our hard-won achievements.”
Thach Setha, a top official of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said Jan. 7 simply “marks the invasion of Vietnamese troops.”
Historically, he said, the Khmer Rogue would not have succeeded without the Vietnamese communists, which initially supported the dissidents that would form the regime.
“If the Vietnamese communist party did not create the Cambodian communist party, there would not have been mass killing in Cambodia,” he said. “They played a double role. That means they killed and they saved after.”
The day that brought real development to Cambodia, he said, was Oct. 23, 1991, the date of the Paris Peace Accords.
Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said Jan. 7, 1979, the liberation of Cambodia, was “a fact,” and the peace accords that came much later also brought development. “Leave it to the Cambodian people to judge the events,” she said.
The ruling party marks the day as the beginning of victory over the regime and of peace that was formalized in accords in 1991. Opposition members and others say the day should be remembered as the beginning of a decade-long Vietnamese occupation, and not of liberation.
Cambodian People’s Party officials gathered at their headquarters Thursday morning to mark what they term “Victory Over Genocide Day.”
Chea Sim, who is the president of the CPP and of the Senate, told those assembled that the 31st anniversary marked a day that “saved our nation and people from the genocide disaster” of the Khmer Rouge.
Since the defeat of the Khmer Rogue, “our nation has ceased a time in history that is full of internal conflicts, wars, tragedy and the state of being underrated,” he said. “We have got out of this darkness, which actually gave us valuable lessons and experiences.”
The ruling party supports the Khmer Rouge tribunal, he said, “in trying crimes committed by senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea regime.” However, he said the party opposed “attempts for using [the court] for ill intention with impact on peace, national reconciliation and development, which have been our hard-won achievements.”
Thach Setha, a top official of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said Jan. 7 simply “marks the invasion of Vietnamese troops.”
Historically, he said, the Khmer Rogue would not have succeeded without the Vietnamese communists, which initially supported the dissidents that would form the regime.
“If the Vietnamese communist party did not create the Cambodian communist party, there would not have been mass killing in Cambodia,” he said. “They played a double role. That means they killed and they saved after.”
The day that brought real development to Cambodia, he said, was Oct. 23, 1991, the date of the Paris Peace Accords.
Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said Jan. 7, 1979, the liberation of Cambodia, was “a fact,” and the peace accords that came much later also brought development. “Leave it to the Cambodian people to judge the events,” she said.
The delusions of the January 7 debate
A propoganda poster from the Khmer Rouge era calling for solidarity between the citizens of Cambodia and Vietnam.Thursday, 07 January 2010
Sophan Seng
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post
Dear Editor,
Your article “PM blasts January 7 detractors” (January 5) didn’t demonstrate anything new for Cambodian politics. Leaders have always pronounced strong political rhetoric to create a clear dichotomy of pro- and anti-groups when this day has arrived. In reality, the government has consolidated full power to exercise over everything, including whether to celebrate this day or not celebrate. The current political environment in Cambodia has not given any clue of the possible threat to the stability of government at all. But why every year, when January 7 arrives, is there a flowering of incidents and controversial public speech in Cambodia?
The answers might be diverse. But I am impressed by the Khmer proverb which states: Veay tiek bong-erl trey, or, “to stir the water to see the fish clearly”. It has been 31 years since Vietnamese troops encroached on Cambodia’s borderlands, accompanied by Khmer Rouge defectors, to topple the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. The argument since has been endless. Vietnamese troops are presented in Cambodia as either liberators, or invaders, or both. In the past decades, the two debaters carried guns and ammunitions to fight against each other, at least between the Khmer nationalists based along the border and the Khmer troops based in Phnom Penh, and backed by a hundred thousand Vietnamese troops. But after the Paris Peace Accords of 1991 and the subsequent power consolidation of the Cambodian People’s Party, the debate remains only on lips and tongues.
Hence both guns fighting and lips quarreling have significantly divided Khmer society. It has shown division over unity, disadvantage rather than advantage, and myopia rather than long-sightedness. The more we hate the past atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, the more shameful we are as the same Khmer. The more we praise foreign intervention, the more we lose national identity to those foreigners. Thus, what inputs should we welcome and what outcome should we expect? Can Cambodian people come to a joint beneficial solution to this disgraceful quarrel?
Of course, from these 31 years, Cambodian people both old and young have focused on their living standards, schooling and future cultivation. The past has become a good lesson for them. The Khmer Rouge regime will never come back again for sure. The trial of the Khmer Rouge is going on to respectively bring national reconciliation and the healing of trauma. All Cambodian parties and individuals have to join this trial and be courageous to show up at the courtroom as the primary witnesses if you really need the genuine outcome of justice. Cambodian people have to look forward to determine the broader interests of the nation. They should not entrap themselves in a “quid pro quo” of this delusional date, January 7. Take Germany as an example: They have never taken as a big deal or celebrated the day the Allied Forces, led by the United States, liberated them from Hitler’s brutal Nazi regime. That tragic past and the liberation of the Allies has been buried deeply in Germany.
Sophan Seng
University of Hawaii at Manoa
United States
Your article “PM blasts January 7 detractors” (January 5) didn’t demonstrate anything new for Cambodian politics. Leaders have always pronounced strong political rhetoric to create a clear dichotomy of pro- and anti-groups when this day has arrived. In reality, the government has consolidated full power to exercise over everything, including whether to celebrate this day or not celebrate. The current political environment in Cambodia has not given any clue of the possible threat to the stability of government at all. But why every year, when January 7 arrives, is there a flowering of incidents and controversial public speech in Cambodia?
The answers might be diverse. But I am impressed by the Khmer proverb which states: Veay tiek bong-erl trey, or, “to stir the water to see the fish clearly”. It has been 31 years since Vietnamese troops encroached on Cambodia’s borderlands, accompanied by Khmer Rouge defectors, to topple the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. The argument since has been endless. Vietnamese troops are presented in Cambodia as either liberators, or invaders, or both. In the past decades, the two debaters carried guns and ammunitions to fight against each other, at least between the Khmer nationalists based along the border and the Khmer troops based in Phnom Penh, and backed by a hundred thousand Vietnamese troops. But after the Paris Peace Accords of 1991 and the subsequent power consolidation of the Cambodian People’s Party, the debate remains only on lips and tongues.
Hence both guns fighting and lips quarreling have significantly divided Khmer society. It has shown division over unity, disadvantage rather than advantage, and myopia rather than long-sightedness. The more we hate the past atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, the more shameful we are as the same Khmer. The more we praise foreign intervention, the more we lose national identity to those foreigners. Thus, what inputs should we welcome and what outcome should we expect? Can Cambodian people come to a joint beneficial solution to this disgraceful quarrel?
Of course, from these 31 years, Cambodian people both old and young have focused on their living standards, schooling and future cultivation. The past has become a good lesson for them. The Khmer Rouge regime will never come back again for sure. The trial of the Khmer Rouge is going on to respectively bring national reconciliation and the healing of trauma. All Cambodian parties and individuals have to join this trial and be courageous to show up at the courtroom as the primary witnesses if you really need the genuine outcome of justice. Cambodian people have to look forward to determine the broader interests of the nation. They should not entrap themselves in a “quid pro quo” of this delusional date, January 7. Take Germany as an example: They have never taken as a big deal or celebrated the day the Allied Forces, led by the United States, liberated them from Hitler’s brutal Nazi regime. That tragic past and the liberation of the Allies has been buried deeply in Germany.
Sophan Seng
University of Hawaii at Manoa
United States
No Excuse from Sam Rainsy
January 7, 2010
NO EXCUSE FROM SAM RAINSY
On January 6, 2010, opposition leader Sam Rainsy wrote the following letter to the Editor of The Phnom Penh Post.
Sir,
In your January 6 article “PM dismisses possible pardon for Sam Rainsy over VN border charges,” Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted as saying, “There are no more chances [for Sam Rainsy] to write a letter of apology to me.”
I would like to specify that I have never written any letter of apology to Mr. Hun Sen. As a matter of fact, I did write to express “regrets” for an unpleasant situation in the past but, in political and diplomatic language, regrets and apologies are not the same thing.
You may regret that somebody is a tyrant but you would never make any apologies to him.
This time, I will not even express any regret at all because, on October 25 in Svay Rieng province, I only defended the interest of my country and my people and therefore only did my duty as a Member of Parliament.
I will return to Cambodia and accept to be jailed -- as Mr. Hun Sen apparently dictates to the court -- when the government releases all farmers being detained for protesting land grabbing, and gives back their property.
Yours sincerely,
Sam Rainsy
Member of Parliament
Sir,
In your January 6 article “PM dismisses possible pardon for Sam Rainsy over VN border charges,” Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted as saying, “There are no more chances [for Sam Rainsy] to write a letter of apology to me.”
I would like to specify that I have never written any letter of apology to Mr. Hun Sen. As a matter of fact, I did write to express “regrets” for an unpleasant situation in the past but, in political and diplomatic language, regrets and apologies are not the same thing.
You may regret that somebody is a tyrant but you would never make any apologies to him.
This time, I will not even express any regret at all because, on October 25 in Svay Rieng province, I only defended the interest of my country and my people and therefore only did my duty as a Member of Parliament.
I will return to Cambodia and accept to be jailed -- as Mr. Hun Sen apparently dictates to the court -- when the government releases all farmers being detained for protesting land grabbing, and gives back their property.
Yours sincerely,
Sam Rainsy
Member of Parliament
US Congressional Delegation Discusses Trade
Left to right: Joseph Cao, Eni Faleomavaega and Mike Honda (Photo: DAP)By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 January 2010
Prime Minister Hun Sen and three US congressmen discussed an extension of trade relations between the two countries on Thursday, while raising the possibility of debt reduction.
The congressmen—Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa; Mike Honda, a Democratic from California; and Joseph Cao, a Republican from Louisiana—met with Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh
“We did touch on the issue of debt obligations, also on questions of trade and tariffs in trying to bring Cambodia’s trade and economic needs [and] better status especially in trade with the United States,” Faleomavaega told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport Thursday afternoon.
The US delegation is scheduled to travel to Laos, having already visited Vietnam. The tour will conclude in Japan.
Cambodia owes the US more than $300 million from the Lon Nol period, a debt Cambodian officials maintain should be erased. Faleomavaega said he told Hun Sen he would take the matter to discuss with other US lawmakers.
Debt forgiveness could help Cambodia, he said. Faleomavaega said he wanted to play a role in bettering the relationship between Cambodia and the US.
Eang Sophaleth, an adviser to Hun Sen, told reporters the premier had thanked the men for continued economic support from the US and was happy to promote a relationship between the two countries.
The congressmen—Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa; Mike Honda, a Democratic from California; and Joseph Cao, a Republican from Louisiana—met with Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh
“We did touch on the issue of debt obligations, also on questions of trade and tariffs in trying to bring Cambodia’s trade and economic needs [and] better status especially in trade with the United States,” Faleomavaega told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport Thursday afternoon.
The US delegation is scheduled to travel to Laos, having already visited Vietnam. The tour will conclude in Japan.
Cambodia owes the US more than $300 million from the Lon Nol period, a debt Cambodian officials maintain should be erased. Faleomavaega said he told Hun Sen he would take the matter to discuss with other US lawmakers.
Debt forgiveness could help Cambodia, he said. Faleomavaega said he wanted to play a role in bettering the relationship between Cambodia and the US.
Eang Sophaleth, an adviser to Hun Sen, told reporters the premier had thanked the men for continued economic support from the US and was happy to promote a relationship between the two countries.
CPP: Hun Xen to remain the party's candidate for the title of "Dictator of Cambodia"
General-Dictator Hun XenHun Sen only PM candidate of Cambodia's ruling party: CPP
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) reassured Thursday that Prime Minister Hun Sen is the only candidate for the prime minister from its party for the next elections.
Giving speech at the party's commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the downfall of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime, Chea Sim, president of the CPP and president of the Senate said that Hun Sen will be the "only candidate from his party for prime ministerial position" in next general election.
Hun Sen, 57, has been in power for already 25 years and is considered the longest government leader in office in Asia.
After several decades of civil war, Cambodia held its first general election in 1993 under the full supports from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).
Since then, Cambodia hold its election every five years and HunSen was re-elected prime minister ever since.
Giving speech at the party's commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the downfall of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime, Chea Sim, president of the CPP and president of the Senate said that Hun Sen will be the "only candidate from his party for prime ministerial position" in next general election.
Hun Sen, 57, has been in power for already 25 years and is considered the longest government leader in office in Asia.
After several decades of civil war, Cambodia held its first general election in 1993 under the full supports from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).
Since then, Cambodia hold its election every five years and HunSen was re-elected prime minister ever since.
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