Wednesday, October 18, 2017

PM: The coup to overthrow King Sihanouk «disenfranchised» millions of Cambodian people?

Tin Sokhavuth



In response to the concern about the dissolution of the opposition party CNRP, Prime Minister Hun Sen, on Wednesday in his speech during his visit to around 15,211 garment workers from ten different factories along the National Road 4 in Phnom Penh, raised a question whether the country, which involved in the conspiracy to overthrow the late King Sihanouk, also concerned about «people's voice and choice» supporting the late King Sihanouk.

According to the premier, that country did not care about Cambodian people's will, they only considered the late King as dictator, because the late King did not want to support them for the war in Vietnam. The fact is the late King did not do anything wrong.

Directly, Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the US Government if they thought about American people's will when President Richard Nixon was deposed.

Mr. Hun Sen also mentioned about the US Illegal bombing in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. To this bombing, the premier asked the US Government if they has been thinking about human rights when they ordered a massive bombing campaign killing about 500,000 innocent Cambodian people.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Hun Sen raised another question about people's will in Thailand where Thai prime minister was deposed for cooking fried Rice in the street, and people's will in South Korea where President Park Geun-hye was deposed by the Korean court.

The US Department of State, on Monday, issued a statement expressing their concern about the passage of the amendments to Cambodia's election laws by the Cambodian parliament.

To the US Government, "If ratified, these amendments, in conjunction with the lawsuit by the Cambodian Ministry of Interior to dissolve the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), would effectively disenfranchise the millions of people who voted for the CNRP in the 2013 and 2017 elections," read the statement.

The US Government also worried about the legitimacy of the 2018 national elections if a "genuine competition" would not be possible.

According to the US, to have a long-term political stability, a multiparty liberal democracy is needed. As a result, the US urges the Cambodian government officials "to consider the serious implications of their recent actions."

Moreover, the US renews their call to release Mr. Kem Sokha, a well-known opposition leader, from prison.

In the same way, last week, Mrs. Rhona Smith, the UN Special Rapporteur, said that the dissolution of the CNRP would affect the voice and choice of the Cambodian people who chose to vote for the CNRP in 2013 and 2017 - their voice and choice would be lost if the CNRP would be dissolved.

Mrs. Smith also said that what the ruling party CPP is doing regarding the amendments is suspicious to be under the guise of the rule of law.

"Rule of law is about more than the mere application of laws. All laws must respect human rights and must reflect the principles of fairness, justice and public participation. Otherwise, it becomes rule by law, not rule of law," added Mrs. Smith. "Modern Cambodia was established as a multi-party liberal democracy, respectful and protective of human rights. Its Constitution sought to prevent a return to a single-party state. Those who drafted the Constitution were all too well aware of the consequences of one-party rule," added Mrs. Smith.

The amendments to four Cambodian election laws were passed on Monday by 67 lawmakers from the ruling party CPP alone. The amendments provide possibility for the ruling party to confiscate seats at all governmental level from dissolved political party. Those seats would be distributed to other political parties challenging the elections.

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