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Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

Dear Editor,

This letter is in response to the situation that is currently playing out in Cambodia politics. I would like to play devil’s advocate since a Post reader, Chansokhy Anhaouy, made his argument for the Khmer government (September 23, see below). The so-called “fear” that Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua has stirred up within Cambodia against its government is the same type of political game that the current government has played in the past. I don’t place blame on one side over the other because in politics (anywhere around the world), whatever resources and network one has, he/she will utilise it the best way he/she can. In the case of MP Mu Sochua, she is simply taking steps she knows will help and work to garner the attention Cambodia needs. To say that she is the only one with a political agenda is like the pot calling the kettle black.

As a not-too-long-ago example, back in the 2008 national election, I recall the fear stir-up that was ubiquitous in Cambodia’s headlines, with one known high-ranking official at the centre of power grandstanding over the situation between Thailand and Cambodia. If that wasn’t propaganda, then I believe we’re all in a state of denial. Not to refer to the Cambodian-Thai conflict as unreal or made-up, but the strong nationalism that was created during that time was apparent. That was also created in fear – the same type of fear mentioned by reader Chansokhy Anhaouy in his letter to the editor. A game can’t be resumed unless both sides are in play. Here, both sides are certainly in play.

The reader previously said that those people who recently met with US congressmen to speak about their situation did have the right to do it and were “free to travel to perform their roles as opposition parties”. Correct.

They also have foreign citizenship and a party to back them up. They wouldn’t have gone to the US if they didn’t have an issue with the current Cambodian government. If their actions indicated democratic ways, then I can conclude that democracy in Cambodia is very selective because the average Khmer person wouldn’t dare speak out against the ruling party or the government. If this reader says it’s false that Cambodians can do what they can, then can he explain why the US has given so many Khmer citizens political asylum? What does that signify to the rest of the world?

One other thing is that many Khmers simply don’t get themselves involved in politics at all because they fear what can be done to them. They would rather be ignorant of laws and even their rights as citizens – not that knowing them would help. The average person would never put him/herself and/or their families in a position where they would be the target of violent threats and persecution.

Mu Sochua has done what any clever person would have done, knowing that her own government wouldn’t take any other positions besides those of the Khmer premier. If one’s government will not listen or even adhere to the complete ideas of democracy that its country claims to have, that person is stuck with nowhere to seek help and has lost faith in those leaders who were sworn to protect the people and their birthrights. What type of democracy is it where a country’s own people are trapped in their nation and have become mute in fear of being threatened by high-ranking officials who, by the way, do not wish for any dissent or criticism? Cambodia shouldn’t be about only words on a piece of paper that claims to be democratic. Let’s execute real actions and stick to a non-selective process of law for all citizens to convey what an actual democratic nation is. That is fair, my friends.

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to your article “Congressmen fear for speakers’ fate”, written by Meas Sokchea and James O’Toole (September 17). Cambodia has an elected government that was voted in by the majority of the people of Cambodia. For both men to listen to a one-sided camp (opposition groups whose interest is to win the next election) and come back with such a suggestion as stated in this article is unacceptable. What are the agendas of these opposition groups?

James Moran and Frank Wolf have obviously abused their own power on this issue. As outsiders, both congressmen should not dictate change by helping to create an assumption that Cambodia is a fear state, such as to say that if you have spoken out against the Cambodian government, you should seek protection. It sounds to me like an infant’s game in politics.

I am a man who lives in Canada, but Cambodia is my birth country. It is still my home. I am aware of the situation there, its cultural, social and political situation. Any changes, whether they be cultural, social or political development, should be given time and addressed with constructive criticism, not with fear.

Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua, Licadho rights group president Kek Galabru and Community Legal Education Centre labour programme head Moeun Tola, who testified in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, are all doing things to serve their personal interests, endeavours and/or goals.

They are not necessarily doing what is best for the majority of the people and the good of the country.

It is obvious that in the business of politics, they have the political knowledge to use the Western media and mobilise international friends to support their causes.

But one should not give them full credit for what they do and should not make them be seen as stars.

Finally, I would like to remind both congressmen that it is because Cambodia is a monarchist liberal democratic country that the people whom they met can speak out and are free to travel to where they wish and perform their roles as opposition parties and groups similar to where we live in the West. This is the democratic way.

To be noted also, Canada is an educated and well-developed country with no history of genocide; and yet, large-scale corruption by banks and governments is a daily occurrence, and the human rights of our First Nations people and other minority groups are being violated daily. How is this a fair game?