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Opposition leader Sam Rainsy condemns Thai soldiers’ cruelty

Mao Kleung, an 18-year-old Cambodian teenage who was shot in the hip by Thai soldiers (Photo: Kampuchea Thmei)

The opposition and the civil society issued strong reaction condemning the inhumane action perpetrated by Thai black-clad soldiers who arrested a Cambodian citizen and burnt him alive. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy told reporters on 15 September 2009, at the National Assembly, that, as a Cambodian citizen, he strongly condemns the barbaric and inhumane act perpetrated by these foreign troops on a Cambodian citizen. At the same time, Sam Rainsy also called for a condemnation of all those who are responsible in this case.

The Cambodia Daily threatened with disinformation lawsuit for reporting the minister’s wife as being the minister’s wife: Hun Xen's Circus Maximus

Suy Sem is the husband of Chea Kheng, the owner of KDC international which is involved in land dispute with villagers in Kampong Chhnang (Photo: CPP)

Wednesday 16 September 2009
KI-Media

The Cambodia Daily reported in today’s edition that a lawyer for Chea Kheng, the wife of the CPP minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem, issued a warning saying that mentioning Chea Kheng marital relationship with Suy Sem is grounds for “criminal charge for spreading disinformation.”

The warning was issued by lawyer Phat Pouv Seang to a reporter for The Cambodia Daily. Chea Kheng is the owner of KDC International, a company involved in land dispute with villagers in Kampong Chhnang province. In fact, during the phone call warning, Phat Pouv Seang did confirm that Chea Kheng is indeed Suy Sem’s wife, but the lawyer indicated that such information cannot be published in newspaper reports about land dispute issue. The lawyer also suggested that The Cambodia Daily issues a correction to its article.

According to Naly Pilorge of the Licadho’s human rights group, KDC is involved in land disputes with 108 villagers in Ta Ches commune, Kampong Tralach district, Kampong Chhnang province. Some of the villagers have agreed to sell their lands to KDC, but others did not. Nevertheless, KDC still claims the ownership of the entire area. This situation resulted in the land dispute.

The Cambodia Daily quoted Khieu Kanharith, the CPP minister of Information, as saying: “We can sue for disinformation when we know it is not true.”

Phat Pouv Sean is also defending Ieng Thirith, the wife of Ieng Sary, the former KR minister of Foreign Affairs. We were wondering whether revealing the fact that Ieng Thirith is Ieng Sary’s wife will earn us a disinformation lawsuit also?

2nd GMS Economic Corridors Forum opens in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The second GMS (Greater Mekong sub-Region) Economic Corridor Forum opened here on Wednesday, aiming to strengthen the coordination and cooperation among the six countries along the Mekong River and speed up the development of the sub-region economic corridors.

The two-day Forum include a Governor's Forum and an Economic Corridors Forum. More than one hundred senior government officials attended the meeting.

The theme of the Forum is "GMS Economic Corridors: Pathways to an Integrated, Harmonious and Prosperous Sub-region." It will focus on strengthening the platform for coordination and networking among sectors and groups involved in GMS economic corridor development and drawing attention to issues and concerns affecting economic corridor development, and to discuss strategies and measures to accelerate such development.

At the same time, all side will talk about expanding the support of provincial and local authorities to GMS economic corridor development and promote cooperation in addressing cross-border issues and increasing the participation of the private sector and promote public-private partnership in GMS economic corridor development.

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) comprises China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Initiated by the ADB, the GMS was founded in 1992 to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in the countries along the Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river. The region is home to 280 million people, most of whom rely on agriculture and fishing.

The region boasts three road corridors: the north-south road between Kunming, Bangkok and Hanoi; the route from Da Nang in Vietnam and Mawlamyine in Myanmar through Cambodia and Laos; and the route connecting Bangkok and the cities in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The first GMS Economic Corridors Forum was held in Kunming in June last year after it was proposed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the third GMS Summit in Laos.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy called on the National Assembly to restitute the parliamentary immunity to MPs Mu Sochua and Ho Vann

15 September 2009
Khmer Sthabna
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Two opposition MPs, Mrs. Mu Sochua and Mr. Ho Vann, who lost their parliamentary immunity (on 22 May 2009) and who was sentenced in defamation and disinformation lawsuits, seem to have difficulties looking for arrangement with high-ranking CPP officials to obtain their agreement to restitute their parliamentary immunity back. The National Assembly is currently controlled by CPP MPs.

On 10 September, Kampot SRP MP Mu Sochua unabashedly criticized the Cambodian government and the Cambodian parliament in front of US Congressmen, and she asked the US Congress to intervene with the Cambodian parliament to restitute her immunity back, as well as that of MP Ho Vann.

However, on 14 September, during the Prek Kdam bridge inauguration, Hun Sen said that those who tell lies about Cambodia, they will go to the lowest level of hell. Furthermore, those who live outside Cambodia, they can actually watch on the Cambodian TV showing the various achievements and they will not be fooled by these lies [KI-Media note: All the TV stations in Cambodia are controlled by the CPP].

Hun Xen said that these people should stop lying because they can go to hell, as this is the Pchum Ben season, and [after going to hell], they will never be able to return back.

Ou Virak, President of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), told reporters at the National Assembly building (15 September 2009) that, regarding defamation lawsuits, the court should not ask for a lifting of parliamentary immunity from MPs, and this action does not have a clear basis besides serving as an act of intimidation.

Ou Virak added that Mrs. Mu Sochua and Mr. Ho Vann must automatically receive their immunity back without having to wait for the restitution of their immunity by the National Assembly, even if their immunities have been lifted already by a request made by the court because tens of thousands of people voted for them, but unfortunately [with these defamation and disinformation lawsuits], these MPs lost their ability to fulfill their mandate as representatives of the people.

Sam Rainsy told reporters in front of the National Assembly (on 15 September 2009) that a large number of democrats demand for the restitution of the parliamentary immunity for these two SRP MPs, because MPs have the right to talk about any issue without having to face pressure or the lifting of their immunities. Sam Rainsy indicated: “Therefore, we demand for a restitution of the parliamentary immunity for the MPs who lost them.”

Sam Rainsy indicated that the CPP with 90 seats at the National Assembly can stir storms and thunders as much as they want.

Hun Sen used to say that the lifting of SRP MP Mu Sochua is as easy a peeling a banana, but its restitution is difficult because the opposition does not have the necessary votes to restitute it back. However, Hun Xen told the SRP to replace [Mrs. Mu Sochua] with someone else, then maybe this could receive support from the National Assembly.

Cambodia's Ruling Party Told Kem Sokha Incapable of Splitting Opposition Vote

It surely is very funny to hear Nguon Nhel, first vice chairman of the National Assembly from the Cambodian People's Party [CPP], say that the CPP is not worried about Kem Sokha's party. Nguon Nhel further shamelessly stated, "In reality, the CPP may even get some benefit out of Kem Sokha's party, for apparently it is capable of splitting the vote of the opposition party."

However, Nguon Nhel gave Kem Sokha a warning knock on the head in his final remark: "But Kem Sokha is no genius." This means that the CPP's dark scheme to split the support of the opposition party is being laid bare through Nguon Nhel's boneless wagging tongue.

However, groups of analysts saw that Kem Sokha's current move toward politics not only cannot help split the vote of the opposition party but it more clearly exposes the CPP's ugly features. And this is not different from the efforts to split elder Son Sann's Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party that was taken over by Ieng Moly and to split the FUNCINPEC [National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia] Party in 1998 in the wake of the 5 and 6 July coup.

Nevertheless, as far as the opposition party led by Sam Rainsy is concerned, it has completely grasped the significance of all these perfidious tricks, for Sam Rainsy said, "We do not care about the birth of Kem Sokha's party as it cannot realistically compete with the opposition party."

Therefore, in remarking to the reporters about Kem Sokha's party's possibility to split the vote of the opposition party, Nguon Nhel, a senior CPP official, was seen as trying to wash his dirty linen in public because the CPP led by Chea Sim, Hun Sen, and Heng Samrin had been publicly criticized for colluding with the National Election Committee in stealing the ballots and persecuting the Sam Rainsy Party [SRP] and other political parties to help the CPP win the elections.

At the same time, the CPP also was very concerned when it saw the growing number of votes received by the opposition party. Consequently, it appeared that the formation of Kem Sokha's party last Sunday had the fingerprints of the ruling party all over it because there was an alarming presence of security forces from the Hun Sen government at the initiation ceremony.

At the same time, Nguon Nhel happened to mention the fact that the CPP might benefit from this newborn party of Kem Sokha, saying that it could help to split the vote of the opposition party. This made Cambodians all over the country understand even more clearly the CPP's poisonous scheme to use Kem Sokha as a cat's paw. The problem for the CPP is that it is using a despised person whom the Cambodian voters threw out of the political arena in 1998. This person has no value whatsoever in the hearts of the Cambodian citizens.

This problem has been explained like this: the use of Kem Sokha as bait to win over the supporters of the SRP is merely to prevent the opposition party from being the greatest force that would compete against the CPP in 2008. However, the dream of the CPP and Kem Sokha in hoping that they would be able to split the vote of the opposition party is heading toward a shameful setback because when the people realize that Kem Sokha is an instrument serving the ambition of the current rulers they would not give their ballots to him who is an opportunistic, bogus politician.

Therefore, the CPP's wish to use Kem Sokha's party to mock the people in an attempt to overthrow the SRP will be impossible. This is because the Cambodian people now know very well what true democracy is and what anarchic democracy is. They do not want to have anything to do with a jinxed, untouchable politician who would harm anything he handles like Kem Sokha.

Just as Sam Rainsy has already said, "The SRP is comparable to a tree that is 12 years old. This 12-year-old tree has grown to become a big tree already seasonally bearing fruits. For instance, it has 24 People's Representatives and 2,660 commune and precinct council members. This is our fruits or our true grass-roots forces throughout the country. In other words, because this tree has many fruits and a big shade, many people have flocked to take shelter under it."

Sam Rainsy underscored, "The SRP tree is 12 years old. If anyone wants to grow a tree this year and the election is already going to take place next year, then let us ask this: Will a 1-year-old tree bear any fruits? Will it has any shade for the people to take shelter under?"

Because of this reasoning, Sam Rainsy said he did not care about Kem Sokha's party that was formed last Sunday, for the SRP has already seen that Kem Sokha's party has no possibility to compete against it.

Most circles have assessed that if the CPP really wants to borrow Kem Sokha's hands to split the vote of the opposition party as Nguon Nhel claimed, the CPP will not gain anything from this venture. It will only suffer losses and will even get bankrupt because of Kem Sokha, since this person is known as a destructive politician whose hands of fire will consume anything they touch. Consequently, he can never be of any help to the CPP.

It is said that the CPP under the leadership of Chea Sim, Hun Sen, and Heng Samrin is very nervous to see the support for the SRP growing steadily, especially through the 1 April 2007 commune/precinct council elections. For this reason, it sends Kem Sokha, a short-sighted individual, into the political arena in a bid to split the vote of the SRP. But the CPP should never dream it will succeed!

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