The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 514
“The President of the opposition party calls Prime Minister Hun Sen’s speech a folding screen that exaggerates some facts in order to hide corruption in Cambodia.
“Mr. Hun Sen said during a ceremony of awarding certificates to the students of a seminar of the European Federation on Tuesday that those, who interfere with his wife giving humanitarian gifts to soldiers, police, and military police, may be pursued to their houses and trouble might be made against them.
“On 19 June 2007, Ms. Bun Rany, Mr. Hun Sen’s wife, visited the armed forces in Banteay Meanchey, especially the center for education for drug addicts which is controlled by the provincial military police. During that occasion, Ms. Bun Rany handed over one ambulance car to the military police, like she had done for the military police from each other province and town.
“Mr. Kimsour Phirith, a Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian from Banteay Meanchey, wondered why Ms. Bun Rany had not given this gift to the medical sector. The parliamentarian affirmed that it is not appropriate that the wife of the head of the Royal Government gave this gift to a group that does not have medical knowledge.
The head of the Royal Government said that if the Sam Rainsy Party officials cursed the police and the soldiers like that, who would vote for them? Mr. Hun Sen provoked the armed forces, saying that they might pursue those to their houses who said that his wife bribed the police, military police, and soldiers.
“Mr. Sam Rainsy, the president of the opposition party, said that Mr. Hun Sen’s speech is just like a folding screen to hide the corruption of senior officials and businesspeople behind it. Mr. Sam Rainsy said, ‘The folding screen is an attempted threat, but nobody pays attention to it, because those who are corrupt and steal tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars from the nation we call corrupt, they ruin the nation by deforestation of hundreds of thousands of hectares, by grabbing hundreds of thousands of hectares of people’s land, by stealing tens of millions of dollars and of hundreds of millions of dollars of income from the state. That is what we call corruption. As for the police and soldiers with too small salaries to survive, who are forced to find something to have enough to survive day by day, we do not consider them to be corrupt.’
Officials of non-government organizations said that the Prime Minister’s speech, where he said that soldiers and police would pursue the houses of those who said his wife bribed the armed forces, is just a threat against the Sam Rainsy Party, not to push the government to adopt the anti-corruption law.
“Mr. Hun Sen had also – though it is before the election campaign time – called people to vote for the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP]. Mr. Hun Sen affirmed that police and soldiers will not vote for the opposition party, because the opposition party accused them of corruption. The head of the government called people to vote overwhelmingly for the CPP.
“Mr. Kimsour Phirith said that Mr. Hun Sen, as prime minister, should have not started the election campaign before the designated season like that.
“Though in the Commune and Subdistrict Council Elections in April 2007, where Yuon [Vietnamese] nationals helped to vote for the CPP, so it won the majority, Prime Minister Hun Sen is not confident about the 2008 election. Therefore, he openly started the election campaign. The effort to start the election campaign now seems to indicate that Mr. Hun Sen is sure that the popularity of the CPP seriously declined, after Global Witness released a report of more than 100 pages on 1 June 2007 with the title ‘Cambodia’s Family Trees,’ denouncing a group of thieves for stealing from the nation, where his name is put as the chief.
“The Global Witness report affects the popularity of the CPP, making the head of the government fear, and then he publicly started to conduct the election campaign before the season.
“It should be stated that the Global Witness report also describes in detail the involvement of Mr. Hun Sen’s bodyguards who protect the Seng Keang Company of Ms. Seng Keang. Due to the scope of the corruption of logging at the Prey Lang area which is quite big, it makes the popularity of the CPP leadership decline and will lead to embarrassing failure in the election in 2008.” Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #438, 28.6.2007
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1377, 28.6.2007
- JMAS [Japan Mine Action Service] Provides Nearly $300,000 to CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center] to Clear Mines in Cambodian-Thai Border Areas
- Drunken Military Captain Fires His Gun Twice; He Is Arrested by Municipal Police [Russey Keo, Phnom Penh]
- Man Uses Gun Illegally; He Is Arrested on Suspicion of Attempting to Rob Gold Stalls in Takhmao Market [Kandal]
- Thai Police Raid Sex Phone Site [operating services for people who enjoy sex on the phone] in Bangkok
- Tamil Tiger Rebels Call for Ceasefire
- Koh Santepheap, Vol.40, #6077, 28.6.2007
- Head of Cambodian Royal Government Sends Condolences to Heads of Russia, [South] Korea, and the Czech Republic [on plane crash victims]
- Official of Chamkar Mon Department of Social Affairs Cajoled and Killed [by unknown person – Kandal Stung, Kandal]
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3196, 28.6.2007
- Mr. Sam Rainsy: No One Can Magically Produce Money; If Somebody [Hun Sen] Constructs School Buildings and Puts His Name on, from Where Does He Get the Money?
- Pol Pot Was Not the Great Khmer Rouge Leader, but He Was a Person Who Feared the Loss of Power Very Much
Rasmei Angkor, Vol.14, #1196, 28.6.2007
- Man Arrested for Taking His Wife to Be Raped by His Friend [Chaom Chau, Phnom Penh]
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4322, 28.6.2007
- Crashed Plane Found: All 22 Passengers and Crew Died [Kampot]
- Kampuchea Krom Khmer Community in Cambodia Submits Request for Second Time for [peace] Pilgrimage
- Delegation of Asian Development Bank Comes to Cambodia to Strengthen Cooperation
Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #3073, 28.6.2007
- Prime Minister Says Weather Is the Reason of the Plane Crash, Before Assessment of Airplane’s Flight Data Recorders Has Been Made
Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #438, 28.6.2007
- Sam Rainsy Says Hun Sen’s Speech Is a Folding Screen
Recent Comments