the ruling party, but among opposition leaders, a former Cambodian
professor in the US says.
South Africa had Nelson Mandela, Burma has Aung San Suu Kyi, but
Cambodia has "Class Z" leaders like Prime Minister Hun Sen, said
Naranhkiri Tith, a former professor at Johns Hopkins University.
"Where on Earth can a country like that survive?" he said.
The country also lacks strong leadership amongst its opposition, said
Naranhkiri Tith, who fled the country in the 1960s and settled in the
US.
Sam Rainsy, the main opposition leader, is in exile and faces more
than 10 years of imprisonment over charges related to the destruction
of markers near the Vietnamese border in Svay Rieng province.
Naranhkiri Tith said Sam Rainsy had incited people against the
Vietnamese "the cheap way" and would not be able to compete with the
ruling party and Hun Sen without more struggle.
"These leaders, I am not saying they are worse than Hun Sen, but they
are not that good," he said. "Cambodians need the quality of Aung San
Suu Kyi and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who have great moral strength."
Sam Rainsy declined to comment, but he has said in the past he has
been forced to lead the opposition from abroad. He has said he was
protecting Cambodian land from Vietnamese encroachment.
Kem Sokha, head of the minority opposition Human Rights Party, who is
touring Australia to find support for his party, said he distrusted
the main opposition and so had created his own party.
"If we have only politicians and leaders who incite people and run
away, we see it is impossible to solve problems," he said. "Today, the
ruling party knows how to frighten people, and Sam Rainsy alarms
people, but the Human Rights Party makes people understand and feel
warm, in order to take victory in changing the dictatorial leaders."
Government spokesman Phay Siphan told VOA Khmer the administration was
gradually resolving the country's most important problems with human
rights and democracy, but its main focus is on peace.
"This is the very highest value for the Cambodian nation," he said.
The government "is establishing Cambodia as independent and neutral
and not receiving sanctions from China or the West or neighboring
countries."
Meanwhile, Ou Virak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights,
said Cambodian politics have not developed but that could change in
the next generation.
Political infighting now is about individuals, he said, not social or
political policies for national problems.
Hun Sen, who has held power for three decades, has not had a real
political rival. The Sam Rainsy Party has slowly grown its influence
and now holds 26 of 123 National Assembly seats. The Human Rights
Party has three seats. The ruling Cambodian People's Party has 90
seats.
Naranhkiri Tith said the leadership of Suu Kyi and Mandela could serve
as a good example for Cambodians.
While acknowledging Vietnamese influence as a threat to the country's
national security, he said violence should be avoided. "To cry wolf"
or to appear racist against the Vietnamese is to lose international
support, he said.
"So we should concentrate on trying to fight for our freedom inside
the country, to protect human rights, to protect liberty, to protect
freedom, to protect our land and our people, without referring to the
Vietnamese," he said. "That's what all the leaders should do."
Friday, 16 March 2012
Poor Leadership Threatens Cambodia's Survival: Professor
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/Poor-Leadership-Threatens-Cambodias-Survival-Professor-142506065.html
