SRP’s lawmakers are requesting the King to pardon Sam Rainsy—the pardon that needs an “unofficial approval” from Premier Hun Sen, the more powerful man believed by many people as the Cambodian Kingmaker.
Will Cambodian King Sihamoni have the willpower to pardon Sam Rainsy?
One of the biggest decisions the King has made previously was to put his signature on the supplementary agreement on the 1985 treaty to settle the long-standing border issues between Cambodia and Vietnam---the treaty that was opposed by Sam Rainsy, many overseas Cambodians as well as Cambodians living along Cambodia-Vietnam's borders. Despite the outcries the King made the decision to sign the treaty.
Now that Sam Rainsy has no other “legal means” to challenge the Cambodian court-- which he claims it is the Kangaroo court--SRP lawmakers are looking to HM the King for help. The expectation for SRP’s leaders and for many opinionated observers is the hope for some kinds of political compromising so that Cambodia will continue to look credible in the eyes of the international community.
In Cambodian politics, any political negotiation is at the mercy of Premier Hun Sen. Many opposition leaders say that the decision is normally made in Hanoi. However, every time the opposition leaders inter into such a process, they tend to lose their credibility in the eyes of their followers and voters. The last time Sam Rainsy negotiated with the CPP, the CPP ended up with the “50% plus one” formula—the recipe that secure Hun Sen’s job as long as he wants.
Reuters Pictures 40 months ago
Cambodia prime minister Hun Sen (L) talks with opposition party leader Sam Rainsy at Phnom Penh international airport during the departure of the former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, his wife Queen Monineath and their son King Norodom Sihamoni from Phnom Penh to Beijing November28, 2007.
This time it appears that Sam Rainsy will need to come up with additional and wanted bargain chips. SRP’s leaders can ask the King to pardon Sam Rainsy, but without giving in to the Kingmaker, the King will not act.
Perhaps it’s time for the oppositions to stop kidding themselves and stop teasing the public about their individual daydream of winning enough seats to take power from the CPP. Using the current electoral processes the CPP will always have the upper hand. It has ways and means to get enough votes to govern Cambodia forever.
If the opposition is serious about having additional voices or to maintain some influences in the assembly, the only way to do is to reach out to the clouds and bring down the political unity.
============================
Cambodian opposition seeks royal pardon for leader
(AFP)
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian opposition lawmakers have asked the king to pardon their exiled leader after he lost a final appeal against a two-year jail sentence, according to a letter seen by AFP on Monday.
Sam Rainsy, who has been living in France, was handed the prison term in his absence last year for inciting racial discrimination and uprooting border markings with neighbouring Vietnam in 2009.
His lawyer said the case was politically motivated, but after exhausting his appeals against the verdict, the outspoken politician was stripped of his parliamentary seat last week.
In a letter dated March 18, Sam Rainsy Party MPs urged King Norodom Sihamoni "to pardon Sam Rainsy... so that he can continue his role as a representative of the Cambodian people and fulfil his duties to serve the nation."
"The absence of Sam Rainsy in the leadership of the second biggest political party in the kingdom of Cambodia will affect the development of a democratic and multi-party system," they wrote.
Sam Rainsy faces a total of 12 years in prison if he returns to Cambodia, after a court late last year also sentenced him to 10 years for publishing a false map of the border with Vietnam in a separate case.
The opposition party and rights groups have in the past said the convictions were an attempt to keep Sam Rainsy from taking part in Cambodia's national election in 2013.
Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann told AFP the lawmakers were forced to seek "intervention from the king" because their leader had been "unfairly treated" by the judiciary and the parliament.
Sam Rainsy is seen as the main rival to Prime Minister Hun Sen, 59, who has ruled the country since 1985 and has vowed to remain in power until he is 90 years old.
In Cambodia, royal pardons are usually granted following a request from the premier, but Hun Sen said in a speech earlier this year that he would not support a pardon for Sam Rainsy.
No comments:
Post a Comment