7 am. Yesterday’s rumour (Phnom Penh
thrives on them) was that all the major arterial roads into Phnom Penh would be
blocked this morning to prevent upwards of 600 truckloads of people from the
provinces from getting to the demonstrations. It seems that the rumour was just
that and that the roads remain unblocked.
How many demonstrators will turn up? My
guess is that Sam Rainsy’s opposition Cambodian National Rescue party needs
upwards of 30,000 to convince Prime Minister Hun Sen that these protests are
not going to end until there has been an independent investigation into the
disputed results of the July 28 elections.
After close to 30 years in power Hun Sen (an
old fashioned 20th century dictator) cannot risk allowing an
independent investigation to occur, so the standoff will continue until the
Cambodian people get sick of protesting or until Hun Sen gives his police,
personal body-guard (all 10,000 of them!) and army the go-ahead to resort to
serious violence. This is his style.
Bloody violence may have the desired effect
of bringing the demonstrations to an end or it may have the reverse effect of
convincing those who are not yet convinced, that it is time for Hun Sen to
retire and allow true democracy to flourish in Cambodia and not the sham
version of it that has, since the 1993, received the tacit support of the
international community – including Australia.
If Sam Rainsy and the opposition Cambodian
National Rescue Party do manage to make Hun Sen’s presence as Prime Minister
untenable, no doubt Australia and the rest of the international community will desert
him in droves (as they have other dictators) and make the usual clichéd comments
about the need for democracy to flourish etc. The fact that Australia and the
international community has, in effect, been propping up Hun Sen’s dictatorship
through foreign aid all these years will be conveniently forgotten.
The huge cuts to Australian foreign aid
would be wrong if indeed the money was being spent to alleviate poverty and its
associated ills in Cambodia and other 3rd world countries. If this aid
money makes it possible for regimes such as Hun Sen’s to outsource all social
services to the international donor community we become complicit in the human
rights abuses that occur. Poor Cambodians are now so dependent on international
aid that the withdrawal of it would cause enormous harm to the most vulnerable
members of Cambodian society. The government knows this and can, as a result,
hold a gun to the international aid community’s head: “You cut off the aid and
it is poor Cambodians who will suffer.”
AN UPDATE
It is not yet midday in Phnom Penh and
Freedom Park is half filled with Cambodians from all over the country. There
are no road blocks, no heavily armed and plexi-glass shielded police in view,
there is no razor wire and the mood is a festive one.
The exercise carried out in Freedom Park by
the authorities two days ago was a photo opportunity intended to intimidate. The ploy has not worked. Intimidation not
longer works on a population that is as well informed as Cambodians are now as
a result of social media and a very well organized opposition party.
Hun Sen keeps drawing lines in the sand and
Sam Rainsy’ keeps stepping over them with a smile on his face. The more the Cambodian
people ignore the directives handed down by the authorities, with no adverse
consequences, the more they feel emboldened and the less they fear the
government. A dictatorship whose people have ceased to fear the dictator is in
deep trouble!
The latest line drawn in the sand by the
authorities is that whilst the size of the demonstration can exceed 10,000, the
number of those who march this afternoon to the
United Nations office in Phnom Penh and Embassies, must not exceed 1000.
“…In order to maintain security, social safety and public order…”says the
municipal governor of Phnom Penh.
How, even if he wanted to tried, could
Rainsy stop any and everyone at the demonstration from joining the chosen 1000
in the march this afternoon to the UN offices? It is not going to happen. It
must be clear to the ruling party that it is not going to happen. So how will the
authorities respond? The police spokesman says, “We will use police to maintain
public order, but if police lose control we will send military police to crack
down on the demonstrators until we win.”
Is he serious or is this just another
attempt at intimidation? We shall se in a few hours.
The Australian embassy and most other
embassies in Phnom Penh have agreed to accept petitions calling on them to
intervene in the current political deadlock in accordance with the 1991 Paris
Peace Agreement of 1991 (today is the 22nd anniversary) that they
all signed.
The petitions have been signed with the
thumb prints of 2 million Cambodians.
The international community is adept at
turning a blind eye to Hun Sen’s ruling party’s ongoing human rights abuses but
will it be able to ignore 2 million Cambodians who are asking for nothing more
than that there be an independent investigation into the recent election results?
ANOTHER UPDATE
Early afternoon in Phnom Penh. With the
commencement of the demonstration still officially a couple of hours off,
Freedom Park is now two thirds full.
The Cambodian National Rescue party has
issued a Statement about the NON VIOLENT MASS DEMONSTRATION that will occur
later in the day:
“The Non-Violent Demonstration at Freedom
Park from 23 – 25 Octm, 2013 is conducted for:
1/ Demand for the justice for voters
related to irregularities during
the elections for the 5th
Mandate of the National Assembly.
2/ Demand for the guarantee of justice for
voters in the future.
3/ Demand for the establishment of credible
mechanisms for future electoral reforms based on the recommendations of the
United Nations, the European Union, the National Democratic Institute and
COMFREL.
4/ Demand for the Royal Government to
strictly implement the 23rd Oct
1991 Paris Peace Accords with the protection of human rights, respect
for the principles of multi-party democracy as stipulated in the Constitution
of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party
reiterates its position of non-violence and peaceful mass demonstration from
23-25 October, 2013.
The Cambodian National Rescue Party appeals
to all compatriots participating in the mass demonstration to strictly maintain
high morals in order to ensure peace and non-violence. The CNRP also calls on
the authorities in charge to hold full responsibility for the people and the
demonstrators in finding peaceful and
non-violent solutions to unforeseen incidents in order to avoid violence during
the demonstration.
The Cambodian National Rescue party appeals
to the authorities to investigate with full competence and to take efficient
measures against individual(s) with the intention of creating incidents during
the mass demonstration.
EVENING
At least 20,000 people attended day one of
the demonstrations. The atmosphere was festive. Most also joined Sam Rainsy in
his march to the UN to deliver a copy of the petitions with 2 million thumb
prints. There were lots of uniformed police stationed along the way, armed with
batons and plexi-glass shields, but they kept their distance and did nothing to
provoke trouble. Their presence (totally unnecessary with peaceful marchers)
was designed to intimidate but the days when such intimidation will work are
over.
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