By Pen Bona
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Sam Rainsy lost his parliamentary immunity on Monday 16 November for inciting Svay Rieng villagers to uproot demarcation stakes along the Vietnamese border. His message was clear: Hanoi stole Cambodian lands.
“It’s not because we have border disputes with Thailand along the west that we should forget our eastern border with Vietnam.” That was the message that the opposition leader sent to his compatriots at a time when all the news media are focused on the border dispute in the Preah Vihear area. To Sam Rainsy, Cambodia “lost a portion of its territory to the benefit of Vietnam,” however, according to him, the government did not react with the same tenacity it did against the Thai government.
On 25 October, during a Kathen procession he led to Wat Ang Romdenh Pagoda, located in Svay Rieng province, Sam Rainsy travelled to a village neighboring with Vietnam. With the help of a small group of villagers, he uprooted demarcation stakes. To Sam Rainsy, these stakes are located “inside Cambodian territory” and they encroach on rice fields belonging to local villagers.
However, for the government and the provincial authorities, Sam Rainsy’s initiative seriously compromised the work performed by [Var Kim Hong’s] committee in charge of border dispute resolution with Hanoi and the latter did not take long to react. Nguyen Tan Dung, the Viet PM, asked that measures be taken against Sam Rainsy so that such initiative will never take place in the future, and that the relationship between the two countries would not suffer from it.
Meanwhile, the Svay Rieng authorities sued the opposition leader at the provincial court, accusing him of “destroying public properties.” On Monday 16 November, Sam Rainsy who is currently in France, saw his parliamentary immunity lifted in order to allow the court to consider his lawsuit case.
Unconditional reaction
On the same day, about 100 opposition activists gathered in front of the National Assembly to protest the decision by the parliament which is dominated by the CPP MPs. “Sam Rainsy did not commit any mistake. He only protected the country’s interests,” a 50-year-old woman shouted. “We are sad and ashamed to see our National Assembly making such a decision,” Yim Sovann, SRP MP and SRP spokesman, indicated. “This is the proof that our institution is not protecting the territorial integrity of Cambodia,” he added.
In a joint communiqué, 26 SRP MPs firmly protested the lifting of their leader’s immunity. “This action violates our country’s Constitution and it shows that the Cambodian government is only putting in application the orders issued by the Vietnamese government,” the MPs said.
The SRP MPs took the opportunity to remind the elected officials the oath they took when they started their duty: “Each elected official swears in front of the King and the representatives of the monks to protect the country’s territorial integrity,” they underscored. “Under this context, Sam Rainsy, as a MP, is only showing his solidarity with the farmers who were victims of land-grabbing by the Vietnamese authorities.”
Furthermore, Chan Savet, an investigator for the Adhoc human rights group, deplored the fact that the National Assembly made its decision without prior investigation. “The lifting of a MP’s parliamentary immunity is a serious issue and it cannot be decided in such an abrupt manner. Furthermore, the MPs have other issues more important that this to resolve,” Chan Savet said.
As for Sam Rasinsy, he issued a communiqué in which he presented himself as “a messenger and spokesman for the people” that the government intends to destroy.
Unacceptable provocation
During a press conference organized on Monday 16 November at the Council of Ministers office, Var Kim Hong, chairman of the committee in charge of border dispute resolution, called Sam Rainsy’s initiative as being “serious and unacceptable provocation.” “He uprooted posts installed by experts from both countries, before taking them to Phnom Penh. It is an act that is against the law,” he told reporters.
An upset Var Kim Hong added that Sam Rainsy’s initiative could legitimize the border demands made by Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand’s PM, in the Preah Vihear area. “Sam Rainsy’s actions through his contest against the eastern border agreements, are comparable to the claims made by Abhisit in the west,” Var Kim Hong barked.
According to Var Kim Hong, border delimitation with Vietnam is a long process. “At the start, we projected to complete this work within 2009, but for now, we are more leaning toward 2012,” he explained while stressing that, as Khmer, he tried as best to protect the Kingdom’s territorial integrity.
Lack of information
Border issues remain a sensitive topic for Cambodians. For more than one year, the government never ceases to react with virulence to the territorial protests made by Bangkok. Most of the time, Cambodians support their leaders on this issue, but the Phnom Penh regime remains tight-lip when it comes to the border with Vietnam. Committees from both countries worked for several years to jointly install border posts, but some experts are doubting their work. “I wrote to Samdach Heng Samrin, the president of the National Assembly, to set up a joint committee of experts to check on the spot the installation of border posts with Thailand and Vietnam. But, I never receive any reply to that,” Phnom Penh SRP MP Son Chhay deplored.
On his end, Var Kim Hong denied that he is hiding information. According to the latter, the opposition MPs can follow up on the work under the reservation that they respect the agreed upon procedures. “I already spent 4 hours in front of the MPs to tell them about the current negotiations with Vietnam,” Var Kim Hong claimed. Nevertheless, to independent observers, a better communication between the government and the opposition should help ease the tension.
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