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Cambodia: And the challengers are
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By Richard S Ehrlich
PHNOM PENH - In this haunted tropical land of
mass graves, political intimidation and languid
post-colonial charm, people who survived Pol Pot's
"killing fields" and Prime Minister Hun Sen's tough
regime hope Sunday's election won't result in more
corruption, despair and violence.
Hun Sen is
widely expected to be re-elected, but no one is sure who
will nab second place or whether a stable coalition can
emerge without bloodshed after the votes are counted.
"I don't care who wins, if it is Hun Sen, Sam
Rainsy or Ranariddh, I only care that they have enough
money to do something good," said a weary Cambodian
businesswoman who suffered during the thousands of US
aerial bombing raids that began in 1969 and the 1975-79
death camps of Pol Pot's communist Khmer Rouge.
"At least Hun Sen has organization, he has
contacts with many, many people because he has been in
power a long time," she said in an interview, referring
to Hun Sen's stint as foreign minister and 18 years as
prime minister. "Hun Sen and his people have money. We
don't want to have a leader who has no money, who just
depends on [foreign] aid and who is weak. Weak is no
good," she said.
Sam Rainsy is the opposition
candidate to watch. He may beat Prince Norodom Ranariddh
for second place and make life difficult for Hun Sen,
according to foreign observers monitoring the election
for the US-based Asia Foundation and other Washington
think tanks.
People hoping for Hun Sen's
downfall speculate that Rainsy and Ranariddh may be able
to combine their parliamentary seats to form a majority,
overcome their animosity and create a new government
without him.
"Cambodian people are scared in
their minds and scared when they face the world so they
just want to survive and they hope, whoever wins the
election, after it will be okay," a Cambodian magazine
publisher explained in an interview. "I like Sam Rainsy
because he is 'democracy' and he has no military people
in his party. But because of that, he may not be strong
enough to provide security after the election.
"People say America will provide millions of
dollars in aid if we vote for a new government without
Hun Sen in it," the publisher said. "We don't know if it
is true or not. But all my neighbors are talking about
it. We don't consider that as vote-buying. We think,
when someone gives money, it is because of kindness.
Then later, when that person asks us for something, we
do it, to return the kindness. That's the way Cambodians
are."
Washington and other foreign capitals hope
a new government will restrict Cambodia's lawless
ambiance and uproot international criminals based here
who smuggle weapons, drugs and counterfeit cash while
enjoying a cheap, hedonistic sanctuary.
China is
interested because it supported Hun Sen with military
and other aid, to project Beijing's southern regional
influence.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party
(CPP) wields control over the army and police - often
blamed for human rights abuses. His control bolsters his
chances at the polls because he promises security, mutes
opposition and blankets the country down to village
level with a perception that his party can be all-seeing
and punishing.
Critics denounce Hun Sen as a
thug who allegedly ordered the murder of political
opponents during his long reign. The prime minister has
consistently denied all such allegations and has never
been officially charged with any wrongdoing.
During the election campaign, meanwhile, Hun
Sen's two main opponents played the race card by echoing
the late Pol Pot's rhetoric about vampire-like
Vietnamese settlers who allegedly steal jobs, over-fish
Cambodia's rivers and lake, and create other social
problems. "Cambodians don't like to live with Vietnamese
because they say Vietnamese make noise and may be
involved in something bad," the publisher said.
Vietnamese suffer widespread discrimination,
human rights groups say, and many fear for their safety.
Rainsy frequently rails against yuon - which some
consider a racist term for "Vietnamese", though others
insist it is a traditional tag for people on the other
side of Cambodia's eastern border.
By stabbing
at overpopulated Vietnam's alleged meddling in
impoverished, vulnerable Cambodia, Rainsy also tars Hun
Sen, who was initially installed as foreign minister by
Vietnam during Hanoi's 10-year occupation of Cambodia in
the 1980s.
Rainsy, meanwhile, projects himself
as an innocent, incorruptible, idealistic do-gooder.
Some foreign fans have even portrayed him as a male
counterpart to Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi. Rainsy and Suu Kyi are both reed-thin, eloquent
speakers who profess nonviolence, but comparisons end
there. Rainsy, a former finance minister who runs the
egocentric Sam Rainsy Party, makes endless allegations
about "dictator" Hun Sen, but is often unable to display
hard evidence.
Hun Sen's other main foe is
Prince Ranariddh, president of the National Assembly, or
parliament, and leader of a minor coalition party known
by the French abbreviation Funcinpec. Cambodia is a
constitutional monarchy and the prince is the estranged
son of elderly, sickly King Norodom Sihanouk.
Ranariddh's power, however, has deteriorated because of
defections among his supporters dismayed about his
lackluster abilities. The prince also plays the race
card to smear Hun Sen.
"Today we have to stop
being afraid to talk about the yuon," the prince
declared at the start of his campaign. "Funcinpec is the
only party not under the control of Vietnam." Prince
Ranariddh draws much of his money and support from
"royalists" who are often perceived as opportunists
exploiting Cambodia to ensure a lofty, elitist lifestyle
in a land where most people are desperately poor.
Hun Sen, born in 1952, served in Pol Pot's Khmer
Rouge as a regimental commander of Cambodia's Eastern
Zone. In 1977, he fled to Vietnam, apparently fearing
purges by Pol Pot. He returned to Cambodia atop a
Vietnamese invasion in 1978 - which soon toppled Pol Pot
- and collaborated to allow Vietnamese troops to remain
until their 1989 withdrawal.
During the
Vietnamese occupation, Prince Ranariddh and his father
enjoyed US cash and support in their notorious coalition
with Khmer Rouge remnants, waging a shabby guerrilla war
against Hun Sen and the Vietnamese. In 1993, the United
Nations staged a haphazard election that resulted in
Ranariddh and Hun Sen sharing power as "co-prime
ministers", but in 1997 their two sides battled in Phnom
Penh with tanks. As a result, Hun Sen solidified his
power and forced the prince to wander as an
international fugitive until his conviction for
smuggling weapons and conspiring with the Khmer Rouge in
the bloody 1997 street fighting against Hun Sen.
In a 1998 election, marred by violence and
corruption, Hun Sen edged ahead of Ranariddh while
Rainsy trailed third.
In Sunday's election,
voters can choose among more than 20 parties to select a
123-seat National Assembly, which then creates a new
government.
(Copyright 2003 Richard S Ehrlich)
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