One needs to understand Khmer mentality. MP Mu sued PM Hun to prove the point that PM is a “gangster”. PM countersued MP to prove that he is a “gangster”. Both MP and PM are successfully proved the point.
On Sep 18, 7:13 pm, Jayakhmer <[email protected]> wrote: > Also posted atwww.modernprogressivekhmer.blogspot.com > By Jayakhmer > > The dispute between our elected officials namely between the most > powerful man in Cambodia and a helpless member of parliamentarian > takes on new twists and turns. The battle is being fought > internationally. Mu Sochua has been attracting a lot of international > attentions especially from the US Congress. This proves yet again > that Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen and his advisors have > miscalculated the impact. > > In the afternoon of September 14th, I attended the meeting at > Berkeley. The Goldberg Room at Boalt Hall Law School where Mu Sochua > gave a talk was a small room and was packed with about less than 200 > people. All the seats were taken; I stood against the wall listening > to a courageous woman telling her struggles in her motherland to a > friendly and sympathetic audience. > > “I will not compromise,” Mu Sochua repeated several times as she > described the human rights situation in Cambodia. > > Listening to Mu Sochua, I could not help but wonder how we came to > this point politically. > > I certainly understand her position as an elected Cambodian woman > fighting against the most powerful man in the country with the > circumstance within which her parliamentary immunity was stripped; her > lawyer was threatened to be disbarred and consequently withdrew > himself from the case; and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court rejected her > lawsuit against the Prime Minister but honored the counter lawsuit by > the Prime Minister that everyone including herself knew from the start > she had no chance. > > On July 24, 2009, of course, the court rendered a verdict of guilty > for defaming the Prime Minister and sentenced Mu Sochua to a fine of > 10 million riels ($2,500). > > As I looked around the room full of concerned and interested students > and scholars, I was a bit embarrassed. Cambodia is such a small > country about the size of the state of Missouri with a minuscule > national budget if we compare to that of California’s and other > states’ in the union, and yet it manages to have so many problems. > “Why can’t we get our act together or why can’t we get along,” I > wonder quietly. > > It would be simplistic and a gross generalization to say that “we > fight each other like dogs and cats.” There are reasons why we > fight. When we fight, each side wants to win. > > If any one thinks that Mu Sochua has been a recalcitrant and an > unweaving politician in this fight, one should equally, if not more, > blame the Prime Minister for creating this political atmosphere. The > Prime Minister should have been advised to say, “I am very sorry.” As > strong willed and as determined as Mu Sochua, she would have accepted > the apology. > > The case would have been closed. > > Although this is just my conjecture, the Prime Minister should fire > all of those advisors if he was advised to pursuit this case with Mu > Sochua or and the case with Professor Yash Ghai, the UN Special Envoy > on Human Rights in Cambodia in the recent past. Those advisors or the > ideas of fighting Mu Sochua and the special envoy on human rights > were short-sighted and incompetent for they failed to think through > some of the most important issues that make Cambodia appears to be > worst than the bad situation the country is already in. > > Why CPP chooses to treat member(s) of the minority party this way is > beyond me for CPP and its leadership already controls every powerful > position in the country. CPP, as a major political party, should be > magnanimously working with minority parties to truly fine solutions to > improve the country together. That includes the Human Rights issues. > > As long as we have a political system with multiple-party structure, > it is common and expected to have political fighting. > > Political fighting is healthy as long as we remember that winning a > political opponent by loosing the respect of the world is not worth > winning. And winning the respect of the world but loosing oneself in > the process is also worthless. > > A true patriot respects and even loves his/her political opponent. > After all we are members of the same human race of small nation that > barely can sustain itself without the outside’s supports. Our dignity > as a human race and as a nation lays on the question of how well we > can build each other up and not on how effectively we can destroy each > other. > > Political common sense requires that a politician always gives his/her > opponent a way out with dignity. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
