Kingdom at crossroads as CPP extends control over government
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks with reporters outside the National Assembly after the first day of debates on the 2009 budget draft law. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)
Thursday, 11 December 2008 Written
by Sebastian Strangio The Phnom Penh Post
"People with ideas don't have power, and people who have power have no ideas." - Thomico
"In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" - French proverb
Some analysts say 2008 has seen the advent of one-party rule, but others argue the CPP's consolidation may be the foundation Cambodia needs for genuine democratic developmentAT the tail end of a year that has seen unprecedented consolidation of power by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, observers are divided on the current health of Cambodia's democracy and the future prospects of its fragile multi party system.
Some analysts say 2008 has seen the advent of one-party rule, but others argue the CPP's consolidation may be the foundation Cambodia needs for genuine democratic developmentAT the tail end of a year that has seen unprecedented consolidation of power by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, observers are divided on the current health of Cambodia's democracy and the future prospects of its fragile multi party system.
While government officials have said that the peaceful atmosphere of July's national election was an indication of the country's political stability, others say the slackening support for Cambodia's opposition could see the country backslide into the one-party rule of the 1980s.
"[Cambodia] has a de facto one-party rule," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.
"On the surface we have more parties, but it has pretty much been a one-party state since the coup of 1997. I don't see how we can define it any differently.
"Opposition figures agreed that the CPP's large parliamentary majority - and near monopoly of positions on the Assembly's nine special commissions - augured a return to single-party rule.
"Cambodia has returned to an authoritarian kind of system," said Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay.
21:35
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