Corruption! Two Million Dollars Per Month Squandered By Mr. Hun Sen
Editorial by Khmerization
Originally posted at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/
About a week ago, I editorialised that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered the national budget by unnecessarily appointing all opposition defectors who joined the CPP to many high paid government positions. Now it is evident that Mr. Hun Sen has just corruptly squandered public money to the tune of two million dollars per month by promoting 70 of his CPP stooges unnecessarily. Mr. Hun Sen seemed to wrongly think that, as a prime minister of a country, he has the right and can appoint anyone at his own will. Mr. Prime Minister, you are wrong!
In a parliamentary democracy, under a constitution that was written and approved by the constituent assembly of which you were a member, the prime minister is accountable and is answerable to the constitution, to the parliament and to the people. And in a fully democratic country your actions are unconstitutional and are impeachable by parliament.
In 1974? President Richard Nixon was impeached and forced out of office due to a moronic action of one of his party workers who broke into the opposition candidate’s office and stole some documents. In 1975, an Australian prime minister, Mr. Gough Whitlam, was sacked by the Governor-General due to a very ambiguous reason. As of this week an Australian minister is facing the sack after he appointed his friend to a high paid government job. These are just a few examples that have been actioned in a fully democratic country that Mr. Hun Sen should be aware of.
Coming back to the $2 million a month spent on the wages of the 70 newly appointed CPP stooges, it is pure corruption. The $2 million squandered in such a fashion is just a tip of the iceberg. If the opposition is correct, when they claimed that there are thousands of unneeded government advisors, it meant that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered $30 million a month, or $360 million a year. Coupled with $500 million (World Bank figures) a year lost through corruption, it meant that Cambodia has lost $860 million a year because of official corruption. Considering that the Cambodian economy is a small economy, this amount represented a titanic amount.
So, how Mr. Hun Sen can be stopped? Well, MP Son Chhay has done a small step by strongly reminded Mr. Hun Sen, through his media appeal and letter to the Prime Minister himself, that there will be legal consequences if the prime minister does not right his wrongs.
Another measure would be that the parliament move a motion to censure the prime minister over his actions, request for an audited lists of appointments and audited salaries being spent on those appointments. If his appointments were found to be corruptly unjustified he should be impeached and force out of office. This measure is a wishful thinking and would most definitely fail because all of the CPP parliamentarians, due to their vested interests, will not agree to move such a motion to impeach their prime minister. But such a measure, success or without success, must be tried. If Mr. Hun Sen is allowed to do whatever he wants, without regard for the laws and without anyone putting a stop to it, Cambodia would still be poor as long as Mr. Hun Sen is still the prime minister. Poor Cambodia!
Originally posted at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/
About a week ago, I editorialised that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered the national budget by unnecessarily appointing all opposition defectors who joined the CPP to many high paid government positions. Now it is evident that Mr. Hun Sen has just corruptly squandered public money to the tune of two million dollars per month by promoting 70 of his CPP stooges unnecessarily. Mr. Hun Sen seemed to wrongly think that, as a prime minister of a country, he has the right and can appoint anyone at his own will. Mr. Prime Minister, you are wrong!
In a parliamentary democracy, under a constitution that was written and approved by the constituent assembly of which you were a member, the prime minister is accountable and is answerable to the constitution, to the parliament and to the people. And in a fully democratic country your actions are unconstitutional and are impeachable by parliament.
In 1974? President Richard Nixon was impeached and forced out of office due to a moronic action of one of his party workers who broke into the opposition candidate’s office and stole some documents. In 1975, an Australian prime minister, Mr. Gough Whitlam, was sacked by the Governor-General due to a very ambiguous reason. As of this week an Australian minister is facing the sack after he appointed his friend to a high paid government job. These are just a few examples that have been actioned in a fully democratic country that Mr. Hun Sen should be aware of.
Coming back to the $2 million a month spent on the wages of the 70 newly appointed CPP stooges, it is pure corruption. The $2 million squandered in such a fashion is just a tip of the iceberg. If the opposition is correct, when they claimed that there are thousands of unneeded government advisors, it meant that Mr. Hun Sen has corruptly squandered $30 million a month, or $360 million a year. Coupled with $500 million (World Bank figures) a year lost through corruption, it meant that Cambodia has lost $860 million a year because of official corruption. Considering that the Cambodian economy is a small economy, this amount represented a titanic amount.
So, how Mr. Hun Sen can be stopped? Well, MP Son Chhay has done a small step by strongly reminded Mr. Hun Sen, through his media appeal and letter to the Prime Minister himself, that there will be legal consequences if the prime minister does not right his wrongs.
Another measure would be that the parliament move a motion to censure the prime minister over his actions, request for an audited lists of appointments and audited salaries being spent on those appointments. If his appointments were found to be corruptly unjustified he should be impeached and force out of office. This measure is a wishful thinking and would most definitely fail because all of the CPP parliamentarians, due to their vested interests, will not agree to move such a motion to impeach their prime minister. But such a measure, success or without success, must be tried. If Mr. Hun Sen is allowed to do whatever he wants, without regard for the laws and without anyone putting a stop to it, Cambodia would still be poor as long as Mr. Hun Sen is still the prime minister. Poor Cambodia!
