Editorial | Articles about Cambodia | Khmer
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (C) greets the crowds during a celebration marking the 58th anniversary of independence from French protectorate, in Phnom Penh Nov. 9, 2011. (Xinhua/Philong Sovan)
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia commemorated the 58th anniversary of the declaration of Independence Day from French protectorate on Wednesday.
The event was held at the Independence Monument under the presidency of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and the participation of National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Cambodia 's Prime Minister Hun Sen, the First Vice President of Senate Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, and other high-ranking officials, diplomatic corps, armed forces, as well as students, totaling about 20,000 people.
During the celebration, King Norodom Sihamoni laid the wreath and lit the victory torch inside the monument.
The victory flame will be kept burning for three days.
Cambodia gained independence from the French protectorate on Nov. 9, 1953 after the retired King Norodom Sihanouk had conducted the royal crusade in 1952.
France had ruled Cambodia for 90 years until the country declared independence.
Editor: Chen Zhi
Labels: Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Independence, Prime Minister Hun Sen
» Read more!
CPJ
New York, April 27, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the April 13 release from prison of Hang Chakra, editor and publisher of the opposition-aligned Khmer Machas Srok daily newspaper in Cambodia.
He was granted a royal pardon after serving nine months of a one-year sentence on a “criminal disinformation” conviction over a series of critical articles on alleged high-level government corruption. He was among 43 prisoners given amnesty ahead of Cambodia’s mid-April Buddhist New Year celebrations.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, Hang Chakra wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen on July 8 to apologize and pledged not to report on government corruption in the future if he was released. The English-language daily newspaper quoted Hang Chakra’s letter saying that he had “repeatedly failed to act properly and seriously.”
But since his release, Hang Chakra has stated publicly his intention to continue publishing Khmer Machas Srok, which, according to news reports, recently suspended publication for financial reasons. The newspaper is affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, whose eponymous leader was recently stripped of his parliamentary immunity and fled into exile in France.
“Hang Chakra never should have been imprisoned in the first place on these trumped-up charges,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s Senior Southeast Asia Representative. “Prime Minister Hun Sen has failed to uphold his pledge to stop jailing journalists for their reporting.”
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni had written to Hun Sen in October last year calling for Hang Chakra’s release, but his request was refused for unknown reasons.
Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodia’s People’s Party (CPP) maintains strong editorial influence over the country’s mainstream print and broadcast media, which seldom publishes or airs reports critical of top level officials in his administration. His government recently cracked down on freedom of expression, including among parliamentarians, after a period of relative openness.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Hang Chakra's name has been corrected.
Labels: Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, hun sen, Journalism, journalist
» Read more!
Korean President Lee Myung-bak, left, talks with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, right, yesterday at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. [YONHAP]
Southeast Asian country to use Korea as a role model
By Ser Myo-ja (joongangdaily.joins.com)
PHNOM PENH - Leaders of South Korea and Cambodia yesterday signed a series of economic cooperation agreements that include a large-scale forestation project and a mineral resources development program.
President Lee Myung-bak arrived here yesterday morning, beginning a two-day visit. Shortly after arrival, Lee and his wife, Kim Yoon-ok, attended a welcoming ceremony hosted at the Royal Palace by King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and discussed ties between the two nations.
In the afternoon, Lee held a summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, discussing a wide range of cooperation programs to further the two nations’ steadily developing relations. Following normalization of diplomatic ties in 1997, Korea has become Cambodia’s second largest foreign investor and seventh largest trade partner.
Cambodia had first tied the diplomatic knot with South Korea in 1970, but relations were severed in 1975. That’s when the country’s then-communist government formed diplomatic relations with North Korea.
Lee and Hun Sen agreed yesterday that Korea will help Cambodia create a national economic development plan. “Starting next year, a program will be launched for Korea to share its development experience with Cambodia,” said Kim Eun-hye, Lee’s spokeswoman. “As a part of the program, we will provide consulting services for Cambodia to establish its economic policies. It’s like Cambodia will use Korea’s model as its standard to create a national development plan.”
Kim said Korea will play the role of incubator for the Southeast Asian country’s development. Korea will help Cambodia open a stock exchange by the end of next year, while Cambodia’s real estate system research team has already visited Korea, she said.
The two leaders have maintained a close personal relationship. In 2000, the Cambodian prime minister made Lee his foreign economic adviser following a series of development consultations. Lee kept the post until he took the presidential office last year.
Lee and Hun Sen also witnessed the signing of a series of bilateral agreements. The two countries’ forestry authorities signed a memorandum of understanding in which Cambodia will provide 200,000 hectares of land for Korea’s forestation project. The planned site is slightly larger than Jeju Island.
“The program will restore forests and create jobs in Cambodia,” Kim said. “And Korean companies investing in the program will secure carbon dioxide emission rights and lumber.”
Kim said the government aims at securing a million hectares of forestation sites around the world by 2050. Including yesterday’s agreement, about 90 percent of that goal has been achieved, she noted.
The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources and Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy also signed an agreement for a joint research and development program. “This gives Korean companiesLabels: Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, South Korean president Lee Myung-bak
» Read more!
Cambodian parliamentarians and King Norodom Sihamoni pose for a picture after the opening of the first parliamentarian meeting to form a new government after the national elections in July at the national assembly building in Phnom Penh September 24, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (C) is greeted by parliamentarians after opening the first parliamentarian meeting to form a new government after the national elections in July at the national assembly building in Phnom Penh September 24, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen walks past an honor guard upon his arrival to attend the first parliamentarian meeting to form a new government after the national elections in July at the national assembly building in Phnom Penh September 24, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the country's National Assembly building in Phnom Penh on September 24. Cambodia's parliament has re-elected Hun Sen as prime minister, extending his 23-year grip on power, at a session boycotted by parties disputing the results of the July general election. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)
Flawless new Parliament session in Cambodia
24 Sept. 2008
By Duong Sokha and Ros Dina
Ka-set (KI-Media)
The inaugural session of the fourth Parliament held in the morning of Wednesday 24 September at the National Assembly, presided by the king, as well as the swearing-in ceremony of the elected MPs at the Royal Palace at 4:00 PM on the same day, went without a hitch for the very first time. With the exception of Kem Sokha’s HRP, all political parties sent in all their elected MPs, i.e. 119 out of a total of 123 MPs. On Wednesday, Prime minister Hun Sen, who was re-appointed to his PM position by King Sihamoni, called the day a “historical” one, noting that the morning meeting took place for the first time in the in the NA building under the presence of the “new” king Sihamoni who was crowned in 2004. The day also marked the 15th anniversary of the kingdom’s Constitution and it bore another symbolic meaning to the events of the day. King Sihamoni congratulated Hun Sen and the other MPs for their NA nomination, and he said that he hopes the fourth mandate Parliament will accomplish a good job.
Conditions imposed by the Opposition
“Yesterday [Tuesday], before 7 PM, it was heard that the SRP and the HRP would boycott today’s ceremony,” Hun Sen noted at a press conference held at the end of the morning ceremony. He then discussed about the negotiations led that Tuesday evening between the opposition leaders, Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, and Kith Meng, the CPP’s mediator sent in by Hun Sen.
Hun Sen added: “Among the conditions imposed by the opposition is the adoption of a proposal for a new [NA] internal rule that they have drafted. I let them know, through Oknha Kith Meng, that the NA cannot adopt a proposal which has not been examined yet. To amend the internal rule, an ad-hoc committee must be set up and the latter will send in its conclusions to the Parliament law committee, and then after this latter’s exam, it will send the text to the NA permanent committee which will then summon a debate session.”
According to Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha had also called for the government to recognize the role of parties not appointed in the government. “On this point, I am personally its guarantor,” Hun Sen assured.
On the other hand, Hun Sen did not agree to the opposition request that the five parties having seats at the NA sign a common declaration. “I told Mr. Oknha Kith Meng that it was a dumb and impudent maneuver which hold the parties as hostages, and that this would be no more no less than a political declaration. Its signing would be contrary to the NA internal rule,” Hun Sen indicated. Hun Sen added that this declaration includes among others, the engagement by political parties to participate in the first NA session, the strengthening of public institutions, but also, an amendment to the election law and a reform of the National Election Committee (NEC) so that all competing political parties could recognize the election results – a contentious point for Hun Sen.
SRP last minute decision
It was at daybreak on Wednesday that SRP MPs decided that they will join the day’s ceremony. Hun Sen personally thanked them for their participation.
Son Chhay, the SRP spokesman, explained that the resolution to abandon the boycott was subject to the last negotiations held with Kith Meng. “Hun Sen had accepted to create a working group to revise the NA internal rule, as our party had asked. We had also demanded reforms allowing the opposition to have a guaranteed official role at the NA. I find this good, this system is in practice in several democratic countries. It will be written in black and white in the NA internal rule. The opposition leader will be officially nominated by the king and he will be allotted a special budget to lead the opposition,” said a delighted Son Chhay.
Son Chhay added that the other amendment to the NA internal rule demanded by the opposition is the fact that parties with small number of Parliament seats, i.e. those with less than 10 seats, could have their voice heard on the floor during debates, as such was not the case in the past.
“We are promoting the national interest first, in front of personal interest and of those of our party. The situation requires them, Cambodia is currently at a critical junction with the invasion of Thai armed forces and a galloping inflation…,” Son Chhay explained while indicating that his party did not ask for the presidency of any Parliament committee, but that the SRP requested that the NA internal rule be respected.
Son Chhay also insisted on the fact that, since 1993, this is the first time that all MPs came to the NA inaugural session. In 2003, the SRP MPs boycotted this session.
HRP absence
“When I shook Sam Rainsy’s hand [this morning], I asked him why Kem Sokha was not there. He told me that he did not know. Their alliance is no longer upheld? Who cheated who? Maybe Kem Sokha was held back by a traffic jam and arrived too late?” Hun Sen speculated.
Kem Sokha clarified: “We were not late! We did not go, just like what we announced because our claims were not heard. We will start working normally this Friday,” Kem Sokha explained. The HRP won 3 seats at the NA.
When asked about the robustness of the alliance between the SRP and the HRP, Son Chhay assured that nothing change. “Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha was negotiating together yesterday evening, and both wanted to have a common declaration by all the parties represented at the NA in view of a national reconciliation, and a strengthening of democracy with the existence of pluralism.”Labels: Cambodia National Assembly 2008-2013, Cambodia Parliament, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Kem Sokha, Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy
» Read more!
14th May 2008
By San Suwith (Radio Free Asia)
Reported in English by Khmerization
King Sihamoni is celebrating his birthday outside of the Royal Palace, this time in Kampong Cham province where his subjects organized a Buddhist ceremony at a local temple in his honour. The king also planned to fly to celebrate his birthday in a location near the historic temple of Preah Vihear on the Khmer-Thai border.
But in Phnom Penh, despite no grand parade and pompous celebration, the king’s pictures were placed along the roads and boulevards everywhere in his honour.
King Sihamoni was born to ex-king Sihanouk and Queen Monique on the 14th of May 1953. He was educated in Beijing and later completed his doctorate degree in classical dance from Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1971.
Between 1975-1976, he studied cinematography in North Korea. From 1975-1979 he lived under house arrest with his parents and his brother, Prince Norindrapong, at Khmamarin Palace in Phnom Penh.
From 1979-1980, he served as a private secretary to the then Prince Sihanouk. And from 1981 onward he served as a permanent representative of the Cambodian resistance to the United Nations, Cambodian Extraordinary Ambassador to the Unesco and also as the president of the Association of Khmer Artists in France.
King Sihamoni is conversant in many languages. Other than his native Khmer, he can speak French, Czech and English very proficiently.
He ascended to the throne on 14th October 2004, succeeding his father, King Sihanouk who had abdicated a second time a few weeks earlier.
Many political leaders hailed King Sihamoni as having a unique and special character.
Mr Ciem Yeap, MP from the Cambodian People’s Party, credited the king as having helped the country moving toward economic prosperity, judicial improvements and have helped solved political issues in the country.
Mr Keo Puth Rasmy, president of Funcinpec Party, said that the king has helped maintain national unity and peace in the country, despite acknowledging the king not being able to fulfill all his constitutional duties.
Mr Son Chhay, MP from the Sam Rainsy Party, said that the current king resides in the country more than the ex-king and therefore helped to ensure political stability. But he also said that the king is still unable to fulfill all his constitutional duties such as ensuring the independence of the judiciary and the army. Despite the king’s shortcomings, MP Son Chhay said that he does not blame the king for not fulfilling all his constitutional duties, but blames the government for not transferring all his constitutional powers to him.
Mr You Hockry, Secretary-General of the Norodom Ranariddh Party, said that the king is a symbol of national unity who can guarantee national independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Cambodia.
Mr Kem Sokha, president of the Human Right Party, wish the king a long life, but also wish to see the king using all his constitutional powers to fulfill all his constitutional obligations. He believed that the king have not been able to fulfill all his duties. The case in point is that the king is a Commander-in-Chief but was and is still unable to ensure the neutrality of the army. Another example is that the king is presently the chairperson of the Council of Magistracy, but he is powerless to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
All civil societies as well as ordinary people have wished His Majesty good health and longevity.Labels: Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Cambodian Riel Currency
» Read more!
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (C) greets the crowds during a celebration marking the 58th anniversary of independence from French protectorate, in Phnom Penh Nov. 9, 2011. (Xinhua/Philong Sovan)
