2022.06.02
Cartoon by Rebel Pepper
Photo: RFA
As Cambodia’s commune elections approach, many people are faced with the dilemma of whether they should participate. The ruling party’s ongoing crackdown on the country’s civil and political spaces has left voters with so few choices at the polls that some now refer to Cambodia as a “managed dictatorship.” To abstain from voting would mean giving up a chance to unseat Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, but casting a ballot risks adding legitimacy to what many expect will be a sham election. Either way, the ruling party stands to win in a contest with no viable opposition.
Photo: RFA
As Cambodia’s commune elections approach, many people are faced with the dilemma of whether they should participate. The ruling party’s ongoing crackdown on the country’s civil and political spaces has left voters with so few choices at the polls that some now refer to Cambodia as a “managed dictatorship.” To abstain from voting would mean giving up a chance to unseat Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, but casting a ballot risks adding legitimacy to what many expect will be a sham election. Either way, the ruling party stands to win in a contest with no viable opposition.
10 comments:
Thank you peace means if Hun Sen lost the election, he would wage a war. People will say without Hun Sen, there is war.
Cambodia is becoming more and more like North Korea. There are selections but the supreme leader is always guaranteed to win. If he loses, a lot of people will die.
Supreme leader Hun Sen controls the police, the military and the court. Election or not, how can anyone take away the power form him? Try that if you have a dead wish. It's your one way express ticket to hell.
Only stupid people would try to contest Hun Sen in an election. It's almost like if it's tails, he wins. If it's heads, you lose.
Cambodian people will be f$ck-uped either way. If Hun Sen wins, you lose. If Hun Sen loses, you die.
Hun Sen grabs the Cambodian people by the balls. If you make any slightest movement against him, he will squeeze your balls harder. So don't try to piss him off or you'll be ball-less.
Why Hun Sen doesn't need to campaign during an election? Because he doesn't really care if he's going to win or lose. Either way, nobody is going to be able to take the power away from him. All he has to do is to bring in the military and the opposition party leader will run away like a rat for a place to hide.
Very soon, Hun Sen's jail will be full with the opposition politicians. The opposition party's leader will be put under house arrest. Some ambassadors from some countries will come to visit him to see if he's still alive. If he's still alive, they will tell him that there's nothing they can do for him. They will encourage him to stay strong and compete again in the next election. And if he wins in the next election, they will be more than happy to visit him in jail.
More like Myanmar and Thailand than North Korea. Is anyone surpise that you can't win no matter what? Hun Sen is not a dictator, but a puppet of the evil Yuon. He is getting old. His sons will replace him. Khmers will spend the next 70 years just the same as now. Complaining and dying. Chinese and evil Yuon will carve up Cambodia and Laos.
Khmers have to stand up and fix our own problems. Blaming others for our own problem is not going to fix anything. Outsiders can take advantage of us because we are not united. We are so divided as a country. We care more about ourselves than our own country. That's our weakness. Hun Sen is just one man. He can not stand up to the entire nation if we all rise up against him. The reason why we are in the current situation today is because we are too afraid to rise up collectively and fight for our country. Instead, we blame the Chinese, Thais, or the Yuons for our own problem. Blaming others is what we do best. If we don't fix our problem, who is going to fix the problem for us? If we continue to be divided, who can resist to take advantage of us? As in the law of the jungle, only the strong can take advantage of the weak and never the other way around; the smart can take advantage of the stupid and not the other way around. To fix our problem, we need to be united, we need to be strong and we need to be smart.
Post a Comment