• Burmese
Saturday, May 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Cambodia’s Strongman Affirms Pre-eminence as Opposition Challenge Falters

Prak Chan Thul by Prak Chan Thul
June 12, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Cambodia’s Strongman Affirms Pre-eminence as Opposition Challenge Falters

Policemen stand guard as protesters gather to mark the International Workers’ Day rally at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh May 1

2.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

PHNOM PENH — Riot police with assault rifles stand guard near high metal walls. Lines of parked trucks and coiled razor wire mark the perimeter of a site in Cambodia’s capital that’s strictly off limits to the public.

What appears at first like a fortified military base is symbolic of the struggle facing Cambodians riled by incessant land grabs, official corruption and labor disputes in a country tightly controlled by one man for nearly three decades.

The venue under guard is Freedom Park, the only place in Cambodia where anti-government protests are allowed. At least they used to be—until an opposition-led movement to topple Prime Minister Hun Sen gathered steam, and the authorities closed it indefinitely.

RelatedPosts

Ballot Losers, Power Grabbers

Ballot Losers, Power Grabbers

May 24, 2025
127
Has the Revolutionary Spirit Gone? Shan Armed Forces in Crisis as Public Doubts Grow

Has the Revolutionary Spirit Gone? Shan Armed Forces in Crisis as Public Doubts Grow

May 24, 2025
418
Assassination Rocks Yangon; Junta Boss Rewrites History; and More

Assassination Rocks Yangon; Junta Boss Rewrites History; and More

May 24, 2025
376

“They created Freedom Park so people could express their opinions, but now they’ve shut it down, so what does this mean?” said Chhairith Chhom, 32, a supporter of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

It means the chance of the CNRP rebuilding its once formidable campaign of rallies calling for an annulment and re-run of last year’s election, which it says was rigged to favor the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), is extremely slim.

After decades in control through party and business networks and with influence over the judiciary and media, the CPP and Hun Sen were stunned by the once feeble opposition’s electoral challenge last July, when it carved off a chunk of their parliamentary majority, according to results the CNRP disputes.

The CNRP won the votes of Cambodians yearning for change and tired of the CPP’s monopoly of power. It also won over unions representing half a million textiles workers who complain of paltry earnings and resent a government that’s allowed only marginal pay rises.

From September last year, the CNRP led some of the biggest protests ever in Cambodia, but they fizzled out after a crackdown on factory strikes in January that killed at least four people and alarmed major clothing brands with interests in Cambodia, like Adidas, Nike and Gap.

Since then, anti-government protests intended to draw hundreds of thousands of people attracted just a few hundred. Freedom Park was shut down in April, denying the opposition a haven and lawful staging ground to renew their offensive.

“In general, people I’ve seen and talked to in villages, just want change of national leadership,” said Kem Ley, an independent political analyst.

“But what the CNRP has been doing is the same thing, again and again,” Ley said, referring to the calls for protests. “People are just tired and afraid because of the government’s shameless use of violence.”

The CNRP has been forced to scale back its demands after months of fruitless negotiations and failed attempts to win international support.

Rare Concessions

On Tuesday, Hun Sen made concessions that are likely to deflate even further the faltering opposition campaign.

In the longer run, Hun Sen, 61, might have to contend with brooding unions and social-media-savvy younger voters hankering for change but for now, it looks as if the former Khmer Rouge guerrilla and self-styled “strongman” of Cambodian politics, will rule comfortably until the next election.

The concessions included a television broadcast license for the CNRP, a promise of reform of a politicized election commission, and the next polls in February 2018, five months earlier than scheduled and much later than CNRP’s softened demand for a new poll in 2016.

The CNRP appears to have little choice but to accept what is on the table and end an almost year-long parliamentary boycott that experts warn is playing into the CPP’s hands and risks making the opposition party irrelevant.

“It’s positive,” said Nhem Ponhearith, CNRP spokesman, referring to Hun Sen’s offer. “These go along with what the CNRP has been demanding.”

Hun Sen also derided the CNRP, accusing it of starting a rumor at the weekend that he had died of a stroke. He said Cambodia needed him and the opposition was no threat.

“Don’t pray for Hun Sen to die, they need Hun Sen to control the situation,” he said, with his customary reference to himself in the third person.

“My biggest problem is nothing, only whether our people are all right and have water for their farms.”

But his problems, at least in the longer-term, are perhaps bigger than he is letting on.

Workers are still demanding a sharp rise in the US$100 monthly minimum wage and could at any time hold hostage the $5.3 billion garment sector, Cambodia’s biggest employer and economic driver, which suffered reduced orders and a 17 percent drop in first-quarter exports from political and labor unrest.

Some analysts say the CNRP’s challenge was not fruitless because it sent Hun Sen a message that Cambodia’s population, 70 percent of whom were born after the 1970s and 1980s years of war, is no longer willing to put up with venal, authoritarian rule in the name of peace.

“Hun Sen understands it, the CPP understands it, that there’s no way Hun Sen can go back to the old days of the strongman,” said political analyst Ou Virak.

“Times are changing. There’s a younger population that’s demanding more than the old generation, which pretty much wanted peace and nothing else.”

Your Thoughts …
Prak Chan Thul

Prak Chan Thul

Reuters

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
88.7k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
86.9k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
58.8k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.7k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.5k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Isolated North Korea a Visitor Draw

Isolated North Korea a Visitor Draw, But Sometimes Literally a Tourist Trap

Thai Army Delegation Visits China Amid Western Reproach of Coup

Thai Army Delegation Visits China Amid Western Reproach of Coup

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

5 days ago
2.4k
‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

2 days ago
2.2k

Most Read

  • Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Adidas Shoe Factory Agrees to Striking Workers’ Demands

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AA’s Political Wing Imposes Rakhine Travel Ban

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Has the Revolutionary Spirit Gone? Shan Armed Forces in Crisis as Public Doubts Grow

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.