Commentary
The
Dynamics of Samdech Techo Sen’s Era
We are still moved by
the historic address of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Pakdei Techo Hun Sen on border
demarcation to Members of Parliament on 09 August 2012 at the National
Assembly. Impressively, the entire nation paid special attention to this
sensitive issue and kept watching and listening to Samdech through live
broadcasts by all television and radio stations. It has been praised that the
power of his speech – full of hardheaded patriotism in pursuing the advancement
of vital national interests, echoed every corner of the country, from
government offices to schools, markets and villages – has truly touched every
citizen as if it instantaneously awakens national cohesion. It truly was a
historic day with no parallel in our history. It was a political phenomenon
with far-reaching implications in space and time.
On this historic
occasion, our compatriots unequivocally understood policies, priorities and
strategies that underpin the Government’s approach to foreign policy with our
close neighbors as Samdech Prime Minister has often referred to the old adage
that bordering countries are “as close as teeth and tongue.” Furthermore, as
our recent history has shown, our country’s core national interests – both
security and stability – cannot be separated from and are inextricably linked
to the security and stability of our close neighbors.
In this Techo Sen’s
era, our country is fortunate to be surrounded by our fellow ASEAN member
countries. From ASEAN Community in 2015 to the foreseeable future, the
interconnection between the security and economic dynamics of the region and
the Pacific will dramatically heighten. The underlying reason is if there were
serious instability, the economy as well as the living standard of the people
would collapse and inevitably affect almost simultaneously the other regions.
As a consequence, their pressure on our country will be stronger. Thus, Samdech
Techo Sen’s policy on “building a peaceful, stable and cooperative
border and transforming zones of conflict along the frontier into zones of
development” is a sharp-witted visionary policy and a wisely formulated
plan.
It is not an
exaggeration to note that certain areas along the border that were once rice
fields or swamps are nowadays almost modern cities. Are there any policies more
pragmatic, logical and better than Samdech Techo Sen’s? Importantly, our
country is smaller and borders with bigger and stronger countries; there is
nothing more relevant and more efficient than this realistic policy which is
being productively implemented.
More than any times,
the delimitation of the Cambodia-Vietnam border – a boundary that existed
solely on the map and never demarcated – is the great accomplishments with
far-reaching implications in safeguarding the territorial integrity,
sovereignty and national independence. No one can deny that the border posts
are an important part of our defense architecture and will contribute to
achieve frontier stability with certainty and finality which lies at the core of
Samdech Techo’s policy in building long-standing frontier of friendship, peace
and cooperation.
These are our vital
national interests. Our next generation’s children will live happily in a more
stable, peaceful and prosperous country as in other developed countries. In
contrast with previous times, the boundaries were in an unceasing state of
tension. In this regard, H.E. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister, spoke to the
Parliament in 2005 that “these frontier issues were being kept as
political games for past decades.”
There is a great divide
between leaders of the oppositions who are doing business of politics with
these sensitive issues in their pursuit of popularity and Samdech Akka Moha
Sena Pakdei Techo Hun Sen who has not become the Leader of the Nation for the
sake of popularity. Along with other CPP leaders who had liberated the country
from the genocidal regime of Khmer Rouge, Samdech Techo Sen has led national
reconciliation through his win-win policy and has accomplished stability, peace
and socio-economic development that currently benefit the entire nation.
Obviously, the recent
abolishment of fishing lots and current policy on land issue which is being
actively implemented, are directed at raising the standard of living,
alleviating poverty, harmonizing the society, and focusing on socio-economic
development in order to promote a more favorable condition for strengthening
peace and stability of our Nation.
As for the opposition
leaders’ promises of free dental care, Commune Chiefs’ visit to the United
States and the destruction of border posts cannot save the Nation. On the
contrary, it is purely and simply demagogy for the sake of their vested
interests. Likewise, their exploitation of territorial issue is about doing
business of politics at the expense of core national interests as Samdech Techo
has warned as follows:
“Political exploitation of
territorial issue endangers the Nation. Enraging racial hatred sparks conflict
between countries and gives rise to instability. It only leads to the destruction
of our Nation.”
Through this historic
day, it has become clear that there is no potential force more powerful than
the predominant leadership of Samdech Techo Hun Sen. Everything for the
advancement of core national interests, everything for the prosperity of our
people and everything for the safeguard of stability, peace and development of
our country – all these are the very inexhaustible sources of energy that are
fueling the rise of national cohesion. Nothing can prevent these powerful
dynamics from growing and keeping their momentum for a long time due to the
need of our people for efficient leadership of Samdech Techo and also to the
need of our country for invariably staying the course on economic development. All these are the dynamics of Samdech Techo
Sen’s Era which are to last as similarly happened in Japan and Singapore.
Japan is one of the
economic powers and the most mature democracy in East Asia. One of its
political parties, LDP, held on to power for 60 years, from post-Second World
War to 2009 because Japanese people needed it. Excluding countries whose wealth
comes from oil, Singapore is the only one country in the entire world today
that has reached a Western level of economic development. There is only one
party, the People’s Action Party (PAP) founded by former Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew that has ruled Singapore since 1959 because Singaporeans need it.
For these reasons, the
whole nation, without exception, wants to have our country reach a certain
level of development as Japan or Singapore. Therefore, we are decisively resolute to support the wise leadership of
Samdech Techo Sen in order to stay the course on economic development for our
country for ever.
26 August 2012
ENG
YENG
Advisor
to the Office of Council of Ministers