OTHE DAY As Kem Sokha was released from 14 months of house arrest, he decided to stay at home. The Cambodian opposition leader politely met with foreign big shots who were finally free to call him, but refused to speak to the waiting journalists. He was still prohibited from participating in politics, he said, and did not know what the courts could interpret as a political act. He is still awaiting trial on false treason charges. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which he directed, remains prohibited. And despite the court’s decision of November 10 to relax other restrictions, he cannot leave the country.
Ironically, the little leeway enjoyed by Mr. Kem Sokha is probably due to the efforts of his predecessor at the head of the CNRP, Sam Rainsy, to enter Cambodia. In August, the former finance minister announced his return to Cambodia on November 9 after a voluntary exile in France. (He fled four years ago after being found guilty of defamation.) Before arriving, the government arrested more than 50 people aligned with the opposition. Military reinforcements have been sent to the border with Thailand.
The military didn’t have to worry. On November 7, Thai authorities announced that Mr. Sam Rainsy would not be allowed into the country, much less to cross it into Cambodia. On the same day, Mu Sochua, deputy head of the CNRP, was detained for hours on arrival in Malaysia. The Malaysian and Thai governments have eagerly declared that they do not want to undermine relations with Cambodia. Finally, the Malaysian authorities gave in, allowing Ms. Mu Sochua and Mr. Sam Rainsy to enter the country. The incredible thoroughness has given opposition leaders a lot of media attention and reminded the world of the ongoing subversion of democracy by 34-year-old Cambodian strongman Hun Sen.
the CNRP frightened Mr. Hun Sen. He won 45% of the vote in the 2013 legislative elections, despite a huge institutional bias in favor of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). He seemed likely to do even better in the next poll in 2018. The government therefore persuaded the courts to ban the party before going to far-fetched elections in which the CPP won each seat.
Now the CNRP presents another type of problem. Abuse of its members challenges Western governments, which have spent billions in UN mission to bring Cambodia back to democracy. The European Union, long disgusted with the repression of Mr. Hun Sen, is considering whether or not to impose customs duties on Cambodian exports, threatening the country’s thriving clothing industry and its approximately 700,000 workers. “Economic security in Cambodia is very fragile,” says Vannarith Chheang of the Asian Vision Institute, a Cambodian think tank.
Last year, EU bought about two-fifths of Cambodia’s exports, worth about $ 6 billion. It is the country’s second largest trading partner after China. On November 12, he sent a confidential report to the Cambodian government with the results of a nine-month investigation into human and labor rights abuses in the country. A final pricing decision is expected in February. By improving the treatment of Mr. Kem Sokha and ordering the courts to release 70 other political prisoners, as it did on November 14, the government undoubtedly hopes to both improve its position in the eyes of Europeans and to divert the attention of the magistracy of Mr. Sam Rainsy.
There is a possible side benefit for the Cambodian authorities: the release of Mr. Kem Sokha could rekindle rivalry with Mr. Sam Rainsy. “Their dream is a cage fight,” said Sophal Ear of Western College in America. In any case, the government suddenly seems very complimentary about the man it is trying to betray. “In terms of political courage and reputation, he scored well above that of the populist and cowardly Sam Rainsy,” said a recent editorial in the Khmer Times, spokesman for the regime. ■
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the title “L’opposition tics”
