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One party to rule them all: Cambodia’s supreme court rules the dissolution of opposition party
EPA/Kith Serey, CC BY-ND
Caroline Bennett, Victoria University of Wellington
Last week the domestic Supreme Court of Cambodia officially dissolved the main opposition party – the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). 118 of its officials were banned from politics for the next five years, and its 55 parliamentary seats will be redistributed across the house.
The move leaves the current ruling party, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), as the only real party in the run up to the 2018 general elections.
Dissolution no surprise
The dissolution was, sadly, expected. The lead judge was a senior CPP figure, and it is the result of political repression coursing through Cambodia for the last 18 months, including widespread suppression of the media.
Read more: Violent politics and the disintegration of democracy in Cambodia
The latest of this was the detention of political journalist Len Leng during the Supreme Court ruling, and the charging of espionage of two former free-Asia journalists on November 18. The period also included smear campaigns against opposition leaders and politicians, and the reported assassination of campaigner Kem Ley in 2016.
These increasingly repressive actions consolidate the rule of the CPP. The court ruling also potentially maintains this position for the 2023 elections. The five-year ban of large numbers of opposition politicians (with former leader Sam Rainsey still in exile, and current leader Kem Sokha under arrest for treason) means they will come back into play only months before the 2023 general elections, with no time to create a viable opposition.
The move to dismantle any opposition is further reinforced by an offer to opposition politicians to retain their seats by defecting to the ruling party. So far only 200 of the 6,000 party members have accepted.
The latest moves bring the autocracy into full view: not only is the ruling party not afraid of openly and violently suppressing the nation, but it now takes these actions in full disregard of the geopolitical repercussions. The US has stated that it will end its support for the 2018 elections. The EU stated that vital trade agreements may be threatened by the dismantling of human rights in the kingdom. China, Cambodia’s largest donor and biggest investor, however, has remained quiet.
Violent autocracy and global democracy
In a previous Conversation article, I linked the actions not only to the violent rule of the current leader, Hun Sen, but also to a rolling back of democracy around the globe, paralleled with a rise of autocracy.
Violence is an effective mechanism of authoritarian control. As my research shows, it works best in the wake of remembered conflict and violence, such as the decades of civil war Cambodia suffered throughout the 1960s and 70s, including the Khmer Rouge regime.
However, that control comes at a cost. The current ruling party narrative centres on the threat of revolution, accusing the opposition party, and media outlets deemed sympathetic to their cause, of colluding with international powers to plan its overthrow. No convincing evidence has yet come to light to discredit opposition voices and prove the ruling party’s position.
The Cambodian government is neither naïve nor ill-informed. CPP members are, in many ways, astute political players. Hun Sen knows well how to influence much of the population, and has in the past used all means necessary, from the violent coup of 1997 in which he first took full power, to aligning himself and his family with guardian spirits and the former king.
During my research, I found that for many people in the older generation, he remains, if not popular, at least a known protector and strong leader. He holds himself responsible for keeping peace in the kingdom for the last 38 years, and has used this narrative throughout his reign to keep power and promote himself as the patron of Cambodia.
Eroding power through violent means
As we move further and further from the Khmer Rouge, however, the persuasive rhetoric of saviour and protection becomes weaker and weaker. This was evident in the 2013 general election, when the opposition party made a substantial gain, and more recently in the 2017 local elections with similar gains. It is more evident now in the increasingly extreme measures the ruling party is willing to take to keep their hold on power.
As Hun Sen uses increasingly violent means to maintain control, he simultaneously erodes it in dramatic fashion. By eliminating the opposition party, the CPP guarantees success in the 2018 elections. But it also sets up the circumstances to dismantle its own power and government.
Hannah Arendt wrote that power and violence are antithetical – that power lies in persuasion, and it is only when power starts to wane that violence takes precedence. When violence reigns, it destroys power.
As Arendt argues, violence in politics is always instrumental. I suggest it serves to consolidate or increase strength, but this strength is precarious and highly volatile. The leaders around the world who resort to violence do so out of weakness and desperation – they know that without it they would have no power. Because of this, it has to grow, until the violence itself becomes an insurmountable issue to deal with.
I doubt Hun Sen’s rule will be toppled soon. When it is, it will likely be with violent resistance. But as we have seen around the world, though violence can be controlling, it is never persuasive, and eventually, it loses its grip. Mugabe is the latest example of the fall of the autocrat. When the CPP will fall is uncertain. But the increase in violence brings it all the much closer.
Caroline Bennett, Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology, Victoria University of Wellington
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Cambodia, Vietnam and Philippines: Persecution News Update
The links below are to articles reporting on persecution news from Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, particularly in reference to Montagnard Christians (the most recent are at the top).
For more visit:
– https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-betrayal-of-vietnams-forgotten-christians/80364
– http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/refugees-set-departure
– http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/well-founded-fears-montagnards-returning-vietnam-speak-dread-what-awaits-them
– http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/seven-asylees-fly-out
Violent politics and the disintegration of democracy in Cambodia
Caroline Bennett, Victoria University of Wellington
Kem Sokha, the leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was charged with treason last week, amid allegations of conspiring with a foreign power to overthrow the government.
In all likelihood, the charges mean the imminent dissolution of the main opposition party, leaving the ruling party – the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) – the only real contender in next year’s general elections.
The charges are the latest in the rolling back of democratic processes in the nation. They also reflect a shift in global democracy.
Destroying democracy
The latest development follows a pattern that has included alleged electoral intimidation in the recent commune elections, media suppression, and increasing threats of violence and conflict should the opposition win.
In the last three weeks, 17 radio providers that gave airtime to the opposition and aired programs produced by the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia – two Washington-based outlets that often include political critique – have had their licences revoked.
Last Monday, The Cambodia Daily, an English-language newspaper renowned for hard-hitting journalism, closed after 24 years, after being hit with an unaudited tax bill of US$6.3 million, with no course of appeal.
Read more: Cambodia Daily closure a major blow for freedom of information and expression in the country
In August, the National Democratic Institute’s office in Cambodia was forced to close, and its foreign staff were deported, following alleged infringement of the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (LANGO). This law was passed earlier this year, severely restricting the rights of civil society actors across the nation.
These actions are largely agreed to be manoeuvres to consolidate the political power of the CPP under the increasingly autocratic rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who, following Sokha’s arrest, has declared he will rule for another ten years.
The violence of Hun Sen
My research shows that Cambodian politics has always been a sphere of violence, but that since the 1993 UN-backed elections, it has happened under a veneer of liberal democracy.
According to Human Rights Watch, Hun Sen has the worst human rights record of any “democratic” leader.
Although his party lost the 1993 elections, he forced a coalition, before seizing power after violent clashes in 1997. Elections since then have been plagued by accusations of fraud, corruption and voter intimidation. Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard is implicated in much public violence, including brutal beatings of political opponents.
But these current moves are happening in increasingly public spaces. Their intensification appears to be aimed at preventing a replay of the shock results of the 2013 general elections, when the ruling party lost 22 seats to the CNRP, giving the ruling party its lowest share of seats since 1998.
2013: the beginning of the end
I was in Cambodia for the 2013 elections doing research for my PhD on the legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime. My work involved examining contemporary Cambodian politics.
The success of the opposition took many of us by surprise. Despite the allegations of fraud and corruption, the result seemed promising for its indication of free voting – there was hope that it marked a positive move for democracy. But among threats of civil conflict and unrest, the result also provoked tension.
Protests occurred in the capital, and several people were shot. Rumours started to circulate that Hun Sen had mobilised the army and that the deputy prime minister, Sok An, was planning a coup. Fear and tension bubbled below the surface for many of the people I was working with.
Hun Sen has repeatedly threatened civil war should he lose the elections. His threats are grounded in the all-too-well-remembered violent history of the Khmer Rouge, when up to 1.7 million people were killed.
In 2011, following the Arab Spring, Hun Sen threatened to kill anyone resisting his rule. Earlier this year he said:
To ensure the lives of millions of people, we are willing to eliminate 100 or 200 people.
Some in Cambodia fear he will be true to his word. It seems unlikely that Hun Sen will let the 2018 election result get as close as it did in 2013. After all, he has never shunned the threat of violence as a means of control.
Hun Sen also has the support of Tep Vong, supreme patriarch of the Cambodian Buddhist sect of Mohanikay. He has previously condoned controlling the freedom of the people, thereby ensuring spiritual legitimacy as well as political impunity for Hun Sen’s actions.
Global shifts in despotism, crumbling democracies
The moves towards media control and suppression of the opposition parallel turns across the globe. They reflect the rolling back of democracy and a rise of autocratic leaders in so-called democratic countries.
In April this year, a referendum in Turkey voted for constitutional reforms that give President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan single-handed rule with the right to pass new laws and dissolve parliament at will.
This legislation followed the failed coup in 2016. In the subsequent crackdown thousands of journalists, academics and lawmakers were jailed, and at least 156 media outlets forced to close. Turkey now has more journalists in prison than any other nation.
Read more: Turkey’s constitutional referendum: experts express fear for a divided country
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted murder, threatened killings of drug dealers (and likened himself to Hitler in the process) and said he would pass political impunity laws to protect himself. More than 7,000 people have reportedly been killed in the last year.
In Poland, the ruling party passed legislation restricting the freedom of the press and giving itself increasing control of the courts. Only the prime minister’s signature is needed for action.
According to US think tank Freedom House, 2016 was:
… characterised by an erosion of democratic institutions and a rise of autocratic practices across the globe.
Political violence, open suppression
Violence in politics is not new. The control of the people in Cambodia is not new. What is new is the increasing confidence of leaders, such as Hun Sen, to flex their political muscles openly and violently with complete confidence in their political impunity.
Cambodia is often heralded as a nation with an exciting future due to high levels of investment and development support. But the success of its peace and democracy is openly crumbling.
The CPP needs a powerful opposition to prevent complete disintegration of democracy and human rights. It’s making sure that is not possible.
Caroline Bennett, Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology, Victoria University of Wellington
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Vietnam & Cambodia: Persecution News Update
The links below are to articles reporting on persecution news from Vietnam and Cambodia.
For more visit:
– http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/Montagnard-asylum-01212016164718.html
– http://www.ucanews.com/news/rights-groups-call-for-release-of-christian-lawyer-in-vietnam/74924
Cambodia: Persecution News Update
The link below is to an article reporting on persecution news from Cambodia.
For more visit:
http://www.ucanews.com/news/cambodia-orders-repatriation-of-christian-montagnards/74254
Cambodia & Vietnam: Persecution News Update
The links below are to articles reporting on persecution news from Cambodia and Vietnam.
For more visit:
– http://www.ucanews.com/news/persecution-of-christian-montagnards-continues-in-vietnam/73847
– http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/human-rights-groups-appeal-for-asylum-for-montagnards-06262015160435.html
Vietnam: Persecution News Update
The link below is to an article reporting on persecution news from Vietnam and Cambodia.
For more visit:
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/two-montagnards-hide-out-in-northeastern-cambodia-06162015134914.html
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