Cambodian leader pushes for approval of takeover
July 21, 1997
Web posted at: 3:11 p.m. EDT (1911 GMT)PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- Cambodian Second Prime Minister Hun Sen is consolidating power in the wake of his bloody takeover, but the country's relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) remain strained.
On Monday, a legislative committee met to set the agenda for the country's National Assembly, which is to resume work next week after a prolonged recess.
The committee began adding items to the legislative agenda authored by Hun Sen and dropping issues raised by ousted First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, according to the assembly's acting secretary general.
The National Assembly is expected to endorse Hun Sen's choice to replace Ranariddh in a vote next Monday. Hun Sen named Foreign Minister Ung Huot to become co-premier after Ranariddh was ousted.
Observers say that such a rubber-stamp approval by the National Assembly would enable Hun Sen to maintain the appearance of sharing power, while in effect consolidating his hold over the government.
Hun Sen also got a boost Monday when a former Ranariddh ally changed sides.
"I thank the government for crushing the hardliners," said Co-Defense Minister Tea Chamrath in reference to Hun Sen's military victories over Ranariddh's troops.
The legislative moves came amid reports of renewed fighting in the north of the country. Ranariddh, speaking from Singapore, said his forces had recaptured the northern Cambodian town of Samrong, but government officials in Phnom Penh denied the town had fallen to Ranariddh.
Samrong, which is close to the Thai border, has been at the center of much of the recent fighting in the region. Ranariddh's forces were apparently trying to use it as a base for attacks against Hun Sen's troops.
Opposition activists appealed to the Thai government to open its borders to refugees.
Ranariddh, the son of Cambodian monarch King Norodom Sihanouk, said on Monday that he would urge international donors to withhold crucial financial aid until Hun Sen agreed to negotiate the country's political future.
Cambodia's international relations are crucial since international donors supply about 60 percent of the government budget.
Cambodia, now an observer in the ASEAN trade group, was supposed to join the group as a full member along with Laos and Burma at a special ceremony Wednesday. But the organization put Cambodia's bid on hold in the wake of Hun Sen's takeover.
An ASEAN delegation met Hun Sen for talks last week, but the Cambodian strongman turned down ASEAN's peace proposals, saying the organization should not interfere in domestic affairs.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon, a member of that delegation, said Monday that Cambodian "membership is not in the bag right now".
However, a different voice was raised by Malaysia, which hosts ASEAN's meeting this week.
Malaysia's secretary-general in the Foreign Ministry, Abdul Kadir Mohamad, said, "ASEAN foreign ministers on Wednesday will discuss Cambodia's position as observers."
And earlier, Malaysia's foreign minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said the postponement of Cambodia's membership was only a "temporary setback."
"I look forward to Cambodia joining the ASEAN family in the near future once the problems are resolved," he said.
Diplomats say that could happened as early as August 8, when ASEAN celebrates its 30th anniversary, or in December, when the group holds its annual informal summit.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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- Message Board: Cambodian Conflict
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Related sites:
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- ASEAN - the official website of Association of the Association of South East Asian Nations
- ASEAN InfoSite - summary of pertinent information to ASEAN, as well as informative links of interest
- Human Rights Watch - nonprofit, nongovernmental organization monitoring human rights in some seventy countries worldwide
- Royal Embassy of Cambodia to the United States
- Press Release - Statement of H.E Samdech Hun Sen
- State Department Travel Warning: Cambodia - April 21, 1997
- Digital Archive of Cambodian Holocaust Survivors - an ad hoc group of Cambodians and non-Cambodians interested in documenting Cambodian survivor stories on the Internet.
- The Cambodian Genocide Program - an archive of bibliographic, biographic, photographic and geographic data.
- The Documentation Center of Cambodia
- Cambodia Profile - from CARE
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