• Politics

Sam Rainsy Says the Country’s Political Crisis Will End when Hun Sen Attends the ASEAN Meeting in the U.S

• By Mao Sopha
• and Sam Sopich
• March 5, 2022 7:22 PM

Ruling Party spokesperson Sok Eysan said that the prime minister will not dignify this with a response

PHNOM PENH--Cambodia’s former opposition-party leader Sam Rainsy said on March 3 that the political crisis in the country will come to an end following the trip of Prime Minister Hun Sen to the United States in a few weeks.

Former leader of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who has been living in exile since 2015, Rainsy made this statement on March 3 at a gathering of his supporters in Springfield, Virginia, in United States.

Hun Sen is to attend the US-ASEAN Summit scheduled to take place in Washington on March 28 and 29 and which will mark the 45th anniversary of US-ASEAN relations. The prime minister will take part in the meeting as Cambodia chairs ASEAN in 2022.      

Rainsy claimed that if he goes to the United States, Hun Sen will have to make some gestures to please the US including dropping the charges against former opposition leader Kem Sokha, releasing CNRP supporters currently in jail and recognizing the political rights of the CNRP leadership.

“The political crisis in Cambodia will be over and the democratic process will likely begin during the next election in the future, in which the CNRP will participate,” Rainsy said at the gathering.

Contacted, Sok Eysan, spokesperson of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), dismissed Rainsy’s statement, saying that the former opposition leader was simply trying to draw attention and trigger a reaction from the prime minister.

Eysan added that Rainsy will not be receiving a response from Hun Sen.

“PM Hun Sen will leave for the US at the end of March at the invitation of President Joe Biden,” Eysan said. “As guest of honor of the president, why can’t he join the meeting in the US,” Eysan said. Rainsy’s statement is the political rhetoric of a prisoner who tries to degrade the honor and dignity of the prime minister, he added.

On Jan. 14, 2022, Biden sent a letter to Hun Sen inviting him and the other ASEAN leaders to a special summit in Washington, highlighting the importance of the US engagement with the region as well as Washington’s support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN-led “regional architecture,” and demonstrating the need for both sides to work hand in hand to further bolster it.

In response, Hun Sen in early Feb. told Biden that Cambodia, as the current ASEAN chair, supported the summit and was committed to work closely with Washington to strengthen relations between the US and the region.

However, mentioning his trip to Washington, the prime minister also made it clear that no one has the right to lecture him on matters of democracy and human rights.