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January 2001. Cambodia today is a nation in recovery.
There is peace and relative stability. Some economic prosperity is apparent to the
visitor. International tourism increases every day.
Yet the government still wrestles with the nations legacy. It tries to make up for years of
neglect in education and medicine. A new population with no memory of the Khmer Rouge holocaust
has been born and is growing up. And yet the strong family, religious and village roots of the nation seem to have broken down forever. A culture of violence seems to have survived the Khmer Rouge era. Sociologists refer to it as a "culture of impunity."
In the absence of a developed legal system and respect for laws and institutions, people tend to
"take law into their own hands." Random killing is widespread. Grievances
are settled arbitrarily.
Since the Vietnamese swept the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979, and consolidated their position by
appointing leaders they could trust in the early 1980's, the transition from totalitarianism to a
more open society has proceeded slowly. For thirteen years the nation remained locked in a low
level civil war with most of the fighting in the western and northern reaches of the country. The prolonged Vietnamese stay resulted in the continuation of the intense centuries old bitterness between the two ethnic groups.
Vietnamese troops finally withdrew from Cambodia in 1988-89.
The United Nations supervised nationwide elections in May 1993.
Although the results were contentious, Hun Sen, the leader of the Vietnamese backed government
and a member of the Phnom Penh regime since Vietnam installed it in January 1979, emerged the
stronger partner in a coalition government with Royalist party head Prince Norodom Ranariddh
elected co-premier. Ranariddh's father Prince Sihanouk, was restored to the throne as King and
as head of state in a largely ceremonial role.
The shaky leadership alliance lasted until 1997 when Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh.
In late July 1998, a second coalition government was elected with Hun Sen again wielding much of
the power in the country.
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Prime Minister Hun Sen has come a long way.A skinny, one eyed, (he lost an eye when he was a
Khmer Rouge soldier before defecting to Vietnam) not yet 30 Foreign Minister when I met him in
1979, I will always be grateful to him for the help he gave me when I sought to assist Sinan in
her long overdue escape from Cambodia. |
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In his twenty years at or near the top of the Cambodian government, he has built solid native
support, a military and political machine second to none, begrudging respect from foreign diplomats,
and a reputation for ruthless "strongman" tactics. |
