Hun Sen hints at scuttling monarchy over border issue

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Oct 17, 2005

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 17 Kyodo

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on Monday that he would seek to have the country's political system changed from a constitutional monarchy to a republic if a controversial border deal he signed last week with Vietnam is not inked for promulgation by King Sihamoni.

''If a signature is not to be inked (by the king), then the question is whether we should keep the monarchy regime or turn it into a republican one,'' Hun Sen said at a Buddhist ceremony in Kompong Cham Province, some 125 kilometers east of Phnom Penh.

In the address broadcast by state-run radio and TV, Hun Sen said he has already made this view clear to the king's half-brother Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the National Assembly.

He expressed dissatisfaction with talk that the border deal he signed last week with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Khai could be inked by an acting head of state ahead of promulgation, instead of being official endorsed by the king himself.

Prior to and during Hun Sen's Oct. 10-12 visit to Hanoi, Cambodians opposed to the prime minister's stance on the border issue staged protests or issued statements inside and outside Cambodia.

They claimed he was illegally ceding parts of Cambodian territory to Vietnam by signing in Hanoi a supplementary convention to the two countries' 1985 border delimitation treaty.

Hun Sen warned upon his return that he cannot accept people accusing him of ceding land to the neighboring country and that he would take legal action against them.

As of Monday, two prominent critics have been put in jail for defaming him on the sensitive border issue. The two are Mam Sonando, a radio journalist and Rong Chhun, president of Cambodian Independent Teachers Association.

Hun San also said Monday he would file another defamation lawsuit against Prince Sisowath Thomico, the retired King Sihanouk's nephew.

''With no regard to your bloodline as a nephew of the former king or a cousin of the current king, you will have to face lawsuit and will be sent to jail,'' he said.

At least four other critics are being hunted by the authorities, government sources said.

Among his harshest critics outside Cambodia is Sean Pengse, president of the Paris-based Cambodian Border Committee, an independent body, who has called the 1985 treaty illegal because it was signed when Cambodia was under Vietnamese occupation and had a Vietnamese-installed government.

Hun Sen has said he would resign and appear before a court if any evidence emerges to prove he has mismanaged the border to Cambodia's detriment.

Cambodia shares a 1,270-kilometer land border with Vietnam, 803 km with Thailand and 547 km with Laos.