Cambodia ‘reverses ban’ on Sam Rainsy’s return
>>KUALA LUMPUR: Cambodia’s government claims to have reversed its ban on allowing opposition kingpin Sam Rainsy’s return as an ordinary person but says he will have to face due justice. He has several convictions with prison sentences along with charges for several offences pending.
Sar Kheng, interior minister and deputy prime minister, announced the change on his Facebook page yesterday, shortly after Sam Rainsy arrived in the Malaysian capital.
Sar Kheng said: “As of now, there is not any announcement by the Cambodian government to bar culprit Sam Rainsy and his colleagues from entering the country.’’
Hun Sen’s government earlier vigorously opposed Sam Rainsy’s return.
Cambodia’s exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived in Malaysia yesterday, making partial progress in his quest to return to his home country to lead a movement to try to oust long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen.
He arrived in the afternoon after announcing earlier that he was boarding a plane in Paris, his home in exile, without disclosing his destination.
He and fellow members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) had declared they planned to return to their homeland yesterday on Cambodia’s Independence Day, to end the authoritarian rule of Hun Sen and restore democracy.
Sam Rainsy spoke to reporters briefly on his arrival in Kuala Lumpur, and appeared to acknowledge that he would not be able to make it to Cambodia yesterday, saying he had been invited by
Malaysian lawmakers to meet them on Tuesday. He declared that his visit was a private one and that he was grateful to the Malaysian authorities.
His statement was evidently meant to sidestep the issue of whether he was interfering with Cambodia’s internal affairs while on Malaysian soil. Malaysia and Cambodia are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which maintains a policy of non-interference in each other’s affairs. Malaysia and Thailand have both hindered the free movement of Cambodian opposition party leaders, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
In Cambodia yesterday, Hun Sen and constitutional monarch King Norodom Sihamoni attended a celebration ceremony at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, the capital.
Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian
People’s Party have a stranglehold on power, which was ensured when Cambodia’s high court dissolved the CNRP in late 2017 for allegedly treasonous activities.
The action was seen as a political ploy to ensure victory by Hun Sen’s party in the 2018 general election by eliminating the only credible opposition group.
In a video posted yesterday morning on his Facebook page, Sam Rainsy applauded his supporters for devoting their lives to change and carrying on their struggle with no fear.
‘‘Our victory is getting nearer and nearer,’’ he said. “The change of regime through the democratic means will soon arrive and be accomplished.’’
But inside Cambodia, scores of supporters of the opposition party have been arrested in the past few weeks.