Two Cambodia Reform Party commune-election candidates have withdrawn their bids after a village security guard warned them to “be careful” and told them authorities would treat them as immigrants and stall paperwork, a party member said.
In a monologue debating against unnamed analysts, Prime Minister Hun Sen dismissed criticisms that Cambodia was not fully at peace due to ongoing social injustices.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng refrained from naming specific ministries when he criticized them for allowing large imports of drug precursors, pointing to a recent 100-ton bust.
Kem Sokha’s comments stirred a flurry of speculation and commentary online, with armchair political analysts in and outside the country trying to make sense of what this meant for the CNRP — once the most credible political threat to the CPP’s stranglehold on power.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday he would deal with “extremists” – a thinly-veiled reference to the CNRP – before considering handing over power to the “younger generation.”
In a rejection of a provincial leader’s push for hardline monitoring of journalists, the head of the Ministry of Information this week denounced the arbitrary detention of two reporters and urged authorities to more closely cooperate with media workers.
Kem Sokha has been looking to sell his Phnom Penh villa since 2020, said a close colleague, with plans to move to the city’s outskirts or to a different province.
Long boats will not race down the Tonle Sap in front of the Royal Palace this year after the government decided to again cancel the annual Water Festival. The announcement coincides with the start of a third-dose vaccine campaign in 11 capital districts.
Observers say the process of compensating evictees in development projects needs to be cleared up to avoid increasing mistrust, poverty, fear and injustice among the population.
Backtracking from a warning made Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asked the courts to consider dropping an arrest warrant against Thailand-based political analyst Seng Sary, saying he now understands the analyst’s comments as acceptable.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
