A small march vaguely calling for “morality” in the country’s politics faced obstacles within the first day of its planned 10-day trek from Phnom Penh to Pursat as authorities blocked them from sleeping at a pagoda.
Around 50 people gathered near Phnom Penh’s Wat Phnom on Wednesday to begin the nationalist march, as participants waved Cambodian and Buddhist flags.
The march was organized by the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, an opposition-aligned body formerly led by union leader Rong Chhun, who recently joined the Candlelight Party.
The association’s current director, Ouk Chhayavy, said at the start of the march that ethics among both the rich and poor were declining in Cambodia, and the country was headed toward “ethical disaster.”
But all the examples and demands of such immorality she and the protesters raised were political.
“We do this pilgrimage because we have seen society facing a huge immorality crisis, including the top person — the prime minister has also used abusive language,” Chhayavy said. “We want to see all ranks of people unite and use good and sweet language to each other.”
Unionist Chhun, known for racially tinged anti-Vietnamese comments, called for the release of political prisoners.
“We have to end this kind of culture of considering all Khmer as enemies. We must unite to lift up this poor country and make it as glorious as other countries,” Chhun said.
He said on Thursday that the group was unable to sleep at a pagoda in Kandal’s Ponhea Leu overnight as the pagoda chief asked them to get permission from the commune chief, who told them to ask the district governor, who refused. They stayed in villagers’ homes instead, he said.
In the afternoon, he said the group was now in Kampong Chhnang and could again face difficulties finding a place to sleep.
The group has issued four demands: political reconciliation, end of political harassment, release of political prisoners, and for Cambodians to stop taking sides in politics.
Cambodian Institute for Democracy president Pa Chanroeun said the public might be sympathetic to the march as many people in the country remained Buddhist.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak, however, said last month that in his opinion, he didn’t think the pilgrimage would bring any good to society, and questioned how the association was assessing a decline in ethics.
“If they based this pilgrimage like they said in the letter on society’s ethics declining, what measurement did they use? What did they base it on? What kind of scale did they use? Generally when we say something, we need to speak reasonably. Going down?” Sopheak said. “This is just my own opinion, but I don’t think it benefits anything.”
