In addition to the prepared text, at the launching of the construction of the Tamork water storage, Samdech Hun Sen made additional comments on the progressive relations between the Republic of Korea and the Kingdom of Cambodia and the current political affairs of Cambodia as follows:
… The Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology, HE Lim Kean Hor, has made a report clarifying various issues that are relating with the Tamork water reservoir and the intention to fulfil the project since under the regime of the State of Cambodia in 1980s. Because of financial constraint, the project never came into practice. Today, with the kind assistance rendered by the Government of the Republic of Korea (RoK), we are launching the construction site of this very beneficial project which could provide irrigation for an area of 1900 hectares with 3500 households or about 20,000 people. I am grateful to the RoK Ambassador HE Lee Han Gon for his elaboration about the RoK assistance. We could say in general that the RoK assistance has covered to a certain area of Cambodia and we hope it will be increasing in the future.
… I wish to recall that in 1996, after Cambodia and RoK signed an agreement to re-establish its diplomatic relations, I conducted a visit to RoK. Aside from all other forms of assistance, former President of RoK, HE Kim Yung Sam, told me that the Government of RoK would bestow me upon my visit to RoK a sum of US$ 2 million and would be delighted to arrange it according to my will. I was very grateful to the Government of RoK and told HE the President that I would like to have road and dam construction machines equal to the offered sum. As of present the equipments are with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ engineering team and some of them had been used recently to renovate the national road 5. By 1997, RoK was hit by severe financial crises, and assistance and loan to foreign countries had stopped except for the case of Cambodia.
… The current President Roh Moo-hyun of RoK, in a meeting with me at the sideline of the recent ASEAN Summit in Bali, reaffirmed the RoK position on the continuation of assistance to Cambodia. We have requested RoK to provide further assistance in form of grant or loan for the renovation of the national road 3 (the part between Kompot province and the national road 4). With so many achievements, thanks to assistance of RoK, please allow me to convey through HE Ambassador Lee Han Gon my gratefulness and sincere thanks to all the supports and assistance given by the Government of RoK to major prioritized projects submitted by Cambodia so far. I am proud to notice that over the past five years, RoK gave its assistance to Cambodia in loan more than in grant. However, at present we learned that RoK is planning to provide more types of assistance than loan.
… Today, in the Royal Palace, the three political parties are meeting to seek for a solution to the political impasse since after the general elections on July 27, 2003. The Cambodian People’s Party came as the number one party with 60% of seats (73/123) at the National Assembly. Unfortunately it has become a hostage pressurized by those parties finished second and third. I wonder if today’s meeting could yield a breakthrough to the issue as there has been an attempt to disregard the September-5 summit’s communiqué under the presidency of HM the King and Samdech Patriarchs of the two Buddhist sects in Cambodia. CPP contributes a way to get out of the deadlock situation by the “simultaneous vote” solution. It is indeed too far from achieving a solution when the oppositions who claimed themselves to be pro Constitution are in fact violating it themselves.
… Since when there was the preliminary election results on July 29, 2003, FUNCINPEC and the Sam Rainsy Party have demanded to establish a coalition of three without Hun Sen. Later, they disregard the article 119 of the Constitution because they proposed for a neutral Prime Minister, which is not written in the Constitution at all. What is written is that the winning party in the elections will nominate its candidate for the post of Prime Minister. In fact the CPP position has taken HM the King’s October 18, 2003 as a roadmap for the discussion. CPP has to make three compromises – 1) Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranaridh is FUNCINPEC’s only candidate for the post of President of the National Assembly or the Senate, while Samdech Chea Sim will be the President of the remaining one; 2) a Sam Rainsyist will be accepted to become a Vice President of the National Assembly or a Deputy Prime Minister of the Royal Government; and 3) FUNCINPEC and the Sam Rainsy Party will be offered some posts of Ministers, Secretaries of State, Under-Secretaries of State and a reasonable number of heads of diplomatic missions abroad.
… There has been a tendency to separate the procedure for the functioning of the National Assembly and the formation of the new Government and the candidate for the post of Prime Minister. I have proposed in this respect a simultaneous vote for the two issues. I wish to clarify one important issue here that the acceptance of the candidacy of Samdech Hun Sen as the Prime Minister of the new Government is no compromise of anyone but the respect of the Constitution and the electoral results. Because of the lack of confidence in one another, the simultaneous vote is proposed and only by this means that the National Assembly structure and formation of the Government would be solved. Offering Samdech Krom Preah the position of President of the National Assembly is not the desire of CPP but the wish of FUNCINPEC as well as the respect to HM the King’s message on October 18. In the November-11 meeting in the Royal Palace, Sam Rainsy once again took advantage of making a statement that his position is to accept the coalition of three with a “new” Prime Minister, which was in fact contrary to the November-5 communiqué. So, unless we have a package agreement through simultaneous vote, CPP would give no vote for the position of the President of the National Assembly and the parliament could be convened to hold a meeting under the chairmanship of the most senior in age member of the new National Assembly. The two issues – Parliament leader and Government leader has to be decided simultaneously.
… Originally we would like to form a coalition of two parties only but because of a demand sounded out by a political party from before the message of HM the King, we have accepted to form a coalition Government of three parties. Is not it a reconciliatory idea? When they said they uphold the reconciliatory approach, is it so when they chase Hun Sen away? As for Sdech Krom Khun Norodom Sirivudh, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity because of so many tricks by FUNCINPEC itself after he was found to have plotted for the assassination of Hun Sen.
… Document relating to the incident was provided to me by senior and middle-level officials of FUNCINPEC. How could CPP strip his parliamentary immunity when it had only 51 seats in the parliament? HM the King sent me a letter (reading the letter) and a letter was sent to me by Sdech Krom Khun himself. He affirmed in a separate letter to Sdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranaridh his gratefulness for saving him from being imprisoned and death. In one paragraph he stated his promise not to involve in politics, political movement or ideology, including also activities of the Sam Sainsy Party. He did not mention this in the letter sent to me. So it was not a matter between me and Sdech Krom Khun, but rather between Sam Rainsy and Sdech Krom Preah over the issue of Sam Rainsy being expelled from the position and Sdech Krom Khun was unhappy with the matter. It was internal rift within FUNCINPEC but Hun Sen was the one they blamed… CPP takes no notice of and gives no frustration over the fact that Sdech Krom Khun return to politics in Cambodia. Sdech Krom Khun swore under oath to HM the King and Sdech Krom Preah, but he kept no oath alive. CPP and me would give him no frustration and would accept him to take the post of Deputy Prime Minister or Senior Minister.
… If the new Government could not come into existence, the current Government would continue and it is ironical when Mr. Son Chhai (of the Sam Rainsy Party) said it was illegal that China provided assistance to Cambodia without waiting for the new Government. Today RoK is doing the same. Why the foreign assistance to Cambodia is illegal since it is in no one’s interest but the people of Cambodia to have roads, water reservoir, etc. built.
On this occasion Samdech Hun Sen offered ten tons of cement to the pagoda of Preahput Andet, 15 tons of cement to the pagoda of Munnisaophea, a six-classroom building to the Primary School of Angchum, a six-classroom building to the Primary School of Ponnhea Pun.
EndItem.
