CASE STUDY 1
The Loss of Cambodia's Territorial Integrity Part 4 (Cambodian Parliament and its duty)
The Paris Peace Agreement was intended to help the Khmers and protect the supreme interests of the Khmers and Cambodia. The Cambodia is facing right now are to do with the Khmers themselves more than anybody else.
They can be brought under control through skilful diplomacy, international agreements and international court. Thailand's and Vietnam’s political, military and territorial ambitions and greed are also known facts. Again they can also be brought under control through skilful diplomacy, international agreements and international court.
The real issue here is that the (legitimate- the rightful) government of Cambodia of Prime Minister Hun Sen, does not respect the Paris Peace Agreement and its own constitution. They are the worst example to violate the Paris Peace Agreement that serves the supreme interests of their own country to the advantage of Vietnam. Therefore, calling upon the signatories of the Paris Peace Agreement would be of no point. Absurd as it may sound, but it's the sad and most distressing reality of the Khmers and its society that its current leaders have no hesitation or scrupulousness (having or showing a strict regard for what one considers right; principled) to be of service to Vietnam in order to protect and preserve its power base and clique. They were reluctant.There was silence on the part of the former Khmer Rouge leadership in Pail regarding this issue.What do governor of Pail in, Mr. Ea Cheam and his assistant, Mr. Ian Ruth think of all of this and what happened to them, Noun Chean and Khieu Samphan? They were the fierce defenders of Khmer land and invade Vietnam to get back Kampuchea Krom and blamed the Khmer Leaders of not having the courage to do what they did. Their policies put up on 1970-1975 made Cambodia to become a country not properly govern.Will the Cambodian Parliament endorse this additional convention to the 1985 treaty when it knows that this convention violates every letter and spirit of the Paris Peace Agreement and the Khmer Constitution?The CPP will, for sure, endorse it. The SRP will, for sure, not endorse it. The parliament of Cambodia has legal power to put a stop to all of the problems regards on the additional convention to the 1985 treaty.If they vote to reject this additional convention then it is the end of it. The Khmers do not need other foreigners who care more for their (foreigners) own interests to help solve the Khmers problems. It's time they learn to assume responsibility to take the destiny of their country into their own hands. Foreigners are always foreigners. They will always be foreign to the Khmer interest whatever those interests happen to be. Khieu Kanharith, the minister of information of the Royal Government of Cambodia, said that the whole issue was up to the Parliament of Cambodia to decide and he was right. The Parliament of Cambodia holds an important key to this problem. The members should have been wise enough to demand from their own government of Cambodia a detailed document of the additional treaty. So, they are able to do a thorough study in advance before the voting session of the assembly. Will the members be brave to vote their conscience with respect to the additional convention or will they just follow blindly the voting instructions set by their superiors, who care for themselves than those of their dying nation? Each of them will be paid a salary of about US$2000.00 per month plus other benefits. This is a lot of money in a country where a teacher or university professor makes only a few hundred dollars the most. Each of the Parliaments member is entrusted with the sacred responsibility to defend at all cost the supreme interests of the Cambodian people and Cambodia, a country each claims, professes, and declares loudly to love. It is absolutely more famous and dignified to lose a seat at the National Assembly by following one's own conscience and go into history as a poor patriot than to continue to sit in the Assembly seat and be condemned for eternity in history. As a kid some long time ago in the Cambodian school, you must have studied Cambodian history in which you felt considerable pain when you got to the part where Cambodia lost her territory to her neighbours and somehow, you thought in your head that you would not be like this person, that person or those persons who committed the act of treason against their own country. The time has come to test each parliamentarian's patriotism and the hope is that each one of them except a few incorrigible ones will vote like a child according to their own conscience. For FUNCINPEC members of the parliament, remember your colleagues who laid down their lives in the fight for the liberation of Cambodia from Vietnamese colonialism, a Cambodia of at least as big as that between 1963 and 1969 as recognized internationally under Sangkum Reastr Niyum. Remember their sacrifices and their ideals. Vote with your conscience and not because your superiors tell you so. FUNCINPEC supporters inside and outside Cambodia can begin to exert pressure on the leaders of the FUNCINPEC party so that they will allow each FUNCIPEC Member of Parliament to vote his/her own conscience with respect to the additional convention to the 1985 treaty. That's it; the Parliament of Cambodia holds the answers to the problems facing Cambodia right now with respect to her territorial integrity. This Parliament can be the saviour or the eventual killer of Cambodia's territorial integrity. History will surely judge the Cambodian Parliament without prejudice.
CASE STUDY 2
FUNK and GRUNK
From Beijing, Sihanouk proclaimed that the government in Phnom Penh was dissolved and his intention to create the Front Uni National du Kampuchea or FUNK (National United Front of Kampuchea). Sihanouk later said "I had chosen not to be with either the Americans or the communists, because I considered that there were two dangers, American imperialism and Asian communism. It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them."
The prince then allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, the DRV, the Laotian Pathet Lao, and the NLF, throwing his personal prestige behind the communists. On 5 May, the actual establishment of FUNK and of the Government Royal d'Union National du Kampuchea or GRUNK (Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea) was proclaimed. Sihanouk assumed the post of head of state, appointing Penn North, one of his most loyal supporters, as prime minister.
Khieu Samphan was designated deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and commander in chief of the GRUNK armed forces. Hu Nim became minister of information, and Hou Yuon assumed multiple responsibilities as minister of the interior, communal reforms, and cooperatives. GRUNK claimed that it was not a government-in-exile since Khieu Samphan and the insurgents remained inside Cambodia. Sihanouk and his loyalists remained in China, although the prince did make a visit to the "liberated areas" of Cambodia, including Angkor Wat, in March 1973. These visits were used mainly for propaganda purposes and had no real influence on political affairs.
For Sihanouk, this proved to be a short-sighted marriage of convenience that was spurred on by his thirst for revenge against those who had "betrayed" him. For the Khmer Rouge; it was a means to greatly expand the appeal of their movement. Peasants, motivated by loyalty to the monarchy, gradually rallied to the FUNK cause. The personal appeal of Sihanouk, the overall better behavior of the communist troops, and widespread allied aerial bombardment facilitated recruitment. This task was made even easier for the communists after 9 October 1970, when Lon Nol abolished the loosely federalist monarchy and proclaimed the establishment of a centralized Khmer Republic.
CASE STUDY 3
The overthrown of Sihanouk
While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting took place in Phnom Penh, during which the DRV and NLF embassies were sacked. In the prince's absence, Lon Nol did nothing to stop these activities. On the 12th, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN forces and NFL forces were to back out from Cambodian soil within 72 hours, on 15 March or face military action.
When Sihanouk heared of the chaos, he headed for Moscow and Beijing in order to demand that the patrons of PAVN and the NLF exert more control over their clients. On 18 March 1970, Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's leadership of the nation. Sihanouk was ousted from power by a vote of 92-0.]Hengg Cheng became president of the National Assembly, while Prime Minister Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. Sirik Matak retained his post as deputy prime minister. The new government emphasized that the transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional, and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. There have been, and continue to be, accusations that the U.S. government played some role in the overthrow of Sihanouk, but conclusive evidence has never been found to support them.
The majority of middle-class and educated Khmers had grown weary of the prince and welcomed the change of government. They were joined by the military, for which the prospect of the return of American military and financial aid was a cause for celebration.] Within days of his deposition, Sihanouk, now in Beijing, broadcast an appeal to the people to resist the usurpers.Demonstrations and riots occurred, but no nationwide groundswell threatened the government. In one incident at Kompong Cham on 29 March, however, an enraged crowd killed Lon Nol's brother, Lon Nil, tore out his liver, and cooked and ate it. An estimated 40,000 peasants then began to march on the capital to demand Sihanouk's re-establish. They were dispersed, with many casualties, by contingents of the armed forces.
