The Nation
Editorial
Bizarre actions of the Cambodian leader must be designed to distract his public from other issues
One does not need to consult Wikipedia to understand Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's ulterior motive in his latest foray to the Thai-Cambodian border. It was a trip full of symbolism and can-do spirit. Clad in military fatigues, along with his wife, Hun Sen wanted to portray himself as his country's commander-in-chief, or, to be more specific, the guardian of Cambodia's territorial integrity on its western border, like the Cambodian kings before him.
But once he arrived back in Phnom Penh, he suddenly changed back into a fouled-mouth rabble-rouser. He was very rude in his broadside routine, this time using curses - unprecedented in the annals of Asean history - against Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was not at all perturbed.
Hun Sen's diatribes are getting meaner and weirder by the day. It is possible that if Abhisit remains as the Thai leader in the foreseeable future - which is very likely - Hun Sen could suffer from a haemorrhage, because his vitriol reveals an extreme dislike for the Thai leader. Indeed, the Cambodian prime minister may have to be accountable for his "hate" speeches if they lead to violence. There are such precedents in Burundi and Sierra Leone.
Hun Sen must be happy with his latest political manipulation because he continues to score high points on the domestic front. Never mind Cambodia's ongoing border problem with Vietnam, it is the Thais that Hun Sen has tried to portray as invaders, and his own countrymen as "victims."
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