A disagreement over a list of departmental appointees has apparently created a rift within the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
Khy Taing Lim, the Minister of Public Works and Transport, is a Funcinpec Party supporter, while Tram Iv Tek, the secretary of state for the ministry, sides with the CPP.
According to Sam Sok, director of the cabinet for the ministry, Tram Iv Tek sent a list of 10 prospective appointees to the Council of Ministers during a period when Khy Taing Lim was out of the country.
“It was unfair to send those appointments when Khy Taing Lim was abroad,” Sam Sok said. “Especially since all those officials were CPP members, and there are more suitable officials available to take those positions. Tram Iv Tek is violating the minister’s rights, and it is completely wrong as an administrative procedure.”
Tram Iv Tek refused to comment. One ministry official, who asked not to be named, said Khy Taing Lim and Tram Iv Tek were not speaking, communicating only by letters through their secretaries.
“It is too bad. I hate to see such attitudes,” the ministry official said. “They are both leaders, and should be examples for the new generation to follow.”
Another ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said Khy Taing Lim had also made appointments without discussing them or seeking approval from ministry officials.
Funcinpec supporters in other ministries have also complained that CPP secretaries of state wait until Funcinpec ministers are away, then send promotion lists to the Council of Ministers, which is controlled by CPP supporters. Khieu Thavika, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said every ministry appointment must be agreed upon by both the minister and the secretary of state, and then sent to the public function secretariat, which screens all prospective candidates for government jobs.
Khy Taing Lim sent a letter on Oct 13 to Cabinet Minister Sok An, asking him to intervene “to prevent the selling of positions in government.”
“I would like you to intervene in order to prevent the selling of positions in government,” he wrote.
