Opposition Backers Subdued on Sunday
Thousands of stick- and rock-toting demonstrators took to the streets Sunday to stump for the CPP and send a message to opposition supporters: Stay off the streets.
The well-organized group held a brief rally at Olympic Stadium before marching to the Royal Palace in a counter-demonstration apparently geared to blunt the pro-opposition protests that have been going on for the past three weeks.
“The most important thing is not to have a confrontation, but to show we have supporters,” said CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith on Sunday.
The demonstration sent many Phnom Penh residents into their homes for fear of violence. It also seemed to keep most opposition supporters off the streets for the first time in weeks.
The demonstrators were protected by well-armed riot and military police, who cordoned streets and even escorted the marchers. Military police lined the main boulevards Sunday, some gripping their assault rifles in ready position and fingers near triggers.
The police protection was in sharp contrast to last week’s opposition demonstrations, when authorities or CPP supporters shot two people dead, shot and wounded at least 10 others and beat dozens with assault rifles and electric batons.
Witnesses said police also stood by Sunday at around 10 am when demonstrators trashed two shops opposite the stadium. “Not one of us in here yelled at or disturbed the protest in any way,” said Chhe Phal, a 24-year-old restaurant worker who was in the Chung Heng Thmei restaurant on Sihanouk Boulevard and Street 105 when it was attacked.
The police protection was in sharp contrast to last week’s opposition demonstrations, when authorities or CPP supporters harrassed marchers, shooting two people dead, shooting and wounding at least 10 and beating dozens with assault rifles and electric batons.
Witnesses said police also stood by Sunday at around 10 am when demonstrators trashed two shops opposite the stadium. “Not one of us in here yelled at or disturbed the protest in any way,” said Chhe Phal, a 24-year-old restaurant worker who was in the Chung Heng Thmei restaurant on Sihanouk Boulevard and Street 105 when it was attacked.
Afterwards, glass covered the floors and cupboards were cleared of dishes and food. “Everyone in the city fears this [CPP] demonstration,” said Ban Nget, a 30-year-old streetside cigarette seller near Olympic Stadium whose glass display case was smashed in the attacks.
Bamboo sticks, steel rods, and slingshots were among the makeshift weapons carried by the krama-wearing CPP supporters.
Medical workers and witnesses confirmed at least four beatings by demonstrators: two people in shops near Olympic Stadium when demonstrators attacked; one man picked up by a Red Cross ambulance near Sihanouk Boulevard; and another man, bleeding heavily from his head, near the Ministry of Defense.
It was otherwise a peaceful exercise for the up to 5,000 pro-CPP supporters. Most were solemn except when announcers prompted them to cheer “Cheyo!” or “Cheyo Hun Sen!” Announcers on loudspeakers mounted on trucks and cyclos shouted in favor of the CPP and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen and lambasted opposition leaders as “traitors.”
Sam Rainsy continued Sunday to stay under the protection of the office of the representative of the UN secretary-general’s office, located in the Hotel Sofitel Cambodia, where marchers stopped to shout anti-opposition slogans.
Man Chhoeun, municipal Cabinet chief, said his office has not authorized Sunday’s demonstration. In principle, he said, Sunday’s demonstration was illegal, but he asserted that the CPP demonstration was different than opposition protests because participants did not incite police or “scold” public leaders.
Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said late Sunday that police did not disperse the CPP demonstration because the party has not had a chance to demonstrate yet.
“Even though [the CPP] didn’t have it approved, they did not have any chance to express their will,” said Khieu Sopheak, citing three weeks of unapproved opposition demonstrations. “And now that is their chance to express their will, even illegally.”
A senior Interior official said the ministry is not approving any public demonstrations right now, but that police came out in force Sunday to protect the demonstrations. “All protests now are illegal, but the police have duty to protect demonstrators from violence,” he said.
Sunday’s demonstration at times was ugly. “If we see any Rainsy or Ranariddh supporters, we will shoot and kill them,” one group leader said over his ICOM radio. Another man scowled at onlookers and dragged a sharpened red-and-white steel rod noisily over the tiled stone walk in front of the palace.
Others laughed as they filled their pockets with rocks. Leaflets handed out at the rally and CPP demonstrators accused the opposition of disguising their supporters as monks.
Most participants were friendly, but declined to answer questions. A few reported being paid or pressured by their village chief to come and others said they joined the demonstration freely. “I want the opposition protesters to stop, because they have failed,” said Sok San, 40, from Kandal province. “If Hun Sen doesn’t work well, then in five years, vote for someone else.”
A military analyst said Sunday that most of the demonstrators his staff interviewed reported receiving between 15,000 and 20,000 riel plus 10 kg of rice to participate.
CPP “group leaders” organized the transportation for participants living outside Phnom Penh, including from Kandal, Kompong Speu, Kompong Cham and Takeo provinces, according to demonstrators. The procession’s movements were organized by CPP group leaders, according to demonstrators.
The demonstrators were trucked home after they received boxed lunches in front of the palace. Khieu Kanharith implied that the demonstrators went home at mid-afternoon Sunday to avoid a clash with opposition supporters.
There were still some pockets of opposition demonstrations Sunday. Up to 200 people gathered at the US Embassy, one of the main sites of last week’s pro-opposition demonstrations demanding that Hun Sen step down from his prime minister’s post. Near dark, police attempted to disband the demonstrators by firing about 10 rounds above the heads of the throngs near Monivong Boulevard and Street 214.
Preparations for Sunday’s rally began Saturday when about 100 trucks with CPP supporters
poured into the capital, mostly from Kandal province.
Many lounged for hours near the Royal Palace, the National Museum and along the riverfront near the Cambodiana. Others, some of them from Phnom Penh, carried sticks and got into clashes with opposition protesters.
At least five people were hurt in clashes near the US Embassy and the German Embassy on Saturday. Three were shot late afternoon amid flying rocks and gunshots on Monivong Boulevard and Street 214. At least one of the wounded appeared to have been a CPP protester shot by another CPP supporter.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, the truckloads of CPP supporters were streaming into Olympic Stadium, where they spent the night, supplied with food, water and kramas. Rock bands and a comedian entertained the crowd, estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000, until past 10:30 pm.
(Reporting by Lor Chandara, Jeff Smith, Saing Soenthrith, Pin Sisovann, Kimsan Chantara and Marc Levy)
