King Norodom Sihanouk said he would not approve any border agreement with Cambodia’s neighbors on Wednesday, and instead would delegate this responsibility to the National Assembly and the government.
“I will not sign [any] border agreements with Vietnam, Thailand, Laos,” the King stated. “The National Assembly and this government are solely responsible for the safeguard or the loss of our land and sea.”
The King wrote his comments on the margins of a Jan 29 news story in Cambodge Soir, which were faxed to media outlets on Wednesday.
Saying that the 1993 Constitution limits his authority to non-governing powers, King Sihanouk stated that “I absolutely do not want to have power of any kind” with regards to settling border issues.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has been scheduled to sign a pact with Vietnam in March over territorial issues, but the government’s Joint Border Commission, headed by Var Kim Hong, has yet to release a copy of the agreement to the Assembly, officials said on Wednesday.
Funcinpec lawmaker Princess Norodom Vacheara, head of the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Commission, said she had sent an invitation to Var Kim Hong on Wednesday and 10 days prior to discuss the border agreement, but so far has had no response.
Son Soubert, a member of the Constitution Council who has been active on border issues, criticized the government for failing to provide the agreement to the Assembly. “I think the people should know about the agreement because it applies to them and their lives,” he said.
Cambodia and Vietnam are discussing setting up a meeting to “resolve the [border] problems,” and to talk about further relations when a Vietnamese delegation arrives in Cambodia this month, an official at the Vietnamese Embassy said on Wednesday.
