King Norodom Sihamoni signed the supplemental border treaty with Vietnam into effect on Wednesday, according to a statement from the King.
King Sihamoni explained that he had been persuaded that the treaty, which supplements an agreement signed with Vietnam in 1985 during the Vietnamese occupation, was both legal and necessary.
“The royal government, the assembly for which people voted, have the power, the complete responsibility, to solve the border issue with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” the King said in the statement.
“I signed the royal decree to promulgate the supplemental treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam” for peace and stability, the King said.
“The law is urgent,” he added.
King Sihamoni wrote that Prime Minister Hun Sen, Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Deputy Senate President Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, Co-Interior Minister Prince Norodom Sirivudh, and Prince Norodom Chakrapong all recently visited him to assure him that no territory would be lost by the agreement.
Hun Sen said on Tuesday at the National Institute for Education that the border dispute was hampering development and that it was his responsibility to resolve the territorial issue.
“If we don’t have the courage to work on [the] border issue, what is the point to be prime minister?” he said.
“Prime minister, president of National Assembly, president of the Senate and his majesty the King will all sign it as one big family,” Hun Sen said of the treaty.
Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said he worried that the King felt under pressure to sign off on the agreement.
“Some feel there was some kind of pressure to make that decision, and this is not a good thing,” he said.
Son Chhay added that if the King signed under pressure, a future government could challenge the agreement at an international court.
He reiterated that a properly funded and equipped border commission joined by international observers could have resolved the issue in a less controversial manner.
Oum Daravuth, the King’s cousin and a member of the royal cabinet, said the King signed the treaty based on the interests of the nation. “No one dared to put pressure on the king. His Majesty has all rights and immunity,” Oum Daravuth said.
Retired King Norodom Sihanouk weighed in with a letter to former Cambodian diplomat Dikhayuko Sen.
“King Sihamoni is not responsible for the lost Cambodia territory,” Norodom Sihanouk wrote in the letter posted to his Web site on Wednesday. “It is the government and National Assembly [who must] be responsible 100 percent for history, nation and people because they lawfully represent people who voted for them.”
Center for Social Development President Chea Vannath wondered why there had been no public referendum on the controversial issue.
“What is missing, from the beginning, is involvement of the nation and the public,” she said.
“In this issue for the border, we ought to have a referendum involving concerned citizens. [I say this] not because it is right or wrong to sign, but there is a lack of public involvement.”
She added that without public discussion and consensus, the issue would likely not be laid to rest. “I think that the chapter is not closed,” she said.
