I am writing in response to the article “Attacks on Slogan Grow; Party Law Takes Effect” (March 10). I believe that in this article, the authors only expressed the opinion of the opposition party and its concern about being sued by the CPP, while the article does not at all examine what kind of damage the slogan “change commune chiefs who serve the party and replace them with commune chiefs who serve the people” has caused to the CPP and how it would impact the upcoming commune election results on June 4.
The slogan is clearly an attack on the CPP by saying their commune chiefs are party-minded and are not concerned about the well-being of the people. The authors should include this analysis in the article.
The article also mentions in passing that the slogan does not target a party explicitly, but the slogan clearly targets the CPP’s commune chiefs because the last commune election in 2012 was won decisively by the CPP, which secured 1,592 commune chief spots—70 percent of all the spots.
The article also discussed sources of widespread complaints made by commune chiefs around the country against the CNRP slogan, but it does not examine who within the CNRP made the slogan, how the slogan has been distributed since it was created and why the CNRP chose this slogan while there are countless other potential slogans to choose from to amass support for the upcoming commune election.
It appears that the CNRP is continuing its old strategy of seeking support by appealing to popular prejudice rather than by using rational argument—the same political demagoguery it has often embraced.
Blatant and racist campaigns against ethnic Vietnamese also come to mind, as does the CNRP leader’s flagrant denial of the Khmer Rouge genocide by saying Tuol Sleng prison was invented. The CNRP has not been clean, and yet little has been discussed about it.
Suos Yara
CPP lawmaker
