Opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Tuesday issued a scathing attack on Prime Minister Hun Sen in an appeal to Asean members to delay the admission of Cambodia into the grouping.
“What Hun Sen expects from admission to Asean is just a stamp of approval for his tricky and dangerous maneuvers,” Rainsy said from Bangkok in an open letter.
“Giving Hun Sen the stamp of approval he wants would be the worst service Asean could render to Cambodia…. It would encourage Hun Sen to continue to pay lip service only to serious concerns about systematic human rights abuses, a warlord system, environmental destruction, rampant corruption and state-involved drug trafficking.”
Sam Rainsy added if Cambodia is admitted as a full member, it is likely to create a “headache” and weaken Asean because of “looming instability compounded by a big question mark regarding the role of the newly-defected Khmer Rouge forces traditionally allied with Funcinpec.”
The present government, he said, “will only make Cambodia a sinkhole for international assistance and push the country further and further down the drain.”
The statement singled out tycoon Teng Bunma, recently reported to be the target of a Hong Kong fraud investigation, as being the “financial pillar” of a Hun Sen regime that should be rejected by Asean.
