Apparently those responsible for naming the planned “win-win policy memorial monument” have chosen to turn a blind eye to the realities of 30 years of CPP rule. (February 19, “Government Planning Massive Memorial to Hun Sen’s Legacy”)
Government policies for grabbing ever more land for the politically well connected displaced more than 10,000 families in 2014 alone. (February 20, “New Land Land disputes Tripled Last Year; Licadho”) have affected more than half a million people since 2000, all under the CPP’s watch.
The health care sector provides further proof of the callous nature of the ruling party: While insiders grab more land and wealth for themselves and their families, 32 percent of Cambodian children under the age of 5 are stunted by chronic malnutrition. The recent HIV outbreak in Battambang’s Roka commune stems from the CPP’s utter failure to make health care education a government priority.
These facts reflect the ruling party’s obvious and disgraceful purpose and priorities: line the loyalists’ own pockets instead of promoting health care and land ownership policies that would so greatly benefit the common people—and the nation in general—today and for future generations. A more appropriate name for the planned memorial would be “win for the politically connected, lose for everyone else.”
Chris Hilleary is the director of PharmASEAN Advisory Group in Phnom Penh
