Phnom Penh (FN), – The presence of the Cambodian Prime Minister at the ASEAN-Australia in Sydney has become a new political battle between the Cambodian people supporting the ruling party and those supporting the opposition. What did they do over there?
* Political battle
As planned, both sides were present, but far from each other, without any clashes. As observed, the opposition's assembling was not smooth, as some could not find the location and others came late. There was no clear source of how many people attended, but through my observation, around 300, and could reach 1,000 if combined with Vietnamese, Burmese and Lao citizens against their leaders.
The number of supporters of the ruling party was 1,281, according to figures scanned to attend the meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen. So far, opposition parties seem to lead in luring the Cambodian supporters in Australia, but lately, the ruling party has begun to attract more supporters, thanks to the hardwork of Prime Minister Hun Sen's eldest son, Hun Manet combined with the presence of his father.
* Political images between the elder politician and the young politician
The number of Cambodians living in Australia is less than those in the United States, but Australia's political current is interesting. According to my understanding, the government's negative points were spread out fast from mouth to mouth with the support of two main elder Cambodian politicians in the Australian government, including Hong Lim, who serves as a member of the upper house of Victoria State and Chea You Horn, Mayor of City of Dandenong, as well as the presence of Kem Ley's wife. There was no presences of former MPs or senior officials of the CNRP.
However, the ruling party was supported by people who seek services from the Cambodian Embassy in Australia facilitated by the working group of Hun Manet.
Hong Lim said, "It was a rare demonstration in Sydney, considered as successful, as there were attendees from every corner". At the same time, Hun Manet stated that, “Every time Cambodia has a mission to abroad, they always oppose the government. They are willing to show the divided of Cambodians rather than united. Finally, they failed miserably”.
* About the gift
As a writer, I was also impressed with the Khmer literature books “Krom Ngoy” and “Ou Chong”, distributed as a gift for overseas Cambodians. In less than an hour, over 3,000 books were in the hands of those attended the meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen.
* What were the agenda of the meeting?
They discussed issues in the Korean Peninsula, especially North Korea's nuclear program, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, anti-terrorism and transnational crimes, and regional economies between ASEAN and Australia and many other key topics.
* About the Philippines
Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s absence was considered as a diplomatic coup imposed on Australia, but the absence did not disrupt the meeting, as he sent a foreign minister to defend the quorum. Duterte’s absence has induced Australia to put more attention toward Cambodia to ensure that Cambodia did not boycott; otherwise, will degrade the value of the meeting.
* About the Indonesia
Indonesian President Joko told reporters that Indonesia welcomed Australia to become ASEAN Member States. In fact, Australia did not make any request due to failures in criteria, including geography and the rights and status of membership. Australia will lose a significant voice in criticizing human rights and democracy, as Australia is a part of US and EU family. ASEAN does not allow any interferences into the internal affairs of its Member States; and to release a joint statement, there shall be a unanimous agreement from all Member States.
* About Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi was pressured due to human rights issues in Burma and issue of more than 700,000 refugees fleeing Burma to Indonesia. Suu Kyi and Joko looked very uncomfortable between one another. Suu Kyi's eyes are full of depression.
* Spending $56 million for a two-day meeting
Australia has spent $ 56 million for a two-day meetings (March 17 and 18, 2018) in Sydney; however, protocols and reception arrangements are not really good. ASEAN leaders had to walk through a crowded parking lot. At one time, Aung San Suu Kyi was arranged to walk like a crab (side by side) to access narrow streets.
About Khmer citizens
There are more than 60,000 Cambodian citizens living in Australia, including 1,000 scholarship and paid students, while over 9,000 and about 200 students living in New Zealand. There are 10 Khmer pagodas in Australia. Citizens living in Sydney, especially Cabramatta, are not different from the Cambodian people living in Paris, France, mixed with Vietnamese and Chinese people, selling sugarcane juices, traditional Khmer dessert beef BBQ, and duck eggs. Although with a better living standard, every single person strives to work and earn competitively to survive.
