Proposal to teach Hun Sen’s life story in schools seen as hagiography by some

[geovalin]

Mech Dara and Shaun Turton

 

Students at schools in Cambodia will learn about the life, achievements and leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen under a proposal by the Defence Ministry to change the nation’s curriculum and introduce the ruling party’s fiercely contested historical narrative into textbooks.

 

Revealing the plans yesterday, Defence Ministry Director General of Policy and Foreign Affairs Nem Sowath said there was a need to fill a “gap in history”.

 

Observers, however, were quick to note the prime minister’s personal story is already widely promoted by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, not to mention by the premier himself, with one analyst calling the proposal simple “politics”.

 

read more http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/proposal-teach-hun-sens-life-story-schools-seen-hagiography-some

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Phenom Pen Post 20/06

 

[Mangkhut]

Yes that is a very good idea. Tell everybody how he started his career as a Khmer Rouge officer. 

 

The rest you can find in Wikipedia. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_Sen

 

Its a shame and beyond disgusting that a man responsible for so much killings and suffering, violence and unjustice still can be the head of state....everybody should know about this!

 

"

Hun Sen came to power with the Khmer Rouge and served as a Battalion Commander in the Eastern Region of Democratic Kampuchea (the state name during the Khmer Rouge government). In 1977, during internal purges of the Khmer Rouge regime, Hun Sen and his battalion cadres fled to Vietnam.^{[14][15][better source needed]}

Hun Sen became one of the leaders of the rebel army and government that the Vietnamese government sponsored when they prepared to invade Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge regime was defeated, Hun Sen was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea/State of Cambodia (PRK/SOC) in 1979. As the de facto leader of Cambodia, in 1985, he was elected as Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Prime Minister, after the death of Chan Sy. As Foreign Minister and then Prime Minister, Hun Sen played a pivotal role^{[citation needed]} in the 1991 Paris Peace Talks, which brokered peace in Cambodia. During this period Prince Norodom Sihanouk referred to him as a "one eyed lackey of the Vietnamese".^[16]

In 1987, Amnesty International accused Hun Sen's government of torture of thousands of political prisoners using "electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with plastic bags."^[17][18][19]

After the UN monitored elections he refused to step down from the post and negotiated a transitional government agreement that allowed him to remain as co-prime minister but he retained the chairmanship of the CPP.^{[citation needed]} From 1993 until 1998 he was Co-Prime Minister with Prince Norodom Ranariddh. In 1997, the coalition was shaken by tensions between Ranariddh and Hun Sen. FUNCINPEC began to discuss with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels (with whom it had been allied against Hun Sen's Vietnamese-backed government during the 1980s), with the aim of absorbing them into its ranks.^[20] Such a rallying would have rebalanced the military power between royalists and the CPP.

In response, Hun Sen launched the 1997 Cambodian Coup, replacing Ranariddh with Ung Hout as the First Prime Minister and maintaining his position as the Second Prime Minister, a situation which lasted until the CPP's victory in the 1998 election, after which he became the country's sole Prime Minister. During that year the media broadcast him as the Strong Man of Cambodia which he later said was premature, and that the July 1997 coup was merely the government taking action against the paramilitary anarchy that was sponsored and brought to Phnom Penh by Norodom Ranariddh.^[21] In an open letter, Amnesty International condemned the summary execution of FUNCINPEC ministers and the "systematic campaign of arrests and harassment" of political opponents.^[22]

On 6 May 2013, Hun Sen declared his intention to rule Cambodia until he is 74.^[23][24]

The controversial and widely disputed elections of July 2003 resulted in a larger majority in the National Assembly for the CPP, with FUNCINPEC losing seats to the CPP and the Sam Rainsy Party. However, CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome and a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004, when Norodom Ranariddh was chosen to be head of the National Assembly and Hun Sen became again sole Prime Minister.

 

Hun Sen rose to the premiership in January 1985 when the one-party National Assemblyappointed him to succeed Chan Sy who had died in office in December 1984. He held the position until the 1993 UN-backed elections, which resulted in a hung parliament. After contentious negotiations with the FUNCINPEC, Hun Sen was accepted as Second Prime Minister, serving alongside Norodom Ranariddhuntil a 1997 coup which toppled the latter. Ung Huot was then selected to succeed Ranariddh. In the 1998 election, he led the CPP to victory but had to form a coalition government with FUNCINPEC. Hun Sen has since led the CPP to victory consecutively, and is currently serving in his fifth prime ministerial term.^[3] In June 2015, following the death of Chea Sim, Hun Sen was elected president of the CPP.^[4]

Hun Sen was 32 years old when he became prime minister, making him at that time the world's youngest head of government. One of the world's longest-serving leaders, he has been described as a 'wily operator who destroys his political opponents',^[5] or as a dictator who has assumed authoritarian power in Cambodia using violence, intimidation and corruption to maintain his power base.^[6][7] Hun Sen has accumulated highly centralized power in Cambodia, including a personal guard said to have capabilities rivalling those of the country's regular army.^[8] The former Khmer Rouge commander has consolidated his grip on power through a web of patronage and military force'.^[9]

 

 

Hun Sen with Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyễn Tấn Dũng in 2007

Some political opponents of Hun Sen have in the past tried to accuse him of being a Vietnamese puppet.^[16] This is due to his position in the government created by Vietnamwhile Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation and the fact that he was a prominent figure in the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (now known as the Cambodian People's Party), which governed Cambodia as a one-party state under Vietnamese military occupation from 1979 until elections in 1993. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, saying that he represented only the Cambodian people.^{[citation needed]}

Hun Sen's government has been responsible for the leasing of 45% of the total landmass in Cambodia - primarily to foreign investors - in the years 2007-08, threatening more than 150,000 Cambodians with eviction. Parts of the concessions are wildlife protections or national parks even,^[43] and the landsales has been perceived by observers, to be the result of government corruption. Already thousands of citizens had fallen victims of forced evictions.^[44]

Hun Sen was implicated in corruption related to Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources in the Global Witness 2009 report on Cambodia. He and his close associates were accused of carrying out secret negotiations with interested private parties, taking money from those^{[further explanation needed]} who would be granted rights to exploit the country's resources in return. The credibility of this accusation has been questioned by government officials and especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself.^[45]

Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has placed bans on public gatherings, driven opposition supporters from the site of former protest meetings 'Freedom Park', and deployed riot police to beat protesters and detain union leaders.^[46]

 

Hun Sen and his political party, CPP, have held near total dominance over the mainstream media for the majority of their rule. Bayon Television is owned and operated by Hun ManaHun Sen's eldest daughter. Apsara TV is joint-owned by Say Sam Al, CPP Minister of Environment and son of Say Chhum, CPP secretary and the son of CPP Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. CTN, CNC and MyTV are all owned by Khmer-Chinese tycoon, Neak Okhna Kith Meng, one of the State's "Okhna".^[47]Okhna is a title granted by the Prime Minister or the Royal Family to high-profile businessmen, and signifies a very close friendship. Okhna are regularly summoned by the Prime Minister to provide funding for various projects.^[48]

CPP officials claim that there is no connection between the TV stations and the state, despite the obvious prevalence of nepotism. However, CPP lawmaker and official spokesman Cheam Yeap once stated "We pay for that television [coverage] by buying broadcasting hours to show our achievements,"^[49] indicating that those TV stations are pro-CPP because they have been paid for by the state for what is effectively advertising.

A demand for television and radio licences was one of 10 opposition requests adopted by the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) at its "People’s Congress" in October 2013.^[50]

[Juan B Tong]

hagiography.  

Learned a new word today

[Redline]

I would hope the King has something to say about that.