Po¡¡ticill Just:ice in Gamhodia? Former Cambodian Finance Minister Sam Rainsy, now an outspoken opposition leader and critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen, discussed the economic and political situation in his country today. Excerpts from his talk. ambodia is facing at least three problems. One It is one of the poorest countries
is dire poverty.
But why do they promise that they would help set up
the tribunal? It is only because of international
in Asia, if not in the world, with a GDP per
pressure and only because they need the money. The
capita of less than US$300, with one of the lowest life expectancy (rates) of around 50 years and with the highest mortality rate. So when we talk about povert¡ I think the most serious and saddest aspect of poverty is (the) mortality rates and life expectancy...and the rest is malnutrition.
country is bankrupt. Without international financial assistance the countrywould have collapsed...In order to make things continue, they have to abide by some wishes of the donor countries, and one of those wishes is to create this tribunal... The third problem facing the country now is local elections...It is more important than we may think because this local election could undermine the very foundation of the communist regime. Even though Cambodia has changed its name from the Popular Republic of Cambodia to the State of Cambodia, (and) now we (are) the Kingdom of Cambodia, these changes are only on the surface. The substance of the regime remains the same. The same people are in power. Royalists in the the coalition led by Hun Sen are just for show. They have no real power. I think they have no ideology, they have no vision, they have no strategy. So in exchange for the honourific positions, in exchange for possibility to get bribes, in exchange for the promise for their President to be the next Kìng of Cambodia, they endorse whatever Hun Sen does.
More than half of Cambodian children suffer from stunted growth...Cambodia has the highest rates of HIV, AIDS contamination, of HIV and AIDS propagation, and probably the highest percentage of the population in the world in terms of prostitution,
including child prostitution...
(In August), the leader of a Chinese triad based in Taiwan called the Bamboo Gang, who has been sentenced to many years in prison in many countries, including Taiwan (and) the US, became the adviser to the president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party... Cambodia is really a haven for criminals and (it's) no surprise that with such rampant systemic corruption, the country remains so poor in spite of massive international assistance. It shows that something is wrong in the system. The second problem is the tribunal to prosecute the former Khmer Rouge leaders. The King signed the
decree to promulgate the law creating a special tribunal with the participation of the UN to bring to justice the former Khmer Rouge leaders. But I do not think, as some people claim, this is a big move, a big step forward, because the King is just a figurehead. He has no power at all. So we have no reason to celebrate this. We have only concern about the strong man of the Hun Sen's real intention whether to allow country
the establishment of a credible tribunal to prosecute former Khmer Rouge leaders. I really doubt (it) because one cannot expect people who themselves were former Khmer Rouge to help shed light on the Khmer Rouge regime, because arry serious investigation led by independent investigating judge would expose facts that would be very embarrassing for many government officials... 32
o the opposition is the only challenge to the communist system and we are facing a lot of difficulty now because we are at the initial stage of the electoral process, the voter registration process, and it is terribly flawed because this process is selective. Everything is under the former Communist Party. There is not a single national institution that is not totally controlled by the former communists... So it is a farce. It's just a show...I was asked whether I fear for my life because I dare to criticise Hun Sen. Actually I do not fear for my life because I am only the democratic alibi for the regime. They show that Cambodia is a democracy. They even have an opposition, contrary to China. But they don't want to kill me now yet because I was so useful to present Cambodia as a democracy. But they kill my supporters, they kill the opposition activists. And they prevent them from gÊtting registered to be voters. I THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\'E,N,{BER
2OOI
Ghronicler of Gities Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere is Jan Morris' latest book says her last. Excerpts from her talk at ant FCC dinner. was
told by your kind Committee that I didn't
have to give you a formal lecture. I guess I canjust meander on. I hope it's all right with you because
that's what I propose to do anyr,vay. And I hope you don't mind, it's going to be
a
rather melancholy few minutes for you because what I
want to talk about is wrapping things up... I am wrapping everything up, that is. Next month I am going to be 75 years old and because I like the idea of a well-rounded symmetrical sort of life, I decided to close things down (at)...this symbolic moment of my life... I have decided that I have had enough of performing, which I have been doing for a long time now, and I have decided I am going to be a purely private person for the rest of my life. My ambitions at last are pure. I have no desire to be famous or popular or rich, having failed in all three an)'\4¡ay. I am going to give up now.
So first of all I decided to conclude my commitment to Wales
in a sort of allegorical way. I
owe
much that has happened to my life to Wales. Much of my fulfilment, of
my good fortune is in being born half-Welsh, halÊEnglish. So I have written a long essay to express my gratitude to the country. The essay is actually about my house and it is 30,000 words long. The house has only six rooms in it. It makes 5,000 words a room... Of course, I have enlarged each room figurativel¡ so to speak, enlarged the house itself to make the entire building an image in microcosm of all that I feel about the country as, well I think it's as a country as a whole... On the wall of the house, I have written a text to put there: "Between earth, the subject, and heaven, the object, stands the house of the writer like a conjunction". I called the essay A Writer's House in Wales. And if you can stomach this sort of gauche patriotism, it's going to be published in a series of little monographs by the National Geographical Society in January. So do bu¡ it's lovelyl Being (of) a modest disposition to wrap up the world, I thought I would go looking for the new side...I THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEìVIBER
2OO1
-
and she
knew my own side well enough, the mood and the feelings of the world in the second half of the twentieth century. So I thought I would make a last Grand Slam journey around the world to see how the twenty-first century spirit was shaping up. That's why I am here today as a matter of fact. I have chosen three or four big themes to explore and contemplate, and I have got a magazine to commission a piece. And here I am today trying to work out what must surely be the ultimate think piece about the state and condition of the entire planet...you can only do that when you are wrapping things
up. And finally I decided I would write my last book. I decided to make it a book about a city since much of my life is spent writing about cities. I rvanted to use a city as a medium
to explore myself really and consider what conclusions
I
to reached
wanted a city that I could think of as a mirror to myself. The city I have chosen (Trieste) has puzzled and fascinated me all my life (so) I have called the book...Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere. I think you will agree it's a very good title. It's fair and enigmatic and nobody knows what it means including mel
in life. I
owever, this is how I describe Trieste in the book: the feelings that Trieste inspires in me. There are moments in my life when a suggestion of this place is summoned so exactly into my consciousness that wherever I am, I feel transported there. The sensation is rather like those archaic moments of hush
that sometimes interrupt a perfectly
ordinary
coil'ersation. You know them. They are said to signify the passing of an angel. ...For me an)ryvay, they often signal Trieste. Ever since I went there with a British army at the end of the Second World War, the place has curiously haunted me. \A¡hatever has happened to Trieste, however it changes, however often I go there, for more than half a century the feeling it inspired in me has remained the same...." This evening itself is an allegory for me. At the end of my last Grand Slam around the world, which is going to end, by the way, on Christmas Day in Venice. I shall
33