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THE PHNOM PENH POST june 11, 2013
World
Vietnam holds leadership poll Cat Barton
V
IETNAM’S leaders faced a first-ever confidence vote in the communist-controlled parliament yesterday as the authoritarian regime seeks to defuse growing public anger over corruption and a lack of political accountability. The vote – to be held every year – was approved by the one-party state’s rubber stamp legislature in November and requires most senior politicians, including the prime minister and the president, to win support from lawmakers. The process has been hailed in the official press as part of a new commitment to transparency and accountability, but observers saw little threat to the communist hierarchy and expected the results to be decided in advance behind closed doors. It will not be “a proper vote”, said Nguyen Minh Thuyet, an outspoken former deputy who called for a confidence vote on Dung in 2010. Even so, coupled with a recent government call for pub-
lic consultation over proposed constitutional amendments, the vote indicates that the party is attempting to respond to rising public dissatisfaction, experts said. “This does represent an effort by the party and state to shore up its faltering legitimacy,” said Professor Jonathan London at Hong Kong’s City University. While it is highly unlikely that the vote will result in any change to the status quo, “even symbolically it is an important event, in Vietnam’s evolution and in the evolution of the National Assembly in particular”, he added. The results of the voting – which covers 47 top officials who yesterday submitted reports to lawmakers of their work performance – are expected to be announced today. According to state media, officials who win support from less than half of lawmakers for two consecutive years may be forced to resign – but this is a “complicated”, slow and effectively meaningless process, Thuyet said. “Everyone will win the vote,”
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Singapore on May 31.
he said describing widespread concerns that top officials would close ranks behind the scenes to support each other regardless of performance. The most closely watched vote will be for Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who was handed a second five-
REUTERS
year term by the party in 2011 despite his widespread unpopularity among the Vietnamese public. Dung has faced down repeated threats to his premiership including rare public criticism from senior party figures and even an unprec-
edented call from one lawmaker to resign. After months of internal political wrangling, it seems “the balance of power is clearly in favour of the prime minister”, Nguyen Van Hieu, 76, a former top party member turned political commentator said.
Dung is now “untouchable”, he said. Critics blame the 63-year-old premier’s policies and governing style for Vietnam’s economic malaise, endemic corruption and banking system riddled with toxic debt, mostly held by state-run enterprises. AFP
Airplane crash lands in Indonesia AN Indonesian passenger plane carrying 52 people crash-landed at an eastern airport yesterday, injuring two, officials said, the latest accident to hit the country’s fast-growing aviation sector. The MA-60 aircraft, operated by stateowned Merpati Nusantara airlines, was coming in to land at an airport in East Nusa Tenggara province when the accident happened, said transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan. Pictures showed the Chinese-made turboprop plane lying on its belly on the runway with its engines jammed facedown into the tarmac and its wings bent forward. An increasing number of planes are taking to Indonesia’s skies to feed growing demand from a booming middle class, but the vast archipelago has one of Asia’s worst aviation safety records. In April a Lion Air passenger jet carrying 108 people missed the runway as it came into land on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea and splitting in two. Dozens of people were injured but no one died.
Yesterday’s accident happened as the plane, which was on a domestic flight from the central island of Flores, came into land at El Tari airport in Kupang city at 9:40 am, Ervan said. There were 52 people on board, 46 passengers and six crew, said Merpati spokesman Herry Saptanto. “Two passengers sustained minor injuries from pieces of glass but they have left hospital and are now fine,” he said. “The plane is badly damaged, I don’t think it can be used anymore.” In May 2011 an MA-60 operated by Merpati crashed in West Papua province, killing 25 people. Following that accident, authorities banned the plane – manufactured by Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation – from landing at three airports with difficult approaches. However, Saptanto said Monday the ban had been lifted six months earlier. El Tari was not one of the airports affected by the ban. Merpati has been banned from flying in European Union airspace since 2007. AFP
Foreigner dies in Saudi protest AN Indonesian woman died on Sunday in a fire lit by workers outside her country’s consulate in western Saudi Arabia, where thousands converged seeking to resolve their immigration status, a consular source said. Some 8,000 Indonesians gathered outside the consulate in Jeddah trying to sort out their papers as illegal foreign workers in the kingdom face a deadline to regularise their position or leave. “Some of them lit a fire near the walls of the consulate seeking to enter by force, but leading to the death of a woman,” the source said. Before the fire, rocks and stones were thrown at the consulate by the Indonesian work-
ers frustrated by long waits to get their cases dealt with. The action was “limited to the walls of the compound and did not touch the offices,” said the consular source. Police confirmed only that a fire had left some people injured, without mentioning any fatality. “The fire has been brought under control,” a police source said. Some 180,000 illegal foreign workers have left Saudi Arabia since April 1 under an amnesty that allows them to try to sort out their papers or leave without paying a penalty, a newspaper report said on Sunday. This wave brings to 380,000 the number of foreign workers who have left Saudi Arabia
since the beginning of the year. Workers without proper papers are becoming increasingly concerned as violators of the immigration rules in the oilrich kingdom will face penalties when the amnesty period ends on July 3, with punishment including imprisonment up to two years, and fines up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000). According to official statistics, eight million expatriates work in the kingdom. Economists say there are another two million unregistered foreign workers. Saudi Arabia is aiming to create job opportunities for its own unemployed by cutting the number of foreign workers, although many of those are in low-paid jobs that Saudis would not accept. AFP
Job Announcement The Phnom Penh Post, is an independent media company in Cambodia and is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of reporter as follows: Khmer Reporter: 1 position Job requirements: -
Bachelor’s degree in journalism or an equivalent degree At least threes years’ experience in journalism Must be able to speak and write articles in both Khmer in English Computer litraty (must be able to type Khmer Unicode well) Female candidates are highly encouraged Age 25 to 40 He/she will be required to serve on the National News Desk of both the Khmer and English Newspapers - Candidates must have no political agendas, no bias, no nepotism or discrimination - Must be fully aware of and obey all the codes and ethics for journalism - Available to work in a high pressure environment Interested candidates should submit their cover letter and CV to the human resource office of The Phnom Penh Post at the below address: Post Media Co. Ltd, #888, Floor 8, Building F, Phnom Penh Center, Corner of Sothearos and Preah Sihanouk boulevards, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh or through email address: jobs@phnompenhpost.com; Tel: 023 214 311 or Fax: 023 214 318 Deadline: June 17, 2013 Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.
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