Towards a national dialogue in Cambodia

Towards a national dialogue in Cambodia

Ong Thong Hoeung

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

It is an honour and a pleasure for me to speak to you today on a subject that is close to my heart: the culture of dialogue in a state of law in Cambodia. We have entered this new century of globalisation that is taking our region of south-east Asia and, indeed, the entire world, completely by storm. Changes on this scale call for a radically new and profoundly rational reaction on our part. In my view, the culture of dialogue is a good starting point in addressing these issues.

Before I go any further, however, I must avoid any misunderstanding by stressing that I am not a stakeholder on the ground: I am just an observer, someone who loves Cambodia and is fascinated by life and the opportunities that this era holds for us, with its ever-increasing tempo. It goes without saying that time is not on our side – rather, it will be our judge. We must bear in mind that we live in the 21st century, a brand new world. The need for political and social stability is an urgent one, for without this there can be no development.

We are already living on borrowed time.

Change means dialogue, if we Khmers are to be able to reach a compromise. We have just “commemorated” the 40th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge genocide, a painful page in our history. We are still asking ourselves how this could have happened in a supposedly pacifist country like ours, where peace, tolerance and respect for life are among the basic values of our national and family culture.

Let us turn to the future, though. For the dead are dead forever, and this we know. If we are to continue to live, as indeed we must, laying all these problems to rest lies in the capacity of the living to come to terms with their violent past. The suffering of the past must not have been totally in vain, else it would be even more cruel. This is why dialogue is always indispensable and not a stone must be left unturned in its pursuit.

Let us not forget that next time, we may well not have another chance.

We must reflect now on our choice for our future, for it is this choice that must guide political action. The event that brings us together today is of the utmost importance, because we are talking about the very future of our country. By supporting a culture of dialogue, we will have made a choice: to let the dead now rest in peace, and to build a future for the living. This is a momentous task in the eyes of history. Only a nation that is proud of its civilisation, as we are, can emphatically refuse to give in to fatalism and resignation and embark on a new destiny for the country and its people.

As you can see, I am an implacable supporter of the culture of dialogue. This is in part due to my own personal experiences, but also because of my interpretation of the events that have shaped my lifetime and my encounters with people from different continents.

I should like to start by speaking in memory of someone who, thanks to his courage and determination to follow the path of non-violence, succeeded in leading the people of his immense country, India, to freedom and democracy. I am of course referring to Mahatma Gandhi.

We could go on to cite the example of the non-violent struggle of Nelson Mandela, father of the rainbow nation, the only man in the world to have liberated his multiethnic country, South Africa, without bloodshed; of Martin Luther King in the United States; of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma; and of the efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Rwanda, Chile, the former Yugoslavia and many other places.

Every nation has its own history. But the principle is always the same. Politicians must have ideals, but they should not allow their ideals to become not a sacred dogma. One cannot go into politics if one is not prepared to enter into a dialogue with the men and women who make up not only one’s own camp, but also that of the adversary. If you think that in politics you can reach your objective by pursuing a straight trajectory, as if you were driving on a motorway, with neither dialogue nor compromise, you will end up having to do a U-turn, as the other side will be driven by the same ambition. As Nelson Mandela said, to make peace with the enemy, you will have to work with the enemy so that the enemy becomes your partner.

Having said this, I am fully aware that it will not necessarily all be plain sailing. There is still a long way to go and the road is strewn with obstacles, but I am equally convinced that success will be within our reach once the parties involved realise that they have no other choice and sincerely understand that every obstacle presents an opportunity for moving forwards.

Let us imagine that after independence, Cambodia had been able to function normally, the way it should have done as a state of law: the history of our country, and the personal experience of each of us, would have been completely different. I am almost sure of this. Otherwise we would not be here in Paris, far from our own country, in order to discuss the culture of dialogue. Indeed, in my opinion, it is all too easy to forget nowadays that in the early decades of the last century, even though its pluralist democracy was in its tender youth, Cambodia enjoyed the start of a lively parliamentary life with several political parties, a relatively free press, and elections that were universally described as fair, and which were passionately supported by the Khmer people. Every time I stand before the monument to independence in Phnom Penh, my heart aches for those times. Cambodia could have established a state of law with good governance. What a waste!

But we cannot correct the past or re-write history.

The most pressing and important task facing us now is to create a state of law, in other words the separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers. It is a major challenge for the future to install a system of good governance so as to effectively combat corruption, deforestation, the destruction of natural resources, unregulated urbanisation etc.

The most important thing now is to build a state with reliable laws and credible governance.

We are constantly bombarded, the world over, with the message that the key to development lies in high-quality training and the capacity to innovate. It is through education that the people of Cambodia will be able to play their role as citizens and effectively defend their rights and their country. It is through education that Cambodian women, in particular, will be able to take their rightful place, on an equal footing with men, in the political and social life of the country. This is a far cry from the present state of affairs in Cambodia.

Our country needs well-qualified women and men at all levels if it is in future to play its part to the full alongside the other increasingly developed nations surrounding us.

To love one’s country is not just a question of loving the land, but above all it means loving the people who live there and going to every length to ensure that every one of them has the chance in their lifetime to achieve their dreams.

Transforming human beings into human capital: that is the inescapable challenge facing Cambodia at this time of globalisation in the 21st century. We must, as Winston Churchill said, take change by the hand, otherwise we can be sure that it will take us by the throat.

This, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, is what I wanted to say to you.

These few lines will have achieved their aim if they manage to awaken, ever so slightly, the awareness we need if we are to rise to the challenges of the present and the future.

I wish you every possible success.

Thank you for your attention.