“We do not care and we are not surprised as well, because the problem has happened for a long time and repeatedly. Let the public make a decision.”
Opposition leader Kem Sokha (left) speaks to Prime Minister Hun Sen at a session at the National Assembly in Phnom Penh late last year. AFP |
PM, Sokha talk leaked, purports to show private negotiations between rivals
Phnom Penh Post | 6 March 2017
The prime minster yesterday boasted he was pulling the opposition’s
strings after verifying as “one hundred percent” true a leaked phone
conversation purporting to feature details of a back-channel deal with
opposition leader Kem Sokha, as the latter attempted to negotiate his
freedom from effective house arrest.
Released on Saturday, the audio recording is the latest covertly
recorded clip uploaded by Facebook user “Seiha”, who also posted alleged
WhatsApp messages suggesting Sokha colluded with the premier in a bid
to take over the Cambodia National Rescue Party, messages an opposition
lawmaker featured in the exchange yesterday said were fake.
The leaks came just days after a trove of at-times damning text messages – some of which The Post
were able to independently verify – appeared to show tycoons, cabinet
members and Hun Sen’s relatives engaging in ethically dubious behaviour.
The latest recording was picked up by government-aligned outlet Fresh
News, which wrote that the conversation happened on September 25, at
which time Sokha was hiding in the CNRP headquarters to avoid arrest in a
“prostitution” case widely considered politically motivated.
In the clip, Hun Sen, referring to his plan to reduce political
tensions during the Pchum Ben holiday, pushes Sokha to censure then-CNRP
president Sam Rainsy for his frequent criticisms on Facebook, which he
suggests are an intentional ploy to provoke authorities to arrest Sokha.
Hun Sen then seemingly guarantees Sokha he will not be arrested if he
leave the headquarters to register to vote and further suggests Sokha
should “grab the force and take over the party”. The premier states that
he won’t work with Rainsy, whom he derides for an alleged comment
suggesting his son Hun Manet was born of an affair between his wife and a
Vietnamese general.
“Kha, I can work with you, but with Sam Rainsy’s case, I will not
make an exception for him, and if [you] continue to attach yourself to
him you will also be in danger,” says Hun Sen, who also refers to using
the Japanese Embassy as an intermediary with the CNRP and as an outlet
to which he vented his anger at the comments about his family.
During the conversation, Sokha appears to go along with the premier and asks for the case against him to be dropped.
“I request Samdech to end [the case]; what I said, I will do it, Samdech,” he said, using the prime minister’s honorific.
In its story, Fresh News points to a series of events they
characterise as proof Sokha went along with the deal. They note he
issued a call for “calm” on Facebook – a statement which did not
directly rebuke Rainsy – left the headquarters to register, signed a
statement condemning the claims about Manet and, in December, received a
royal pardon at Hun Sen’s behest.
Speaking to the outlet over the weekend, Hun Sen said the conversations showed Sokha “followed my instructions”.
“This was the result of the discussion between His Excellency Kem
Sokha and me. His Excellency often sends information to me including
about releasing statements,” he said.
CNRP officials would not confirm or deny the audio yesterday.
However, CNRP deputy president Eng Chhay Eang said the party had been
informed of Sokha’s conversation with the prime minister on September
25, which he said had been necessary because of the “hot” political
situation.
“We all knew,” he said, declining to comment on the content of the messages.
“We do not care and we are not surprised as well, because the problem
has happened for a long time and repeatedly. Let the public make a
decision.”
Sebastian Strangio, author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, said
though “leaks and dirty tricks” were long a staple of Cambodian
politics, the timing did suggest the latest release was in response to
the CPP leaks.
“It’s probable that they’ve had this alleged Kem Sokha-Hun Sen
recording in their possession for some time and they’ve been waiting for
the right time to release it,” he said.
“Doing it now while the CPP leaks are in the media and attracting a
lot of negative attention is probably from their perspective a smart
thing to do.”
The WhatsApp messages, meanwhile, purport to show CNRP lawmaker Mao
Monivan acting as an intermediary between Hun Sen’s cabinet and Sokha in
talks to have the leader take the reins of the party in exchange for
supporting recent controversial legal amendments. The party ultimately
boycotted votes on both the amendments in question, and has since
staunchly criticised them.
The messages also appear to reference a bribe, saying “Samdech” has
prepared a “huge Chinese [New Year] envelope for His Excellency for a
trip to Australia”.
But contacted yesterday, Monivan said the whole thing was a “set-up” and aimed to weaken the CNRP.
In an email yesterday, Rainsy, who resigned from the party
last month to avoid having his convictions used to dissolve the party
under the controversial new laws, called on people to discard material
“that have been invented or doctored and published out of their
context”.
Calling the leaks “incitements aimed at dividing the CNRP”, he said the party remained “as strong as ever”.
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