My dear Kacvey,
You’re certainly aware of the planned return from the US of the vice-president of the opposition party to the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk on 4 January 2021. If you are, local media comments, analysis, opinions can’t escape your attention. That being said, you must now be waiting for the reaction of the weak strongman: Would he behave the same way as he did on 8-9 November 2019 when the oppo No. 1 was returning from Paris via Bangkok and then changed to Malaysia, such as: threatening to arrest him as soon as he stepped his feet on Khmer land, threatening international airlines, pressuring neighboring ASEAN governments not to let him in their country, mobilizing thousands of bodyguards, soldiers and policemen, deployment of tanks, missiles, heavy artillery and machine guns near the borders and at airports?
Nobody is surprised anymore if that would happen again! Fear of losing power is the food that the weak strongman feeds himself every time he breathes.
But thing is different this time around: the vice-president of the opposition volunteered to return at her own “known and expected” risk and peril in direct response to the subpoena issued to her to appear at the court on criminal charges. The first questions are: Will the weak strongman allow his sycophantic embassy if Washington DC to issue entry visa to Cambodia to her on her US passport? Would he have political courage to allow that to happen and be enough of a man to be face-to-face with the opposition of the opposite sex?
Meanwhile, your attention is drawn to these two articles where the position of the US ambassador to Cambodia is very clear and unambiguous:
VOA, 18 December 2020
សហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក ប្រាប់កម្ពុជាឱ្យគោរពនិងទទួលសំឡេងប្រឆាំង
U.S. Ambassador Questions Cambodia’s Single-Party Parliament, Attacks on Dissent
Time will tell what will happen on that 4 January 2021 at Pochentong airport in front of world television cameras and thousands smart phones. History tells that the Pol Pot KR and his brain-washed subalterns were not afraid of inflicting fatality or injury to innocent Khmer, as testified by the torture instruments and photos left in S-21 and the skulls in Choeung Ek. Will the weak strongman issue order to his thousands bodyguards, soldiers and policemen to arrest the single unarmed lady after her deplaning?
What other alternatives would the weak strongman have? One ploy that he has been recently using and quite often is to let the judges who are under his power grip to find any excuse, lame or otherwise, to postpone the hearing again and again. So doing, postponement saves his cowardliness and spinelessness.
Kacvey, this letter will be updated with any development that will occur between now and 4 January 2021.
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Update:
– RFA, 2 January 2021
ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំគណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិលើកពេលវិលចូលស្រុកពីថ្ងៃទី៤ ទៅថ្ងៃទី១៥ មករាវិញ
– Phnom Penh Post, 4 January 2021
Former senior CNRP lawmaker’s return postponed
– VOA, 4 January 2021
មាតុភូមិនិវត្តន៍របស់លោកស្រី មូរ សុខហួរ ត្រូវជួបឧបសគ្គដោយពុំទាន់បានទិដ្ឋាការប្រភេទ K