My dear Kacvey,

The 29 July 2018 foregone conclusion was no surprise to the weak strongman that he had to vomit his tainted pride by declaring that his party had won the entire 125 seats, that his parliament would meet in mid-September and that his autocratic government will be formed the following day; all of those even before his sycophantic and enslaved NEC had issued the official tallies or whatever.

29 July 2018 has gone and the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk remains the same, some part of it under the monsoon water, the military and police display before the election as a stupid pretext to intimidate any demonstration or disruption was all paper tiger, and the only noise that come out of the boring atmosphere is the barking sounds of two rabid dogs vociferating idiotically against each other at 9,934 Km apart through their Facebook postings.

The election and its campaign process was engineered and orchestrated by the weak strongman to such a point that he himself started to doubt its outcome by pretending to campaign energetically with mass rallies as never seen before. The fox was running alone against 19 freshly hatched chicks in the race track supervised by the fox owner and his handlers. The fox won and made a copious meal out of the 19 chicks. And it claims victory. A fox is an animal, a beast. If a man is a fox, he’s also a beast.

Kacvey, your students must have spent post-electoral time sharing their thoughts that seemed to be frozen as a dark and thick cloud of uncertainty had come down to envelop the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk:

• where was the long line of voters waiting to cast their ballots justifying 82.1% turnout?
• who were there to ensure that every ballot was genuine and legit and authentically casted by each voter? (Please do not waste your time with the zombies monitors, as zombies are zombies!)
• why does the NEC that pretends to be independent let the weak strongman unhingedly declare victory with back-up percentage?
• why does it take so long to tally the ballots?
• regardless of the number of votes he collected, how many of those were cast under fear, threat or intimidation?
• where are the voices of candidates? why is the weak strongman the only person who talks, and the more he talks, the more nonsense comes out?

The weak strongman had been beaten up in the field of propaganda: the whole world – Oops! except the Northern Capital – vehemently condemned the election and its foregone outcome. No one has come to its rescue from shame and disgrace. The phrase is “sham election.” After 33 years of power and a “sham election” is handed to him to swallow; he has to swallow what he spat out: his autocratic organization and machination of the whole electoral process to ensure his own victory: a victory without glory and honor, and devoid of value and morality. As the old saying goes: there is no honor among thieves.

The pride of a young Khmer Rouge fighting spirit has faded away under the appearance of an old and frail body of incurable corruption and dictatorial mind.

A victory without a fight is indignant of a warrior. A samurai will never accept it. A bitter and coward victory, even a fighting cock would never accept it. Ah, because the weak strongman feels the bitterness and acerbity in the mind of his sycophants or corrupt supporters. The latter silently disapproved and resented, otherwise:

• where are the joy, the excitement and the ecstasy of a victory long and hard fought?
• was the lack of joy, elation, glee and euphoria commensurate with level of public dislike and unhappiness?
• where are the fanfares, the singers and dancers executing their joyous mood to the sounds of drums and trumpets blaring the music of victory?
• where is the press conference in front of a forest of microphones answering tough questions on the raison d’être of electoral victory, satisfaction and dignity, instead of the same, monotonous, sterile, meaningless and staged monologues in front of the stone-faced garment workers?
• where are the parades of motorcycles or Lexus transporting the people in white shirts waving their party banners?
• where is the offering to the monks who share the corrupt political ideology and practice?
• where is the celebration that resembles past victory?

The answer is simple:

• past victory was DEMOCRATIC, and games were played by the rules;
• 29 July 2018 victory is AUTOCRATIC, and rules of the games were voluntarily thrown into the cesspool.

The weak strongman is ashamed of himself. He thought the world will come to embrace his victory with a laurel crown, instead the world shun him.

The weak strongman is tired of being alone and lonely sitting on the highest chair and above the clouds; he can’t see what’s happening beneath the clouds, in Kg Som for example. His weak eye is getting weaker, his ears do not want to listen to or hear any voice of reason or wisdom from non-sycophants. His mouth still talks big but all other parts have already “depreciated”. His heart has left the Inner River for the Northern Capital to which he vassalizes the land of the Khmer.

The weak strongman will continue his journey of autocracy and dictatorship over the heads of Cambodians, but he will face very serious challenges that are the consequences of his own immoral victory; he will face the problems that he, by design, has created internally and internationally.

No woman or man, no matter how long she/he has been victim of “bak sbaat”, can no longer lend unconditional support to a weak strongman whose shoulders and joints suffer from the weight of 33 years of carrying on the legacy of the Khmer Rouge.

No man can govern his unhappy subjects.