(As appeared on website of Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, Link)
April
01, 2016
The
upcoming Cambodian general election is in two years’ time, and Cambodian
politicians should now begin their policy debate, especially on how to build a
stronger economy.
The
strength of the economy is not reflective of the amount of Lexus cars being
driven in Phnom Penh or the amount of vacant high-rise buildings being built.
It is instead more dependent upon how sizeable and healthy our middle class
population is, and how economic benefits are being distributed nationwide. Also
central is the amount of government revenue to implement policy, provide public
services, modernize the military, etc.
Past
achievements have brought about peace and stability on which Cambodia has been
able to stand firm in the international arena. However, Cambodia can’t afford
to just stand; we need to run or even leap in order to catch up with the time
lost through Cambodia’s tumultuous history.
As a
young democratic country, we as Cambodians should be proud of ourselves in
terms of the electoral process which is, although not flawless, widely accepted
internationally and can be said to be relatively more democratic when compared
to some of our ASEAN peers.
Unfortunately,
even though we have had experience of five general elections, political debates
are still very much limited to dichotomy politics and partisanship, intra-party
power struggles, inter-party re-alignments, traditional blame games and credit
takings for past legacies.
