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Cambodian opposition seeks Indonesian support in perilous plan to return home
Cambodia's outlawed opposition party has caused a commotion in Jakarta when it asked Indonesia to convene the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, just as the party's exiled leader plans a much-vaunted return.
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Cambodian Ambassador to Indonesia Hor Nam Bora (left) interrupts a briefing held by the vice president of the dismantled Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Mu Sochua (right) and Kurawal Foundation executive director Darmawan Triwibowo (center). (JP/Dian Septiari)
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ambodia's disbanded opposition has asked Indonesia to convene the parties of a 1991 peace agreement to restore democracy in the country, just as Phnom Penh's envoy in Jakarta sought to discredit the publicity move and threatened incarceration.
Speaking at a press conference in Indonesia’s capital, vice president of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Mu Sochua said she was looking to set up a meeting with Indonesian officials to look at the implementation of the Paris Peace Agreements, co-initiated by Indonesia and France to bring an end to the Cambodia-Vietnam conflict and set the country on the path to democracy.
“I am here in Indonesia for a very clear purpose, to again express our deepest gratitude to Indonesia – to the people of Indonesia – for their vision that your former foreign minister Ali Alatas had in putting together with France [...] the peace conference for Cambodia, which then led to the Paris Peace Accord of 1991,” she said in response to a question from The Jakarta Post.
“I have written a letter to the Foreign Minister of Indonesia to ask for a meeting and to express our wish for Indonesia to convene the signatories of the Paris Peace Accord to look at [its] implementation."
Wednesday’s event came to a head when Cambodian Ambassador to Indonesia Hor Nam Bora barged in unannounced with security personnel in tow, insisting the press conference was illegal and that Sochua had violated her tourist visa, which prevents her from speaking to the media.
“[The organizer has] invited a criminal to speak in Jakarta. Between Cambodia and Indonesia, we have close cooperation on transnational crime; there are rules of law to follow,” he said.
“As a criminal and fugitive, I will not allow her to speak and damage my government's policy.”
