Why Protests Will Not Lead to a ‘Cambodian Spring’

Faine Greenwood writes about the Stanford lecture given by Cambodian human rights activist Ou Virak. Asked about the anti-government protests taking place in Cambodia, Ou Virak explained why it would not lead to a ‘political spring':

I don’t think a spring in Cambodia will happen, nor do I think it’s desirable…We don’t even have a word for spring in Khmer. The closest word is revolution, which reminds people of Khmer Rouge.

He also criticized the opposition party for failing to provide a clear political agenda:

I haven’t seen an agenda…The only thing I’ve seen is how much we hate Hun Sen, and how much we hate Vietnam…That’s a formula for disaster, going in with so much hate. We have no idea what we are fighting for.

2 comments

  • Francesca Ciceri

    Hi! Just wanted to report a typo in the article: “Standord” instead of “Stanford”.

    • mong palatino

      thanks for the tip. post corrected already

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.

Receive great stories from around the world directly in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the best of Global Voices!

Submitted addresses will be confirmed by email, and used only to keep you up to date about Global Voices and our mission. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Newsletter powered by Mailchimp (Privacy Policy and Terms).

* = required field
Email Frequency



No thanks, show me the site