Lawmaker Hun Many, CPP Secretary General of the Mass Movement Committee of the Central Committee, accused the opposition on Sunday of always attempting to undermine the unity of the ruling party, but their failed efforts reflect the strong and unified leadership of the ruling party, which cannot be divided.

Many’s remarks were posted on his Facebook page during the committee’s workshop titled “Sharing and Exchanging Experiences on Information Work and Public Dissemination in the Digital Context”, which party leaders and members attended.

Many said that when it comes to the political environment, public awareness is sharp and adaptable, and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) must pay attention and never neglect the Cambodian people.

“We must be very careful because the opposition is still trying to overthrow us. They are waiting for the right opportunity, so they continue to attack our party on a regular basis through various methods and mechanisms,” he said.

The CPP has set a clear plan to continue its work to promote all sectors of society, especially the youth, women and workers, as well as providing information to the public for the ruling party to garner their opinion, he said.

Although the CPP has won another landslide election victory, continuing to assess the party’s risks has always been a good policy to pursue, and finding a new approach does not mean the old methods are ineffective. On the contrary, understanding change and being prepared for change will assist the CPP to continue winning.

In an environment where technology and information is always changing, all party members need to develop techniques to deliver content that is in accordance with the needs of the people and to their benefit.

“These techniques will be able to contribute to the elimination of false information and corrupt information used to incite disunity, which will lead to social unrest,” Many added.

Thach Setha, Vice-President of the Candlelight Party (CP), said yesterday that he lamented the comments made by CPP’s younger generation, whose feelings seemed to reflect a desire for violence, which is unacceptable behaviour in a democratic society.

Forming a political party to contest in a liberal and multi-party democratic election in accordance with the Constitution is not the use of military force to stage a coup or overthrow the ruling party through war. Parties compete with each other by formulating national development policies, which is not an attempt to overthrow the CPP.

“If the CPP youths are referring to the current opposition, this would be a big mistake and they should learn more about how to conduct democratic politics, and should not speak ill of those who do not support the ruling party,” Setha added.

Meas Nee, a political analyst, said the word “overthrow” is rarely used between political parties in a democratic society, as the word has serious connotations and can be confused with the overthrow of the government through the use of violence and military force.

“We should not use the word “overthrow” because we often use it for enemies who hate each other. Instead, we should turn to the word “competition” because it is easy to use and not confusing, because this word refers to the election, a non-violent competition,” he said.

Cambodian politicians should be careful when speaking to the electorate, because some words used by politicians can make people feel angry and discriminatory towards Cambodian people, causing partisanship which can lead to violence in the society.

• Tags: CPP, Hun Many, opposition