Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has boasted of barging uninvited into a video conference call hosted by his political opponents.
Hun Sen on Friday said he had intruded into the Zoom call to warn his opponents that he and his spies were keeping a close eye on them.
The call was held on Thursday last week by former members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which a court dissolved in 2017.
Photo: AFP
Cambodia’s courts are widely seen as doing the bidding of Hun Sen’s government, in this case eliminating the sole credible opposition party ahead of the 2018 election. The party had been expected to present a strong challenge to Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, which instead swept the parliamentary polls.
Clips of part of Hun Sen’s sudden intrusion on the video call have been circulating on social media.
They show Hun Sen holding a 12-minute conversation with Long Ry, a former opposition lawmaker.
In their chat, Hun Sen complained that members of the former opposition party insulted him personally, even though he said he had tried to promote a “culture of dialogue.”
Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the ruling party, initially denied that the intrusion and exchange had taken place, saying the video clip was a fabrication.
However, during a live television broadcast on Friday opening a COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children, Hun Sen acknowledged the exchange and said that he had listened in on about 20 previous calls of his opponents without revealing his presence.
He also wrote about his exploit on Facebook, saying that he had not been reaching out to negotiate, but to warn them against disruptive activities.
US government-funded Radio Free Asia quoted Long Ry as saying that Hun Sen was able to join the Zoom meeting because one of his team members shared the meeting link or password with others so they could listen.
He said he would be happy to invite Hun Sen to future meetings to discuss national issues.
“But morally, when people sneak a peak into our affairs, we are not happy,” it quoted Long Ry as saying. “In politics, I think we should employ honest and straightforward methods, and not take advantages of others by secretly sneaking into their affairs.”
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS