By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Feb 23 1999 (IPS)

Japan sees Cambodian premier Hun Sen’s government as the country’s best bet for stability after the political strife of recent years, but a Cambodian opposition leader says its eagerness to resume aid is “destroying” his nation.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, former finance minister under Hun Sen, made the criticism at a press conference here Tuesday, just before an international donors’ meeting on Cambodia opens Thursday.

Despite objections from the United States, the Japanese government has called a Consultative Group (CG) meeting on Feb 25- 26, the first since the new government led by Hun Sen was formed in November 1998.

The Hun Sen government views the donors’ meeting as crucial to Cambodia’s needs and would see major commitments as a political victory, after setting up a coalition government and winning back Cambodia’s seat at the United Nations.

Most foreign donors suspended aid packages after Hun Sen seized power and ousted his co-premier, Prince Norodom Ranariddh in July 1997.

Japan now feels normalisation should be on track, with Hun Sen having gotten a new electoral mandate in last year’s elections, which were found reasonably representative of popular will by international observers.

But Rainsy, whose party lost in the elections, argues against haste in dealing with Hun Sen. “I am surprised that the Japanese government goes ahead with aid to the Cambodian government despite widespread corruption that is delaying important reforms,” he said.

“Japanese bureaucrats show laziness, weakness and leniency with corruption,” Rainsy added.

His statements came as little surprise given the bitter rivalry between Rainsy and Hun Sen’s camp, but analysts say that in truth Japan’s interests at this point lie in seeing a working government at Cambodia’s helm, whoever the leader is.

Analysts say Tokyo follows a policy of supporting Hun Sen on the grounds that working with the government is the only way of achieving peace and economic stability in Cambodia.

“Cambodia represents Japan’s most important diplomatic policy in Asia. Tokyo has poured in money into the country because the priority is in restoring stability in Cambodia which brings peace to the whole region,” said Naoko Amakawa of the quasi-government organisation Institute of Developing Economies.

“Given this policy, Tokyo does not really care who is at the top as along as the government works to build peace,” Amakawa added.

Hun Sen, who arrived here Tuesday, is seeking 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in aid over the next three years.

At the summit of South-east Asian leaders in Hanoi in December, he asked Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to resume low-interest yen loans and to continue grants-in-aid to Cambodia.

Japan, Cambodia’s single biggest bilateral donor, will be the major provider of the aid package for discussion here.

A foreign ministry said on condition of anonymity that Tokyo will be extending more than its previous 72 million dollar development grants and also resume yen-dominated loans worth tens of billion yen for the first time in 30 years.

Japan’s yen loans, expected to be between 17 to 15 million dollars, will go to the construction and rebuilding of roads and ports.

“We want to take the lead in helping Cambodia, while many other donors are still reluctant and want to take a wait-and-see stance over the nation’s economic and political reforms,” the foreign ministry official said.

Rainsy bitterly criticised Tokyo for holding a donors’ meeting too soon, saying it should waited until the Cambodian Parliament held a session discussing the subject of aid.

“Tokyo should have closely monitored questions by parliamentarians who represent the Cambodian people, thus giving Japan and other donors a good understanding of the concerns and problems of the people that would determine where foreign assistance should be diverted,” he explained.

Earlier, the U.S. government said it was too soon hold a CG meeting since the new Hun Sen-led government had been in office only three months.

Rainsy says he is not against humanitarian aid which must be go through non-governmental agencies rather than the government, which he accuses of squandering most of the funds.

He says the tax collection in Cambodia remains pathetically at about 6 percent of the national budget, a figure that has remained the same for the past five years.

Rainsy accuses Hun Sen of coming once again with a begging bowl, preferring to rely on international aid instead of outlining a long-term commitment to remove dependence.

“In my experience as finance minister, I was told by Hun Sen that Japan will take care of our national budget so it is not necessary to enact tough reforms to improve tax laws,” said Rainsy.

The Hun Sen government has promised to enact new laws as part of a series of initiatives to be unveiled this week, but Rainsy says the government clearly has its priorities wrong.

Rainsy says 50 percent of the budget goes to the army. He quotes United Nations Children’s Fund figures that say half of Cambodia’s children suffer from malnutrition. The government has allocated only 2 percent of the national budget to health.

The debate over Japanese and overseas aid is part of a larger dilemma of having a perenially strife-torn Cambodia, where government hardly functions, or helping the elected Hun Sen government get back on its feet.

Adding to the complications are charges of serious human rights violations by the Hun Sen government, not least some 100 “political assassinations” that critics say remain without investigation and its unclear position on bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to an international tribunal for genocide.

Many activists, from Human Rights Watch to Japanese groups, want foreign aid tied to improvements in Cambodia’s human rights record and categorical cooperation on bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice.

While Japan is unlikely to make explicit conditionalities on rights, analysts say there is a slow shift in its aid policy.

Said Amakawa: “The focus is still not on steadfast conditionally, which is what critics want, but more a gentle prodding to work toward reform with Tokyo helping Cambodia to carry out these policies.”

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