Prime Minister Hun Manet blasts Rainsy over criticising the January 7 victory celebrations

K.T

Prime Minister Hun Manet blasted Sam Rainsy, the self-exiled former leader of court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), over criticising the celebrations for the 45th anniversary of the January 7 victory over genocide.

Mr Hun Manet said on January 7, 2024 that:  “Between April 17, 1975 and January 7, 1979, did the Khmer Rouge kill people in Cambodia? And how many millions died?

Mr Hun Manet confirmed that the people who survived the genocidal regime of Pol Pot and survived to this day, were witnesses, and all the history books recorded and confirmed that the Khmer Rouge killed the Khmer people.

“Did the onslaught of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation from December 2 until the beginning of 1979 until the expulsion of the Khmer Rouge to one side of the country stop the Khmer Rouge from killing more people?



The remark came during an inauguration ceremony of a bridge in Koh Kong Province yesterday, Mr Hun Manet asked “Why did we rely on Vietnam? He said “In 1978, Cambodia had only two options; to rely on the west or those in the east to save the people.”

“If we go to the west, we ask the United Nations (UN) and if we go to the east we ask Vietnam for help. The UN did not send troops to help Cambodia at that time, because UN law does not allow their troops to enter any country without the request of the government,” he said.

“So we had only one option, to ask the Vietnamese for assistance. If the Vietnamese troops did not come to help us, we would have continued to die,” he added.

Mr Hun Manet stated that without Vietnam’s assistance, the Cambodian ‘United Front’ was numbering about 10,000, which would not have been able to defeat the Khmer Rouge.



At the time, it was not possible to build a large army to combat the Khmer Rouge, as people were dying daily, he said.

Therefore, he called on the next generation of Cambodians to learn more about January 7 and not to use divisive politics to interpret historical facts.

Sam Rainsy, posted on his Facebook page on Sunday that “January 7th marks a loss of Cambodian sovereignty.”

“Was Cambodia neutral before Lon Nol's coup, or leaning towards communism, even allowing North Vietnamese Viet Cong passage?” he said.

“Could the war have been avoided without Lon Nol's coup? Considering the origins of the Khmer Rouge, could they have risen without support from Chinese and Vietnamese communists? Rainsy added.

The CPP on Sunday, celebrated the 45th anniversary of the January 7 victory over genocide at Koh Pich centre, with CPP president Hun Sen urging all Cambodian to safeguard their hard-earned peace.

Tens of thousands of Cambodians attended the event, including senior CPP officials, government leaders, civil servants from various government institutions, guests from abroad, diplomats, students, and visitors from other countries.

Mr Hun Sen also challenged the dissidents who have opposed the celebration of the January 7 victory day over the brutal Khmer Rouge and the December 29 win-win policy to go to mine-strewn fields to experience their tough lives.






 

 

 

 

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