Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian investor
Registrations and firings continue at the Phnom Penh Post today.
Due to the article below being ordered to be taken down by the new management
Brendan O’Byrne and Ananth Baliga | Publication date 06 May 2018 | 22:49 ICT
The Phnom Penh Post has been sold to Sivakumar Ganapathy, a Malaysian investor and executive at a public relations firm that has previously done work for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government.
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The World Conference on International Telecommunications – and the Freedom of Communication
The International Telecommunications Union – ITU - an organ of the United Nations - is convening a World Conference on International Telecommunications – WCIT - in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 3-14 December 2012.
Preparations have been made by the governments of many countries during the last couple of months. The governments of some countries – like for example Bulgaria – have shared some of the related documents and discussions with the public, as the results of the conference in Dubai will affect its citizens; some other countries’ governments have involved business and civil society not only to discuss and plan together – but have even included members of the civil society into their delegations traveling to the Dubai ITU conference.
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Local Election on 3 June 2012 – really “local”?
Looking to the reports in several newspapers about the beginning of the election campaign on the way towards local elections to be held on Sunday, 3 June 2012, I found mainly reports about the activities planned by the 10 parties competing (though not in all provinces and communes) using figures: how many people and trucks and cars and motorcycles moved around Phnom Penh campaigning - “showing off” but hardly any reference to local issues raised while appealing to voters. The emphasis is on the names of the political parties and their leaders.
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Myanmar's Roadmap to Democracy
Developments in Myanmar start to get more and more attention in the international press, and also in what is being reflected into local publications in Cambodia. The Cambodia Daily reported – quoting Reuters: In Burma's Kachin, Suu Kyi Stirs Hopes for Peace for Rebels.
If I had not been in Yangon on 12 February 2012, I would probably not have know that this day was dedicated to an important historical memory: it was the 65th Anniversary Union Day.
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Council of Ministers Spokesperson Censured UN Special Expert
Some readers may remember that on 20 October 2011, I documented three quite different press statements – all issued on the same day, all related the Khmer Rouge Trial, from the following sources:
- The Office of the Council of Ministers, Royal Government of Cambodia, Press and Quick Reaction Unit
- Lars Olsen, Legal Communications Officer, Public Affairs Section, United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials
- United Nations Under Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Ms. Patricia O’Brien
Now we have a similar, though different case. The Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Office of the Council of Ministers distributed a press release on 24 January 2012, publishing the same text also on their website:
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Looking at Cambodian-Thai relations: changes after the elections in Thailand?
First of all: After having been away for Cambodia for about a month and not writing much – I am happy to be back since two days ago.
Transiting through Thailand on the way back provided me also with easy access to English language newspaper comments after last Sunday’s elections. Of course, most such information is also available on the Internet. But I might not have gotten the same impression I got when I saw a big letter headline on the 5 July 2011 front page of The Nation:
No reds in the new Cabinet
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KL blockade: Mass arrests, organisers slip into city
The police force is expected to battle with Umno Youth and polls reform coalition Bersih in the streets of Kuala Lumpur as both groups seek to break the blockade to mount two separate protests.
Umno Youth, which is rallying to defend the electoral system, will be congregating in Bukit Bintang at 1.30pm. This was a last-minute change from the earlier announced time of 10am.
Bersih has vowed to gather at the Stadium Merdeka at 2pm to call for wide-ranging reforms to the electoral system which it claims to be unfree and unfair.
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Indian anti-corruption draft law due by 30 June 2011
After having reported in the past how a personal initiative by an anti-corruption social activist in India had gained more and more momentum, until the government agreed to a drafting committeefor new anti-corruption legislation where half the members were high ranking present or former government officials, and the other half were nominated by a group of social activists – it is now clear that the closer the target date for a final draft comes, the more tensions appear, almost derailing this unusual process. There are two issues which are more and more controversial:
First, will not only all ministers, but also the prime minister and the judges of the high court be under the scrutiny of an anti-corruption supervisor? And second, what will be the role of the parliament finalizing the new arrangements?
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Anti-Corruption Legislation on the Move
7 April 2011 will be a special date in the history of Cambodia in the fight against corruption: the deadline for submitting asset declarations – and thus establishing reference data when accusations of corruptly gaining wealth are made.
The concern about corruption has a long history in Cambodia, also among the leaders of the government. Some voices from different sources:
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Anti-Corruption Legislation on the Move in India, follow-up
The two red Indian letters stand for "Rupee" - corresponding to the Riel in Cambodia
The two red Indian letters stand for "Rupee" - corresponding to the Riel in Cambodia
As I had promised on 5 April 2011 that I will try to continue to report further developments in Cambodia and in India related to the respective anti-corruption legislations and their implementation – here are the newest developments from India, as reported in India Today, The Times of India, and Indian Express, about what is called the Lokpal Bill – the ombudsman bill. Not only are the activists requesting that the authority of an ombudsman has to be strengthened so that authority is given to pronounce indictments (as is the case with the Anti-Corruption Unit in Cambodia) and not only to report and to make recommendations, but the major concern is that an ombudsman’s appointment and work should be independent from government action.
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