Michael Batson

There are some golden rules when writing on events in Southeast Asia. One of these is never write anything critical of Cambodia’s ruling elite. Expatriates in Cambodia are not invulnerable to the machinations of the domestic political scene and unwanted attention from those well connected is not something you should covet. That’s why it’s important to make use of reported speech, though even this technique may still get you into trouble. That said, here goes.As 2014 began Cambodia was increasingly in the grip of mounting political and civil unrest. Long one of Southeast Asia’s most stable nations, Cambodia seems, as one long time Cambodia observer put it, ‘to be at tipping point.’ The government’s response has increasingly become hard line culminating in sending in the military to break-up strikes by garment workers, and banning gatherings of more than 10 people in an effort to ‘restore order’. The government’s response to the ongoing troubles highlights two characteristics of the political landscape in Cambodia. These are what the foreign diplomatic community in Phnom Penh and Cambodia observers have identified as the lack of accountability in government circles and amongst the country’s elites; and what Human Rights Watch says is the lack of acceptance of a legitimate opposition as part of the political process.  The recent political turmoil in Cambodia stemmed from the results of the national elections in July 2013 won by the incumbent Cambodia People’s Party