Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Wednesday told government officials to serve the national and public interests, rather than becoming opportunists looking for personal gain.

Sar Kheng was speaking at a ceremony to mark the appointment of Kong Sophorn as governor and Nuth Puth Dara as deputy governor of Kandal province.

“To any official, I request you to fulfil your role with the conscience of serving the nation and the people. This is the most important thing to do.

“You must not become an opportunist. Some claim to serve the people, but end up doing whatever they want in their interest after getting a certain position.

“They are appointed to this or that position, but they don’t fulfil their task. Instead, they do business for their interests. These are the opportunistic officials who abuse their power,” Sar Kheng said.

He said some government officials sit searching for old officials who are going to retire, looking to replace them. He said the way to get these positions is through hardwork, not by being opportunists.

“Opportunism is not the idea or principle of the Cambodian People’s Party or the government. We have to encourage our officials to be role models for the nation and officials should strive to achieve that. They must not allow themselves to become opportunists and forget their origins,” Sar Kheng said.

He also told the new governor and his deputy to implement four priorities this year – peace, stability, territorial sovereignty and public order.

The new appointees, he said, should strive to promote multi-party democracy, administrative reforms and good public services through the one-window service.

If government officials strived to serve the nation and the people, Sar Kheng said, it would contribute to preventing a colour revolution from happening.

“The cause of disunity and colour revolution is not only from the opposition who attempt to topple our elected government. Sometimes the causes are internal, and we need to reflect on that,” he said.

Sar Kheng used an example of officials who claimed to crack down on forest crimes by arresting those who felled one or two trees, while turning a blind eye to trucks full of timber in the same area.

“They arrest ordinary people and prosecute them. This is what is already happening and it is being criticised. We need to focus on the bigger picture and the bigger problem,” he said.

He said some officials failed to recognise these issues and tried to pass the blame, but it only drew negative responses from the people.

Affiliated Network for Social Accountability executive director San Chey said on Wednesday that Sar Kheng’s remarks reflected shortcomings in a check-and-balance system as parliament had only one party. He said the same shortcomings also existed at the local administrative level.

He said the loss of checks and balances allowed officials to do whatever they wanted, and this contributed to an abuse of power. The problem, he said, normally happens at the provinces where land prices are high.

“The government at the national level should monitor decision-making at the sub-national level, to ensure they were made in line with national principles.

“If something is wrong, there should be measures taken to protect the interests of the people and the nation,” he said.

Kin Phea, the director-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s International Relations Institute said government officials always pledged to serve the people.

This commitment is also declared by lawmakers, senators and government officials as required by the Constitution. Yet, government officials have still abused their powers.

“It is good to remind them that they should face real punishment for their actions. There should be measures in place that act as a deterrent for this kind of power abuse. They should not be transferred from a lower place to a higher one, from a poor province to a rich one. They should be punished,” he said.

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