Leadership in Local Politics of Cambodia: A Study of ... - CDRI

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From the villagers’ side, they are often afraid to come close to such economically powerful
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development or religious activities when asked, but they tend to be quiet and let their money
do the talking.
���������� is a very quiet and humble person. He just walks alone and does his work, but
you see this road in front of us? It was renovated by him, everybody knows that. (Villager
A1, commune A, response to survey, 20/3/2008)
In a different case, as a result of rising land prices in recent years, one rich individual in
commune B bought many plots of land and produced some infrastructure such as good roads
leading to his land, but these achievements are not appreciated by the villagers. It was a one-off
contribution, and he had left the commune to become a politician in Phnom Penh, so the people
saw him as a person only interested in self-enrichment rather than a leader. Similarly, a Chinese
company exporting monkeys also helped construct some local roads for its transportation needs
but was hated by villagers, both for the nature of its business and for not contributing in any
other form to local development.
In commune C there is a dominant gas seller who, although he does not project himself as as
strong as the ������in commune A, puts himself above village and commune authorities. He
rarely comes into contact with them but stays well connected with higher authorities in order
to seek favours from them for his business. He is appreciated by villagers, who consider him
their economic leader since he contributes money to local development projects. Another gas
seller was mentioned by some villagers, but negatively because he didn’t contribute to local
development. People here are much more appreciative of the ruling party national patron, who
takes care of them and contributes to both hard and soft infrastructure of the commune.
H.E. is our leader from outside the commune. He often visits our villages to provide
gifts and other assistance in the name of his party. (Villager C1, commune C, response to
survey, 8/4/2008).
H.E. helps us a lot on road building, training, dams. (Villager C4, commune C, response
to survey, 8/4/2008)
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the sarong that surrounds a body”. This implies that it is socially compulsory for the rich to
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socially shamed. The implication for rural Cambodian leadership is that a leader does not have
to lead people, but as long as s/he acts generously to the people, will be viewed as a leader.
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local and higher authorities without much trouble. One villager in commune A describes the
local oknha: “This leader’s spit is very salty. His spit is not just made of salt; it is mixed with
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