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

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are like extra arms and legs of the commune, they are subject to the same constraints of party
politics and dependency.
Pressure from Workload
It is indisputable that decentralisation has offered different roles and responsibilities for
councils and subsequently for village chiefs. And while the composition of commune and
village leadership has not changed much, there was inadequate preparation and support for
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reform in which deconcentration lagged behind decentralisation, placing councils in the midst
of unclear mandates and roles that are not structurally supported. These bring overwhelming
responsibilities that cost much time and energy to handle, especially when villagers’ expectations
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party work, as noted earlier.
A commune chief is extremely busy. The people always come to us when they need help,
whether it is a weekday or holiday, lunch time or nap time. (Pou Keang, former chief,
commune A, interview, 25/4/2008)
On top of that, the emergence of business patrons overpowers local authorities by bringing in
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forest and land concession in commune A caused the virtually complete elimination of trees
whose leaves villagers have depended upon for their livelihoods and led to illegal logging
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villagers. Local authorities have tried to contact and clarify the issues with the district and
higher authorities, and tried to bring the case to the prime minister as well. Most of the local
authorities’ time has been taken up calling the company begging it to let villagers in for small
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Pressure from Family
Taking time off from farming or running small businesses, administrative leaders become
dependent upon their meagre salaries to support their families (most of them being breadwinners).
While village chiefs receive smaller salaries than councillors, they also have more time to spend
on farming. For them, time spent on administrative work is secondary since their roles are limited.
Councillors have bigger roles and responsibilities and have to spend more time on them than on
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or to quit their job. So, for some councillors, petty corruption is inevitable if they are to continue
working, while for those who stick to a non-corrupt agenda, the sustained motivation and work
incentive become questionable, as they suffer even more from the meagre salary; this was found
to be the case more among leaders from the opposition in all three communes.
CDRI
Before I started working as a village chief, I did not need to raise cows, but now I have
to. (Ta Mut, village chief, commune B, interview, 5/6/2008)
The government should allocate more administrative funds to us. The salary is too
low, and we suffer since we are not corrupt. (Ming Rina, commune chief, commune A,
interview, 24/4/2008)
However, some councillors ’ positions create opportunities for their wives’ business or for their
wives to accept bribes, which relieves pressures on them. But for women councillors in our