Cambodian Premier Hun Sen has urged the garment trade union leaders to ensure that there are no political protests ahead of elections, due to be held on July 29, 2018, in the country.
While talking to the union leaders in a meeting held on 22 April 2018, he also added that the workers should not associate themselves with the dissolved opposition party.
It might be recalled that workers had taken to streets during the elections of 2013 as well as 2014. On those occasions, the security force reportedly had to open fire on the protesters, which had resulted in the death of 5 people.
It is pertinent to note that Cambodia has witnessed critical political issues in the recent past, be it with the United States of America over the immigration matter when more than 100 Cambodians were detained across the country, or with the European Union (EU) which has already warned the country over human rights issue in the garment sector.
In the past, it has been observed in Bangladesh as well where workers held protests during the elections time to put forth their demands. Such incidents affect a country’s image globally.
In such a scenario, the Cambodian PM would not want any internal crisis to impact the working of the country’s money-spinning garment manufacturing sector which employs around 800,000 people who have been holding protests over remuneration, accidents/safety and other matters time and again.
