‘Only paying lip service’
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday accused the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party of hypocrisy, claiming that although the CNRP has pushed garment workers to strike for no less than a $160 minimum wage, party leaders pay their own bodyguards, drivers and cooks half that. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy rejected the accusation, saying that while only “allowances” were given to guards and drivers – for whom he claimed accommodation, food and medical care was provided – any full-time CNRP employee living at home was paid at least $160 a month. CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann, however, said all bodyguards and drivers were volunteers, picking up only $5 a day to spend on food when on trips to the provinces and living at their own homes when in Phnom Penh. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education yesterday morning, Hun Sen reiterated that the nation could not afford a minimum wage of $160 a month. …
May Titthara and Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98only-paying-lip-service%E2%80%99
