Rainsy’s speech under fire

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has landed in hot water with women’s rights activists after publicly questioning whether Prime Minister Hun Sen was being “weaker than a woman” by not calling for a new election like Thai leader Yingluck Shinawatra in the face of popular protests. Speaking to a crowd of more than 15,000 Cambodia National Rescue Party supporters in Siem Reap on Tuesday, Rainsy called on the premier to follow Yingluck’s lead. “I appeal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and I ask one thing: Mr Hun Sen, don’t be weaker than a woman,” he said to cheers and laughter. … Ros Sopheap, executive director of NGO Gender and Development Cambodia and deputy chair of the Committee to Promote Women in Politics, said she was “disappointed” by Rainsy’s words. “I am really disappointed. He is the [opposition] leader. He shouldn’t say this, because there are men and there are women in this society. [Things you do] don’t mean you are weaker than a woman, because [that implies] that women are also weak,” she said. …

 Kevin Ponniah and Thik Kaliyann
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy%E2%80%99s-speech-under-fire