Parties, parties everywhere... no, the other kind.

I would vote for this guy...

Yes, you guessed it! It's that time of year again. A time when everyone returns to their home province in peace, leaving the streets quiet and restful after a long, hot summer.

Yeah, right. It's election time! It's time for noise, marching, and lots of angst.

For participating, you get a free t-shirt!

If you recall my last post, election times are exciting... provided you like traffic jams. This election, however, is slightly different. This election will help to choose the seats in Parliament, and that, in turn, will determine who is the prime minister here.

Why is that important?

Candidate #1, reigning PM Hun Sen. Photo courtesy wikipedia.

Well, for the first time that I am aware of, there is a great outpouring of hope here. Hope for change, and a better way of doing things. This voice comes from the younger generation, mostly, which consists of those who have adopted, among other things, more western-style attitudes. These are the worldly, the we've-seen-better-elsewhere, and the usual assortment of hasty folk who believe that change for change's sake is a good thing.

The opposition leader, Sam Rainsy Wikipedia again.

The other end of the spectrum contains those who have seen a little more. They've seen what age and time have done to temper the leadership in Cambodia, and what things were like during the LAST political upheaval. Some of them stress change in smaller amounts - improve this, or alter that. Chaos is nobody's friend, in other words.

One of my most recent English lessons... :)

Needless to say, I am politically neutral. I don't really care who wins, so long as Cambodia continues to grow and flourish. I want the people I've come to know to have a future, and to have opportunity to move beyond the jobs that exist here now. Slow and measured growth will accomplish that.

What am I doing right now? Well, staying indoors. It's not a good idea to be out right now. The major hullabaloo is this weekend, and depending on the results of the election, things could be a bit dicey.

The people are what matter. Photo Courtesy EH/GCC

All of that aside, this election is historic in that there actually are two visible parties. Yes, there's been more than one before, but now people feel more free to speak their minds, and share their views. Thank you, Facebook and social media. :)

The great Mustachio! I vote him as head of Agriculture and facial hair.

So, to sum things up, leaders will change (or not). People will change (most likely not, but it can happen!). Life will go on. IHSI and Sak Saum will continue to fight for freedom, healing, and to build up the Khmer people. I will continue to be a geeky individual, and Aidan will continue to be cute.

Life is good. :)

"Vote for me! I'm cute too!"