The birds twitter to each other. The trees whisper as the breeze passes under the hot sun. The river flows to its destination where it will connect with the mighty Mekong. And the land quietly tells its story.

Before 1975, the land was a rice paddy – just like it had been for centuries. The Khmer people built their houses on stilts so that they would withstand the annual monsoon floods. Children giggled while playing with their dogs. Parents planted and tended to the rice. Women dressed in their fine silks, crafted by neighbours, to celebrate the harvests. Monks passed by, bicycles came, and ox carts never quite went.

In 1975, this rice paddy surrounded by trees became something else under the new revolutionary government, the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and his soldiers turned this land into a killing field with a precision and detail last seen by the Nazis. One of many killing fields, this land became the burial ground for almost 9,000 people — people who were killed for wearing glasses, for speaking French, for being a doctor or a teacher, for being the child of a doctor or a teacher.

Just two weeks ago, I was there. A memorial stands on this land now. It houses the skeletal and clothing remains of the exhumed bodies. It is powerful and it is disturbing. While the Earth shook Haiti, I stood silently still, witnessing the history of how humanity can destroy itself with no help from nature.

Under the Khmer Rouge 25 per cent of the population died in just four years. If the soldiers didn’t kill them, they succumbed to the famine caused by the Khmer Rouge trading rice for Chinese weapons, or the rampant disease and complete lack of health care.

In 1979, when I was turning one year old and tucked safely into my crib, the Vietnamese deposed Pol Pot’s regime. When I turned 11 years old, the Vietnamese finally left after ten years of warring with the remaining Khmer Rouge hidden in the jungle. At 15 years old and most concerned about finding the right plaid flannel shirt, Cambodia went to the polls for the first time. They lived through incredible horrors for that right to vote. By the time I got the chance to vote at 18 years old, most Cambodian eighteen year-olds carried guns, many lost limbs to landmines, and others were working to remove those weapons from their country.

Today, Cambodia is considered a democracy because it holds regular elections. However, they’re rarely free and fair. The leader of the Opposition is in exile, fearing arrest on charges that he says are politically motivated. Remaining opposition MPs face possible jail time for doing their job of criticizing government since it isn’t quite legal to do that.

This was the situation into which I walked to train 45 women candidates of the Sam Rainsy Party, currently the Official Opposition in Parliament. I was blown away to see the party’s safe houses where people hide in fear of the Cambodian People’s Party reprisal for openly being critical of government corruption and policies. During the training, I had no answer for questions about handling open vote-buying and media payoffs –corruption like the BC Rail scandal happens quite differently here.

Being allowed the freedom of speech for any citizen to openly criticize government is an essential ingredient for democracy. Freedom of association to join opposing political parties unharmed is necessary. Equally important is the accountability function best ensured via an Opposition Caucus in government. Without an Opposition in the House, the public loses the most effective mechanism to watch and ensure Government is responsive to the people –what democracy is all about.

Here in B.C., we learned how imperative Opposition was when we lost all but two members. For example, in 2002 Joy and Jenny fought to stop funding cuts to no avail. This fall, with an Opposition of 35 members, we were able to get some of the BC Gaming Grants reinstated and funding restored for domestic violence services. In our region, I worked to support public comment on the Glacier-Howser proposal because the Liberal government wasn’t being as open as it should.

An Opposition free to criticise is part of the democratic mix. The people of B.C. have put 35 of us in the Legislature to do this job. We do the job so well, that the next election will bring about change and we plan to be the government. Our plans and such a change are also part of the democratic mix.

As Cambodia moves forward, it is learning the recipe for a strong democracy. After time, they will perfect that recipe and develop a tradition. And as the years pass by, the land, the river, the trees and the birds will still be there to tell the story of Khmer people.

Michelle Mungall is the Nelson-Creston MLA representing the NDP party

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