Lowell has the second highest Cambodian American population in the US, with Long Beach, California, on top. Cambodian Americans have a rich culture that has been spreading throughout the country. Let’s look at the City of Lowell itself. Many Cambodian restaurants and stores are spread over the city to share the culture and fantastic food for everyone to enjoy. However, on the political side, even though we live in this country, Cambodian politics also play a significant role in our City of Lowell. Due to the two political party divides in Cambodia between the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the population in the city also divides support on who they believe is best. The Cambodian People’s Party is run by Hun Sen, who also is the Prime Minister of Cambodia and has been in power for 37 years. The Cambodia National Rescue Party with the current President of the party is Kem Sokha, the party’s founder with Sam Rainsy back in 2012. (Was dissolved by Hun Sen in 2017)

This week itself is a week that many Cambodian people all around took a few moments to celebrate the success of the Paris Peace Agreement of October 23rd, 1991. This agreement’s goal is to end the Cambodian civil war and any violent conflict in Cambodia. The agreement is also focused on bringing a free and fair elections, which helps Cambodia lean toward becoming a democratic country in the world. That’s why on October 22nd, a committee made up of a few community members, including Vesna Nuon, Sidney Liang, Tha Chan, Synoun Kham, and myself, put an event together that focused on a discussion about the Paris Peace Agreement. The political tension and how the Cambodian government has been following the agreement for the better of the country.

At the event, there were four panelists: Sophal Ear, Ph.D., a professor from Phoenix, Arizona. Chheang Mam, a retired general from Cambodia, was also a part of a working group at the Paris Conference in 1989 in the first session of the Paris Peace Agreement. Srun Srorn and Sophea Pheung, young activists in Cambodia, zoomed in to voice their concerns and opinions on how we can keep implementing this agreement for the better of the country and the people. The last panel is Brad Adam, the executive director of the Asian division at Human Rights Watch, overseeing the investigation, advocacy, and media work in twenty countries from 2002- 2022. Everyone in this panel has a similar belief that from what we see right now in Cambodia, the Paris Peace Agreement needs more work to make it achieve its goal. With a Prime Minister who’s been in power for 37 years, democracy is nowhere to be found. Senator Ed Markey also sent a video of his remark on this issue during the event. With from his last visit to Cambodia in August. In the video, the senator states, “But today, sadly, those rights are under assault by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, Hun Sen, and his party has abjectly failed to meet the promise of the Paris Peace Agreements.”

As a Cambodian American living in this democratic country, I believe there is more work to implement to get Cambodia to where it is supposed to be. A free and fair election lets people speak and choose their leader to run the country for the better of the next generation.