Tonle Basak Theater

The Radio Free Asia today published news regarding the payment of 400 US dollars to concerned artists in consideration of transfering (renting as mentioned by an official) the Tonle Basak Theater to a private company. What is the legal basis for this exchange or transaction? (RFA)

The Tonle Basak Theater is a public property that belongs to the State. The government can sell, rent, or transfer to any body as long as the government do it in compliance with the prescribed procedure and do it for the sake of the public interest. The government can also destroy it or even burn it as long as this decision was made in the public interests. If the government rented or transferred it to a private company, the revenues would be converted to the public coffin, not to any private person.

Those artists are the government officials who have no private ownership or possession to this theater; therefore, they have no right to demand any money coming from this transaction. Of course, if the government did not carry out this transaction or make this decision by not complying with the specified procedures or not for the public interests, those artists, including the public as a whole, have right to demand to cancel this transaction or to transfer the money to the public coffin. They have no right at all to receive any money from this transaction. Why the government, including the Prime Minister, has to pay them the money? Is it a legitimate action to do that? On what legal grounds that such an action is considered legitimate in Cambodia?

If those artists claim that they are involved by the status of the government officials in the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, how about other government officials of the same ministry? To ensure fairness, the government should pay those other officials too; otherwise, there exist an inequal treatment. If they claim that they are entitled by their a long term affiliation with this theater, others who have such the affilliation deserve that amount too. They may include all people who visit this theater frequently when it was in operation if the term "affilliation" can be broadly interepreted. Should the government pay all of them? Where does the money come from?

In conclusion, the resolution of paying 400 US dollars to each concerned artist is illegal and has not legal ground for such an action. This resolution represents an inequal and unjust decision made by the government for the sake of private persons, not for the public interests as a whole.