And all existing national institutions have not functioned and discharged their responsibilities well yet. If six years ago Cambodian society was a child of seven years old, nowadays that child is a teenager. On top of the problems inherent in this growing up process, that child is having a very serious problem, that is, that child still has the same clothes. The good news is that those clothes are being loosened up with all the promised reforms. The bad news is that the reforms did not come from within.
Donors are instrumental in bringing about such promised reforms.
Any relaxation on the part of donors could well have adverse effects on democratic gains. Furthermore, democracy is still facing a lot of challenges inside and outside the country. However, democracy in Cambodia still has a legal basis and framework to sustain efforts to uphold it. Such a basis and framework could further be strengthened if Cambodia's relevant traditional cultural elements can be revived and practiced. It is worth stressing that Cambodians introduced and adopted democracy after World War II, and leaders of the four Cambodian parties to the conflict after the ousting of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 acknowledged the failure of their respective regimes when they signed the Paris Agreements of 1991 to end the war.