By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The Sain Rainsy Party will boycott the national village chief elections if the CPP does not agree to share a set number of the positions with the SRP, regardless of the outcome at the polls, SRP officials said Tuesday.
SRP lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang said he no longer believes the party can succeed in the elections, which started in May. He alleged that the CPP has bribed Funinpec commune councilors to vote for CPP village chiefs, and said he feels that the CPP will not recognize SRP village chiefs if they are elected.
"We want to respect the spirit of national reconciliation and unity," Eng Chhay Eang said. The SRP proposal would involve introducing a system in which a commune council would allocate a certain number of village chief positions to the SRP, depending on how many SRP councilors the commune had.
There are 1,642 SRP commune councilors across Cambodia, Eng Chhay Eang said.
SRP Acting Secretary-General Meng Rita also called for a quota system, saying it would reflect "democracy and justice."
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharifh said CPP headquarters cannot accept the proposal, as it does not want to interfere with the elections.
But the central government has no objection to individual commune councilors discussing the possibility of dividing village chief positions between political parties, he added.
"It is up to negotiations at ground level," he said. "The local level can have discussions—we don't interfere with them," he said.
Khieu Kanharith denied that the CPP has been buying votes from Funcinpec commune councilors.
Sak Setha, director-general of the Interior Ministry's General Department, said the SRP proposal would go against the ministry's regulations, and claimed that village chiefs are politically independent.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the SRP proposal would be unlikely to benefit the general public.
"Sharing a quota is good for the parties but does not benefit the constituents," he said.
Banteay Meanchey's CPP provincial governor on Monday called for a new election after the province's first four SRP village chiefs were elected, citing irregularities in the voting process.
In Ratanakkiri province, the SRP has claimed that local CPP officials are refusing to recognize two newly elected SRP village chiefs and are working with their CPP predecessors instead.
SRP lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang said he no longer believes the party can succeed in the elections, which started in May. He alleged that the CPP has bribed Funinpec commune councilors to vote for CPP village chiefs, and said he feels that the CPP will not recognize SRP village chiefs if they are elected.
"We want to respect the spirit of national reconciliation and unity," Eng Chhay Eang said. The SRP proposal would involve introducing a system in which a commune council would allocate a certain number of village chief positions to the SRP, depending on how many SRP councilors the commune had.
There are 1,642 SRP commune councilors across Cambodia, Eng Chhay Eang said.
SRP Acting Secretary-General Meng Rita also called for a quota system, saying it would reflect "democracy and justice."
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharifh said CPP headquarters cannot accept the proposal, as it does not want to interfere with the elections.
But the central government has no objection to individual commune councilors discussing the possibility of dividing village chief positions between political parties, he added.
"It is up to negotiations at ground level," he said. "The local level can have discussions—we don't interfere with them," he said.
Khieu Kanharith denied that the CPP has been buying votes from Funcinpec commune councilors.
Sak Setha, director-general of the Interior Ministry's General Department, said the SRP proposal would go against the ministry's regulations, and claimed that village chiefs are politically independent.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the SRP proposal would be unlikely to benefit the general public.
"Sharing a quota is good for the parties but does not benefit the constituents," he said.
Banteay Meanchey's CPP provincial governor on Monday called for a new election after the province's first four SRP village chiefs were elected, citing irregularities in the voting process.
In Ratanakkiri province, the SRP has claimed that local CPP officials are refusing to recognize two newly elected SRP village chiefs and are working with their CPP predecessors instead.
3 comments:
Hard job for SRP.
Thank all the PARIS AGREEMENT and the supper powers, we was than be communist.
Mr Sam rainsy,
How we can win the election 2008? even if we won this traitor would never give the power to you.
First they cheated the voting, then not recognizing in the working rank, then put them in jail, then misteriously killed their members.. then used FUNCEPIC against SRP vice a versa. When the international gave them pressures, they just released them from jailed and talked a few nice words, everything become calm just like today... Who pay for the victim's families? the dead politicians? the singer, the labor leader? the monk? 14 people were executed poin blank in the daylight. Forget and forgive... dictatorship remains the same. International human right still collect their salaries as usual.. the job never get done.
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