Sam Rainsy, opposition leader (Photo: RFA)By Vong Sokheng and Charles McDermid
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 16, August 11 - 24, 2006
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has accused the National Election Committee (NEC) of contributing to the ruling party's "political impunity," and is blasting its month-long campaign to compile voter lists as a "vicious scheme."
"It's a big plot being implemented in order to deprive up to two million potential voters of their rights," Rainsy said by phone from Kampong Cham on August 10. "They are organizing confusion and creating unnecessary work and procedures for people — most of whom are unable to do it."
According to Tep Nytha, secretary-general of the NEC, his group has printed more than 6.7 million election information leaflets ahead of the voter registration process in October. The NEC distributed the leaflets to individual commune councils who, in turn, directed them to be handed out by the newly elected village chiefs. Nytha said that so far this month 400,000 leaflets have been distributed.
"The people who receive the election information leaflets can add their names to the voter registration list," Nytha said. "The voter can examine the name and information on the document to verify [its accuracy] before the voter registration starts in October."
In June elections, which were boycotted by election watchdog NGOs, the CPP won more than 91 percent of the country's 13,796 village chief positions.
"We now understand why they were so eager to help those village chiefs get [their] positions," Rainsy said. "It was part of a scheme to manipulate the [coming] election. The results of 2007 and 2008 are being decided now through the registration process. It is a vicious scheme to deprive citizens of their voting rights. And the CPP is requesting $13 million to finance the voting process — that's another dirty trick."
Rainsy claims that CPP-aligned village chiefs will simply skip the homes of villagers who are not CPP supporters. He also alleges that correcting names and addresses on the voter leaflets is beyond the literacy level of most rural Cambodians, and only CPP followers receive assistance.
"The NEC is independent on paper, but in fact they are doing what the CPP asks them to do," he said. "We now have a system of political impunity. Generally any party that continues to violate the country will be toppled or voted out. Through this trick of the registration process, now we have politicians who can stay in power for ever even if they violate rights."
Rainsy said he will reveal evidence of his allegations at an August 11 press conference at Sam Rainsy Party headquarters.
Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), has sent 30 staff members to 300 communes to monitor the auditing of voter lists to discern the exact number of voters.
"The leaflet is very important," he said. "The voters receive information about the election, and the NEC is able to know the number of voters. If people don't receive the leaflets it means their name may not appear on the list to vote."
Panha said that in the 2003 elections an audit of voter lists by Comfrel found that 4 percent of the voters were so-called "ghost voters," an irregularity where there is a name on the list but no vote.
"The leaflet information is good, but the problem we have is the distributors who take sides in politics because of the party infrastructure at the commune and village levels," he said.
"At this time we don't have enough data to comment about political manipulation, because the process of handing out leaflets has just begun. Our watchdogs have been sent out remote communes to collect information."
"It's a big plot being implemented in order to deprive up to two million potential voters of their rights," Rainsy said by phone from Kampong Cham on August 10. "They are organizing confusion and creating unnecessary work and procedures for people — most of whom are unable to do it."
According to Tep Nytha, secretary-general of the NEC, his group has printed more than 6.7 million election information leaflets ahead of the voter registration process in October. The NEC distributed the leaflets to individual commune councils who, in turn, directed them to be handed out by the newly elected village chiefs. Nytha said that so far this month 400,000 leaflets have been distributed.
"The people who receive the election information leaflets can add their names to the voter registration list," Nytha said. "The voter can examine the name and information on the document to verify [its accuracy] before the voter registration starts in October."
In June elections, which were boycotted by election watchdog NGOs, the CPP won more than 91 percent of the country's 13,796 village chief positions.
"We now understand why they were so eager to help those village chiefs get [their] positions," Rainsy said. "It was part of a scheme to manipulate the [coming] election. The results of 2007 and 2008 are being decided now through the registration process. It is a vicious scheme to deprive citizens of their voting rights. And the CPP is requesting $13 million to finance the voting process — that's another dirty trick."
Rainsy claims that CPP-aligned village chiefs will simply skip the homes of villagers who are not CPP supporters. He also alleges that correcting names and addresses on the voter leaflets is beyond the literacy level of most rural Cambodians, and only CPP followers receive assistance.
"The NEC is independent on paper, but in fact they are doing what the CPP asks them to do," he said. "We now have a system of political impunity. Generally any party that continues to violate the country will be toppled or voted out. Through this trick of the registration process, now we have politicians who can stay in power for ever even if they violate rights."
Rainsy said he will reveal evidence of his allegations at an August 11 press conference at Sam Rainsy Party headquarters.
Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), has sent 30 staff members to 300 communes to monitor the auditing of voter lists to discern the exact number of voters.
"The leaflet is very important," he said. "The voters receive information about the election, and the NEC is able to know the number of voters. If people don't receive the leaflets it means their name may not appear on the list to vote."
Panha said that in the 2003 elections an audit of voter lists by Comfrel found that 4 percent of the voters were so-called "ghost voters," an irregularity where there is a name on the list but no vote.
"The leaflet information is good, but the problem we have is the distributors who take sides in politics because of the party infrastructure at the commune and village levels," he said.
"At this time we don't have enough data to comment about political manipulation, because the process of handing out leaflets has just begun. Our watchdogs have been sent out remote communes to collect information."
4 comments:
Just another test to see how strong the opposition is.
BB
It is not a test to see how strong the opposition stand. It is the test to how many votes can the NEC schemes for their CPP bosses.
Everybody knows the thieves will continue to steal; asking them not to steal is futile. Hence, the main question is: are others focused enough to lower the amount of stolen votes.
Many NEC staff are RSP. I know several of them. They are afraid to say whom they belong or they risk losing the job. NEC is being watched by CPP as well.
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