Water, roads come From CPP ... and so do corruption, nepotism, deforestation, land grabbing, loss of Khmer territories, give away of Khmer oil, etc...

Friday, August 25, 2006
Water, Roads Come From CPP, Takeo Voters Told

By Kuch Naren
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

In the vow required for CPP membership,
the applicant accepts that if he betrays the party,
he and his family will be separated
and their happiness shattered.

Traing district, Takeo province - Every evening since the beginning of July, Duong Khan, a CPP commune chief in Takeo province, has trodden the muddy, red earth roads of Sra Nge commune on a door-to-door mission to recruit new members.

Rice and water are the keys to life in the 15 villages that make up Sra Nge commune, and that's the point that Duong Khan and his fellow CPP recruiters are keen to press home on their daily visits.

"Senior CPP officials have paid millions each year to develop our commune, constructing water pumping stations, distributing gifts, constructing roads and other infrastructure." Duong Khan boasted Wednesday.

"So we need to earn more votes for the coming elections to satisfy our senior CPP officials," he said.

In Sra Nge commune, the villagers' access to water and roads is not the work of the government or a ministry, but the private philanthropy of CPP officials with almost cult status. At least, that's how Duong Khan portrays it. And many villagers believe him.

Kam Sim, 32, said she owes her life to the generosity of the ruling party, which is responsible for the water canals and mechanical pumps that have helpedd irrigate the commune.

"I want to express my deep thanks to the CPP officials who have paid a lot of money to buy gasoline to pump water from this lake into smaller canals around the paddy fields," she said.

With the commune owing so much to the CPP, Duong Khan is now out to make sure that the 6,000 voters in the 15 villages pay their dues to their benefactors by swearing loyalty to the CPP.

Human rights workers and Sam Rainsy Party officials say the recruitment campaign in Sra Nge, and in other communes in Takeo and possibly all over the country, is political intimidation at its most grassroots level: water for votes.

Joining the ruling party is not compulsory, Duong Khan says. The all-important water won't be cut off, and villagers who do support Funcinpec and the SRP won't be prevented from traveling on the CPP-built roads of Sra Nge. In fact, there is no need to coerce anyone to join the CPP, as enthusiastic villagers are signing up in droves, he says.

Villagers have lost confidence in the ineffectual Funcinpec and SRP, who have no water or roads to give, Duong Khan said.

"It's not necessary to pressure villagers to join the CPP because we will help and provide water to all supporters from all political parties," said Leng Keo, a CPP member of Sra Nge commune and an active recruiter. As Leng Keo says, that's why "more and more villagers prefer to join our party."

But the membership drive is also about elections, Duong Khan said.

In the 2002 commune elections and the 2003 general elections, only 2,000 of the commune's 6,000 potential voters chose the CPP, though prior to the votes, around
4,000 residents said that they supported the ruling party.

The plan now is to get the villagers who say they support the party to pay more than lip service and become full-blown CPP members.

"Our party wants to have official membership lists, because previously we only visited villagers door to door to find out how many were CPP supporters and we recorded their names," Duong Khan said.

"We counted that there were more than 4,000 residents out of the total population of 6,000 who said they supported our party, but we only got 2,000 votes." he added.

The drive appears to be working. So far, 4,000 residents in the commune have agreed to join the party because, says Duong Khan, only the CPP can give "water and other gifts."

Vital information required for CPP membership includes a photograph, name, age, a thumbprint, the size of the villager's rice field and the taking of a supernatural vow. In the vow, the applicant accepts that if he betrays the CPP, he and his family will be separated and their happiness shattered.

Even some of the commune's lifetime CPP supporters, though, think the vow is going too far.

"I love the CPP, but it does not require us to swear to such nasty words," villager Hem Hak said.

Chea Ith, 74, said she didn't read the small print on the CPP membership form and was happy to sign up regardless of the vow. The SRP and Funcinpec have never helped villagers when it mattered, Chea Ith said of her late-in-life political decision.

"I stop trusting parties except the CPP because I can get water for my paddy fields," she said. "Look at the back of my house—water access reaches right to my rice fields and we get better roads."

Ngin Samoeun, 56, a Prey Nup village resident, said she voted for Funcinpec in 1993 and the SRP in 2002. Now Ngin Samoeun will vote for the CPP, the party that brought the village water.

Mao Sophal, an SRP official in Traing district, lamented the politicization of water in the commune, where 95 percent of families rely on rice farming for their living.

"Villagers fear to speak out," Mao Sophal said. "Water is really important for their rice paddies."

"Villagers cannot say no when those CPP village representatives offer them membership forms because the representatives know which rice fields belong to who," he said, adding that threats to cut off water have been made.

Prak Saran, chief of the Kampot province office of local rights group Adhoc, said he had received several telephone calls from villagers in Bati district complaining about a CPP membership drive in their area and their fears that they would be discriminated against if they didn't join. "We cannot do any investigation or intervention on these issues because those villagers dare not lodge a complaint seeking help," he added.

Leam Chea, chief of Thloak commune in Takeo province, said that anyone who takes the CPP membership vow should take it seriously, particularly at election time.

"To be a CPP member, you must vote for the CPP," he said.

"If you betray your parent [the CPP], you will receive punishment from the Tevada spirit and you will meet serious trouble in your life."