Monday, October 02, 2006

NEC statement on Yash Ghai's comments

NEC's collection, a political cartoon by http://sacrava.blogspot.com

Phnom Penh, 2 October 2006

Statement From The National Election Committee
On The Report Of The Special Representative
Of The UN Secretary-General For Human Rights In Cambodia

The National Election Committee felt directly attacked in the statement to the Human Rights Council on September 26, delivered by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia , Mr. Yash Ghai.

Mr. Ghai talked of "manipulated democratic processes," and said that a political party had "firm control over the electoral commission."

By using such assertions presented as undeniable facts, Mr. Ghai is passing judgment over the NEC without giving it the opportunity to make its case.

Mr. Ghai's comments made on the independence and the neutrality of the NEC are unsubstantiated. In Cambodia , members of the National Election Committee are bound by law not to represent any political party.

Mr. Ghai's statement conveys the presumption that the NEC members, in spite of their legal obligation of neutrality and impartiality, are betraying their solemn oath and behave as nothing less than agents of one political party. In that respect among others, Mr. Ghai's conclusions are at odds with was said of the NEC in his predecessor's reports.

To our knowledge and unlike his predecessor, neither Mr. Ghai nor anyone from his office ever visited the NEC in the last three years. And unlike his predecessor, again to our knowledge, Mr. Ghai never had the chance to observe himself elections in Cambodia .

The NEC welcomes suggestions and criticism from all election stakeholders, but regrets the absence, in this statement, of any example of 'constructive engagement' that Mr. Ghai refers to as his 'primary responsibility' in the first paragraph of his report.

Since, in his report, Mr. Ghai is looking 'forward to continuing dialogue on these issues,' we would suggest that this dialogue actually starts with the NEC before coming to foregone conclusions.

The NEC would like to extend an invitation to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia to meet with the NEC, particularly before he needs to deliver statements to the United Nations on electoral matters in Cambodia .

The National Election Committee

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

this isn't the first time inhouse party takes on a defense against the international watchdogs.

the earlier one was the defense against the worldbank.


does this mean cambodia has been doing the right things?

Anonymous said...

To think that the P. Penh Viet-puppet regime is doing something constructive for CAMBODIA is just simply wishful thinking..to say the least.

10/02/06
AKnijakhmer

Anonymous said...

hmm...are you saying this because you disdain youns?

Anonymous said...

900 years ago, South Vietnam was Khmerland. Now, we have Vietnamese asserted themselves in the government body, the ruling party (CPP). Hun Sen is just a puppet that lacked individuality. Ah Hun cannot act independently.

In the eyes of the international, ah Hun is very clever/cunning con artist. Money pouring in billions, parts goes to his bosses in HCM, while Khmers people are suffering.

Like H.E. Mussomeli said, "Hun Sen is playing lip services". In this last 3 decade, he hasn't doing anything constructive for Khmer Society. What he's doing is constructing vilas, resorts, and playgrounds for his rich buddies/families with Khmer blood in this hands.

Anonymous said...

It's a great idea to show this cartoon.

Anonymous said...

Re: Anon@9:42PM

A picture, as they say(?), is worth a thousand words. This cartoon by Mr. Sacrava, my friend or my foe, is worth a million...Need we say more?

10/03/06
AKnijaKhmer

Anonymous said...

I'm with AknijaKhmer. Please do some research for yourself to find out the real true behind it. You will know exactly what we meant.

Anonymous said...

Cartoon is the most humeruous and gentle way to wake up our sence of what is right and what is wrong and to get us back on track on again.

It's so sad that many of those people involved in this cartoon picture didn't get or did not take it seriously.

In my own vocabulary,they are not, yet becoming a full human being.

Anonymous said...

Oops!

In my own vocabulary, their intelligent needs to be polished.