Friday, November 03, 2006

NEC's Tep Nyhta looks for all kind of excuses to disfranchise evicted people fromTonle Bassac

Friday, November 3, 2006

By Pin Sisovann and Elizabeth Tomei
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

The National Election Committee has rejected appeals submitted by villagers in Phnom Penh's Kouk Roka commune who claimed that they were barred from registering to vote during the Oct 1 to Oct 24 registration period.

Kouk Roka commune in Dangkao district is home to more than 1,800 families who were evicted from the city's Tonle Bassac area in June.

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha said the appeals were denied because they were not accompanied by letters from the commune council showing that their initial complaints had been denied.

According to NEC procedure, complaints regarding the registration process must be submitted to commune officials, who can either remedy a complaint or refer it for appeal to the NEC, said Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections.

Commune officials in Kouk Roka commune did not accept 372 complaints brought by villagers to the commune office Oct 27, saying they were submitted after a 2 pm deadline.

The relocated villagers were previously unable to register because they lacked residency documents or proof of Cambodian citizenship, commune officials said.

Koul Panha said that he knows of 40 complaints that had been formally submitted to commune officials in eight provinces. Most of the complaints are from people who were not able to register, though some concern irregularities in the registration process such as commune offices not open during working hours, he added.

Tep Nytha said that the formal complaints received by the NEC represent around 10,000 people.

An appealed complaint submitted by villagers in Banteay Meanchey province's Poipet commune was also denied by the NEC because it too was not accompanied by a letter from commune officials rejecting the complaint, Tep Nytha said.

SRP members have previously claimed that the denials in Kouk Roka were politically motivated and show discrimination against evictees who are likely to be unhappy with the government.

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