By Ung Chansophea
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original Cambodge Soir article in French
Villagers from Prey Tnorng, Kampot province, accuse CPP officials of hijacking a mosque inauguration and turning it into politics on the eve of the commune election.
A politics-religion mixup surrounding the inauguration of a mosque in the Kampot province took place right before the election. Prey Tnorng villagers were angry at the CPP commune and district officials, and they accuse the latter of hijacking the inauguration a religious building for political gain.
“The local authorities claim that this mosque was a gift from the CPP,” Sales Yasya, a Prey Tnorng villager, said indignantly. “They distributed propaganda items bearing the party logo to the villagers. And they even dare ask them to vote for the CPP during the election! We all know that this mosque was financed by a US association. I do not work for any party, but these actions are scandalous. It is illegal. They are in power, so they do whatever they want. Other parties have no right to do anything. The CPP tries to buy the villagers’ political opinion.” SRP commune members are also saying the same thing while calling for a strict application of the NEC’s recommendations. “They even propose to pay 50,000 riels ($12.50) to join the [CPP] party,” one anonymous SRP member said.
The organizers are denying
The commune chief who asks that his name does not appear in this story, denied the whole thing: “Neither I nor the district chief called for voting for our party,” he replied. Othsman Hassan, the CPP state secretary for the Ministry of Labor and president of the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation, who was the MC for the inauguration ceremony agrees with the commune chief. “There was no attempt to make propaganda. Myself, I was very careful with my words. I advise the villagers to vote for the upcoming commune election as good citizens.” He added nevertheless that the CPP did a lot for the religious freedom in the country, starting with the liberation from the Khmer Rouge… He concluded by claiming that the gifts distributed to the villagers came from Prime Minister Hun Sen, and that they were not from the CPP.
A politics-religion mixup surrounding the inauguration of a mosque in the Kampot province took place right before the election. Prey Tnorng villagers were angry at the CPP commune and district officials, and they accuse the latter of hijacking the inauguration a religious building for political gain.
“The local authorities claim that this mosque was a gift from the CPP,” Sales Yasya, a Prey Tnorng villager, said indignantly. “They distributed propaganda items bearing the party logo to the villagers. And they even dare ask them to vote for the CPP during the election! We all know that this mosque was financed by a US association. I do not work for any party, but these actions are scandalous. It is illegal. They are in power, so they do whatever they want. Other parties have no right to do anything. The CPP tries to buy the villagers’ political opinion.” SRP commune members are also saying the same thing while calling for a strict application of the NEC’s recommendations. “They even propose to pay 50,000 riels ($12.50) to join the [CPP] party,” one anonymous SRP member said.
The organizers are denying
The commune chief who asks that his name does not appear in this story, denied the whole thing: “Neither I nor the district chief called for voting for our party,” he replied. Othsman Hassan, the CPP state secretary for the Ministry of Labor and president of the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation, who was the MC for the inauguration ceremony agrees with the commune chief. “There was no attempt to make propaganda. Myself, I was very careful with my words. I advise the villagers to vote for the upcoming commune election as good citizens.” He added nevertheless that the CPP did a lot for the religious freedom in the country, starting with the liberation from the Khmer Rouge… He concluded by claiming that the gifts distributed to the villagers came from Prime Minister Hun Sen, and that they were not from the CPP.
1 comment:
do mair ah Hun Xen has lot lot of money, choy euy!
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