Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 November 2007
Opposition leaders Thursday claimed that illegal Vietnamese were being put on voter rosters, as authorities were quick to point out that many Vietnamese do in fact have the right to vote.
The issue of Vietnamese, who may or may not be Cambodian nationals, is common in local and national elections. Ethnic Vietnamese have lived in Cambodia since the 18th Century. An estimated 200,000 of 600,000 were killed in the violence of the 1960s and 1970s, and many fled to Vietnam following the Khmer Rouge takeover.
Many returned after the fall of the Khmer Rouge and are citizens with the right to vote.
But illegal aliens use many strategies to get their names on lists, including bribery and name change, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Van said Thursday.
SRP second clerk Heng Soth said he had seen registration of "Vietnamese names" undertaken by people who "spoke Khmer with a bad accent."
Commune clerk Chhean Nara said accents were not grounds for voter disqualification.
"What is important is first that person has an ID and second that the people are residents of the local areas," he said. "They have documents to back them up, such as birth certificates or passports."
The debate should not be about names, he said. "The focus is on...what documents the person has."
Comfrel Director Koul Panha said the National Election Committee had not tried to solve the controversy "to the utmost."
The issue of Vietnamese, who may or may not be Cambodian nationals, is common in local and national elections. Ethnic Vietnamese have lived in Cambodia since the 18th Century. An estimated 200,000 of 600,000 were killed in the violence of the 1960s and 1970s, and many fled to Vietnam following the Khmer Rouge takeover.
Many returned after the fall of the Khmer Rouge and are citizens with the right to vote.
But illegal aliens use many strategies to get their names on lists, including bribery and name change, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Van said Thursday.
SRP second clerk Heng Soth said he had seen registration of "Vietnamese names" undertaken by people who "spoke Khmer with a bad accent."
Commune clerk Chhean Nara said accents were not grounds for voter disqualification.
"What is important is first that person has an ID and second that the people are residents of the local areas," he said. "They have documents to back them up, such as birth certificates or passports."
The debate should not be about names, he said. "The focus is on...what documents the person has."
Comfrel Director Koul Panha said the National Election Committee had not tried to solve the controversy "to the utmost."
10 comments:
Hey, there are many Ah Khmer-Barangs who speak Khmer with bad accent too, but they still have the right to vote.
It is time to close the voting registration. We don't have the resource to perfecting it. We only got about 2USD per person, if that. Stop wasting our tax dollar on a few insignificant errors.
We all know that birth certificate and ID can be issued by the clerk at a cost of fifty to one hundred dollars.
This is result of very low salary or not at all, but clerk or officer get a way to live easily. That why everyone wants to have a share in power.
This system is set to corrupt and creates misery for cambodians. Khmer abroad can get new bith certificate or any document at a reasonable cost without any proof.
Khmer soth
Nope, that is not corruption. That is stupidity. I mean if you pay that much for ID or for birth certificate, then you are simply stupid. And stupidity exists everywhere around the globe.
NO, the animal Viet troller that pretends to be Khmer on KI-Media must leave Khmer alone and go back to Hanoi where it belong!
KI-Media is none of the animal Viet trollers's business!
Now, Go home Viet troller!
Now, Go home Vietcong!
6:03, it looks like you may have to send for Jet Lee to rid of the troller from KI media.
Nah that animal Viet troller is already a dead meat!
Now, Go home Viet troller!
Now, Go home Vietcong!
Viet is dead meat? hahaha, LOL, hahaha.
that troller not deadmeat. he alive meat. he digs his nose
anywhere he don't belong.
that is is nature. we all know who this fool is by now and should be able to ignore his ass on first glance.
Oh, and what is so bad about being Knmer? I mean picking our nose or itching our seat once in a while in public.
OH VIet dead meat!
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