CPP Preventing Commune Councilors From Royalist Parties From Voting At The January 29 Senate Elections

January 24, 2012

CPP PREVENTING COMMUNE COUNCILORS FROM ROYALIST PARTIES FROM VOTING AT THE JANUARY 29 SENATE ELECTIONS

The coming Senate elections will take place this Sunday, January 29. Only Cambodia's two largest political parties will compete: the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). Only elected commune councilors and National Assembly members (from all parties) can take part in the vote

The two royalist parties, Funcinpec and Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), which do not run and have no candidates because they don't have enough commune councilors to win any senatorial seat, have given no voting instructions and have allowed their councilors to vote in a free manner, according to their conscience.

However, the CPP is afraid that a significant number of royalist councilors would vote for the SRP, thus marginally giving the opposition a few extra senatorial seats on top of the 11 seats the SRP is expected to win based on the number of its commune councilors. Earlier this month, opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who was a former Funcinpec member, wrote a letter to all royalist councilors calling them to uphold the original Funcinpec ideals, to remain faithful to their motherland and to unite with patriots and democrats who have been fighting against the foreign-backed and communist-inspired CPP since the founding of Funcinpec in the early 1980s (see Sam Rainsy's one-page letter in Khmer attached herewith).

Because Sam Rainsy's appeal has apparently led many royalist councilors to consider casting their ballots for the SRP, the CPP is resorting to an illegal and undemocratic measure aimed at preventing those royalist councilors from going to vote on January 29: They are offering a free and very pleasant one-day vacation to Sihanoukville beach to all Funcinpec and NRP councilors from several provinces such as Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang. Other material enticements will be used in other provinces on voting day to also prevent royalist councilors from voting.

The CPP-controlled National Election Committee (NEC) will likely turn a blind eye to this illegal and undemocratic maneuver from the CPP.

SRP Members of Parliament