៥០០​ដុល្លារ ទិញ​ទឹកចិត្តសមាជិក​គណបក្សសម​រង្ស៊ី? - $500: Cost to buy a SRP activist?

អង្គារ 06 មិនា 2012
ដោយ ទឹម រ៉ាវី
សារពត៍មានសេរី (FPMOnline.net)

គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​គ្មាន​ ជំរើស​អី​ក្រៅ​ពី​ប្រឹងប្រែង​ទាំង​លំបាក​លំបិន ដើម្បី​តទល់​ជាមួយ​គណបក្ស​កាន់​អំណាច ក្រោម​ចុង​អាវុធ និង​ទឹក​លុយ​នោះ​ឡើយ។

ការ​បោះឆ្នោត​ជ្រើស​រើស​សមាជិក​ក្រុម​ប្រឹក្សា​ឃុំ-សង្កាត់ សម្រាប់​អាណត្តិ​ទី​៣​នេះ នឹង​ប្រព្រឹត្ត​ទៅ​នៅ​ដើម​ខែ​មិថុនា​ឆ្នាំ​នេះ ដោយ​យ៉ាង​ហោច​ណាស់​គេ​ជឿ​ថា នឹង​មាន​គណបក្ស​១១​ចូល​រួម​ប្រកួត​ប្រជែង ប៉ុន្តែ​គណបក្ស​ដែល​គេ​សង្ឃឹម​ថា អាច​ដណ្តើម​យក​អាសនៈ​បាន​ច្រើន​បំផុត គឺ​មាន​តែ​គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​កាន់​អំណាច និង​គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​សម​រង្ស៊ី​តែ​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។ គណបក្ស​នីមួយៗ​កំពុង​ប្រញាប់​ប្រញាល់​យ៉ាង​សម្បើម​ក្នុង​ការ​រៀបចំ​បញ្ជី​ឈ្មោះ​បេក្ខជន ក៏​ដូច​ជា​ចុះ​តាម​មូល​ដ្ឋាន​បញ្ចុះ​បញ្ចូល​ប្រជារាស្រ្ត​ឲ្យ​គាំទ្រ​គណបក្ស​របស់​ខ្លួន និង​បេក្ខជន​ដោយ​ប្រើ​អស់​លទ្ធភាព​ដែល​ខ្លួន​មាន។

គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​ដែល​មាន​គ្រប់​លទ្ធភាព នឹង​មាន​បេក្ខជន​របស់​ខ្លួន​នៅ​គ្រប់​ឃុំ​សង្កាត់​ទូទាំង​ប្រទេស ស្រប​ពេល​ដែល​គណបក្ស​ផ្សេង​ទៀត​កំពុង​ប្រឈម​នឹង​ការ​លំបាក​ក្នុង​ការ​រក​បេក្ខជន​ឈរ​ឈ្មោះ​នៅ​តាម​តំបន់​ដាច់​ស្រយាល និង​ទីក្រុង ដោយ​សារ​តែ​ការ​គំរាម​កំហែង និង​បារម្ភ​ពី​ផល​ប្រយោជន៍។ សម្រាប់​គណបក្ស​ហ៊្វុនស៊ិនប៉ិច គណបក្ស​នរោត្តម​រណប្ញទ្ធិ និង​គណបក្ស​តូចៗ មិន​សូវ​ជា​មាន​អ្នក​ចង់​ឈរ​ឈ្មោះ​ជា​បេក្ខជន​ឡើយ ទោះ​គ្មាន​ការ​គំរាម​កំហែង​ក៏​ដោយ ប៉ុន្តែ​ដោយ​សារ​តែ​គេ​មិន​ពេញ​ចិត្ត​តែ​ម្តង។ បើ​តាម​អំណះអំណាង​របស់​អ្នក​ភូមិ អាជ្ញាធរ​តែង​ដើរ​គំរាម​ដល់​អ្នក​ណា​ដែល​ហ៊ាន​ឈរ​ឈ្មោះ​ធ្វើ​ជា​បេក្ខជន​សម្រាប់​គណបក្ស​សមរង្ស៊ី ហើយ​អ្នក​ខ្លះ​ត្រូវ​បង្ខំ​ចិត្ត​រត់​ចោល​ផ្ទះ​សម្បែង​ក៏​មាន។ មួយ​វិញ​ទៀត ពួក​មាន​អំណាច ទិញ​ទឹកចិត្ត​សកម្មជន​គណបក្ស​សមរង្ស៊ី​ឲ្យ​បោះ បង់​ចោល​គណបក្ស ហើយ​មក​ចុះ​ចូល​ជាមួយ​គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​ក្នុង​តម្លៃ​មួយ។ យោង​តាម​សកម្មជន​ដែល​ធ្លាប់​ចាញ់​ឧបាយ​កល​និយាយ​ថា ពួក​គេ​ត្រូវ​បាន​អូស​ទាញ​ឲ្យ​ចេញ​ពី​គណបក្ស​សមរង្ស៊ី ដោយ​ទទួល​បាន​៥០០​ដុល្លារ និង​ការងារ​សម​ស្រប​នា​ពេល​អនាគត រីឯ​ថ្នាក់​ដឹកនាំ​តាម​ខេត្ត នឹង​បាន​ទទួល​កាដូរ​ច្រើន​ជាង​នេះ។ ជា​រឿយៗ​ថ្នាក់​ដឹកនាំ​គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​តែង​តែ​បដិសេធ​ពី​ការ​ទិញ​ទឹក​ចិត្ត​នេះ ប៉ុន្តែ​សាក្សី​និង​ភស្តុតាង​ជា​ច្រើន​បង្ហាញ​ថា គណបក្ស​នេះ​ពិត​ជា​បាន​ប្រព្រឹត្ត​អំពើ​ស្មោក​គ្រោក​បែប​នេះ​ប្រាកដ​មែន។

Khmer Intelligence News - 07 February 2012

February 7, 2012

ROADMAP FOR DEFECTORS LOOKING FOR PERSONAL BENEFITS

• STARTING POINT: SRP
• TRANSIT POINT: HRP
• FINAL DESTINATION: CPP

Today, approximately ten former Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) members who loudly defected to the Human Rights Party (HRP) in 2011, announced their decision to finally join the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). There are commune and district councilors and a former senator among them: Vann Sivoeun, Morn Yeang, Prak Vandy, Om Phosda, Lon Sokthai, Chea Bun Ngak, Boeun Sokha, Horn Ravy.

Before them, two more prominent professional defectors looking for personal benefits had followed the same political itinerary (from SRP to HRP to CPP): Kem Sokhon (a brother of HRP president Kem Sokha) and Keo Remy (a former Funcinpec then SRP National Assembly member and now an adviser to CPP Prime minister Hun Sen).

Before the January 29 senatorial elections, many HRP representatives had reportedly tried to entice SRP commune councilors to vote for the CPP.

CPP BLACKMAILING KEM SOKHA CONCERNING HIS PRIVATE LIFE

On January 15, 2012 Prime Minister Hun Sen accused HRP President Kem Sokha of having a son with a mistress and he exposed many details about the extramarital affair http://tinyurl.com/7yx62sw

As they did a few years ago with Prince Norodom Ranariddh when he was having an extramarital affair before his divorce from Princess Eng Marie Ranariddh, the CPP plans to have somebody sue Kem Sokha on the basis of the 2006 law on monogamy. Referring to articles 7 and 10 of the law, a judge can send Kem Sokha to prison for a period from one month to one year and to make him pay a fine from 200,000 to 1,000,000 Riels.

Following various wrongdoings, General Nhiek Bun Chhay and other Funcinpec leaders are also being blackmailed by the CPP into openly or secretly serving Hun Sen’s party.

Opposition infiltration

Sunday, 30 January 2011
Meas Sokchea and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen has apparently signed off on a strategy to recruit spies in the opposition Sam Rainsy Party in a bid to undercut its support ahead of next year’s commune council elections, according to a leaked document from his cabinet.

In a letter dated December 21 and posted today on the antigovernment news blog KI-Media, Ngor Sovann, one of Hun Sen’s advisers, allegedly recorded that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party had successfully recruited SRP officials as double agents in Kampot and Takeo provinces.

The letter noted that 16 SRP members had been recruited as spies in Kampot, in exchange for 100,000 riels (US$24.60) and a $5 prepaid phone card per month.

“We were successful in our work in a short period, with the collection and building of 16 forces as secret agents in the commune councils,” Ngor Sovann stated.

He noted, however, that since November, CPP activists had postponed their attempts to woo SRP turncoats in Kampot, saying opposition activists “seemed to suspect” the presence of secret agents.

Towards Hun Sen's Cambodia

Jul 23, 2008
By Craig Guthrie
Asia Times Online

PHNOM PENH - Even though Cambodia goes to the polls Sunday for the country's fourth general election since Vietnamese occupation ended in 1989, Prime Minister Hun Sen can comfortably escape the chaotic campaign noise in his heavily guarded, villa-studded compound in suburban Phnom Penh and light up a well-earned 555 cigarette - his smoke of choice since his soldiering days.

The one-eyed, chain-smoking "Strongman of Cambodia" could play a casual round of golf at the private course kept groomed at the complex known to locals as the "Tiger's Lair", or maybe take a helicopter trip from the adjacent military airfield used to whisk him up and down his impoverished nation. In fact, as his foes rally and march around the capital, it probably doesn't matter much what Hun Sen does.

Outside in the streets, colorful campaign convoys are clogging Phnom Penh's frangipani-lined boulevards, with truck-mounted bullhorns and the frenetic clashing of cymbals and drums promoting their respective candidates. The scenes are colorful and vibrant, the atmosphere intense, but many say the underlying political picture is actually black and white.

By all accounts, 57-year-old Hun Sen, in power since 1985, has little to worry from the oncoming polls; in recent months he has increasingly consolidated his hold over the electorate through a masterful opera of jibes, scaremongering and gold-toothed charm.

By outfoxing an already fractured opposition, wooing billions in foreign investment and artfully placating the once-powerful labor movement and previously hostile superpowers, the master manipulator has again outmaneuvered his rivals.

Hun Sen - riding a booming economy, hard-won social stability and a vast network of patronage and blood relations [One big happy family in Cambodia, Asia Times Online, March 20, 2007] - has all but ensured that he and his formerly communist Cambodian People's Party (CPP) will head the country when the potentially boundless riches from oil deposits, found by Chevron off the southwestern coast, begin to flow.

Hun Sen is in full grip of the nation's institutions and tightly aligned with its wealthiest tycoons. He has predicted that his CPP machine will win 81 of the National Assembly's 123 seats and 73% of the vote. The margin of victory is probably immaterial, since the country, as proposed by opposition party leader Sam Rainsy, adopted a 50-plus-one seat requirement in 2004 to form a government, replacing the previous two-thirds of the vote rule. The proposal was passed to avoid a repeat of the political stalemates which destabilized the country following the 1998 and 2003 elections, and resulted in fractious coalition governments.

Even so, Hun Sen has been openly deriding his opponent's chances for months. In recent weeks he has told them they can "stay at home" on election day, and has announced that he himself will sit out the last few weeks of the campaign in order to avoid "verbal confrontations".

In another speech, the prime minister pre-picked his cabinet while comparing his management style to Manchester United's football manager Alex Ferguson. This is classic Hun Sen: a powerful orator who mixes paddy-field populism, personal potshots and home-spun humor to embolden his allies and intimidate his foes. In 2006, he laughed at a foiled government attack, saying in a speech reported by the Phnom Penh Post: "I know all. Even if you farted, I would still know. You cannot hide from me."

In the past he has said he has no intention of standing down as prime minister until he is at least 90 years old. This would be a remarkable run: he became the Vietnamese-backed premier of Cambodia in 1985, when he was 33.

As the country some call Asia's "best kept secret" heads into its Fourth Mandate - what the new government will be called - Cambodia is more than ever Hun Sen's nation. This sits poorly with his legion of critics, some of whom have labeled the CPP regime a corrupt "kleptocratic elite" with little regard for the millions of rural rice farmers living in abject poverty. Others, including diplomats, say worse.

In 2006, UN high commissioner for human rights Louis Arbour called the problems within the Cambodian judiciary "profound". Dr Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission, wrote in a June 18 editorial,

...institutions remain subject to the control inherited from pre-1993 communist days, and are utilized to serve the interests of the ruling class rather than those of the people. Although Cambodia has held periodic elections, and preparations for the forthcoming election are underway, its multi-party, liberal democracy has little substance.

The National Election Committee is regularly accused by the opposition of a lack of independence, and many independent election monitoring groups have alleged that state resources and media have been deployed to the ruling party's electoral advantage.

"Never assume that Cambodia is a democracy," said Chea Vannath, a political commentator. "If a democracy is when a nation is ruled by a government chosen by its people, yes, Cambodia is democratic. But in terms of governance, Cambodia is a different story. There is no check and balance on the executive branch, the judiciary or the monarchy."

In recent weeks he has also even veered away from an earlier commitment to adopt a long-awaited draft anti-corruption law, which foreign donors and civil society groups have long clamored for. And he's deployed old-fashioned scaremongering to justify the controversial move.

"Will corrupt officials agree to any confiscation of their riches? No. Then war will erupt," said Hun Sen in a speech broadcast on national radio at the end of May. "After confiscating for a while, all the rich people will all become poor - as in Khmer Rouge times - more than 3 million people will be destroyed. Don't play with that," he said.

A temple revisited

The country's millions of impoverished farmers and fishermen, for years saturated with state-controlled media looping four-hour-long Hun Sen speeches interspersed with reels of CPP officials handing over packs of instant noodles to needy villagers, are likely headed towards five more years of inequality, drudgery, and bad TV.

The premier's media-influenced popularity was recently pushed to greater heights by the listing last week of the Preah Vihear temple complex as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) national heritage site. When the decision was announced live on national channel CTN, Hun Sen's image was shown with revolving stars around it. A televised concert held to celebrate the listing was attended by hosts regularly shouting words of support for Hun Sen among other cheers of national glory.

The ensuing border tension with Thailand over the controversial listing will be a strong test of his government's ability to stand up to stronger neighbors before a watchful Cambodian public in the heat of an election season. Aside from the temple tiff, a closer look at the less-monitored countryside has revealed that the level of political killings, threats and intimidation that have marred previous elections has substantially diminished in the run-up to this weekend's polls.

But the lack of violence is probably more a testament to the CPP's successful vanquishing of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party's (SRP) grassroots machinery. The opposition's hardship has been brewing for months, due in part to some deft political maneuvers by Hun Sen and the CPP political machine. But their spectacular collapse in the lead-up to the July 27 election has still surprised many political observers. The SRP has been deflated by the defection of more than 20 high profile lawmakers and tens of thousand of grassroots members party executives claims the CPP has bought to switch sides.

"We have seen a people buying campaign ... Prime minister Hun Sen actively seeks out SRP members by using money as bait ... Each member receives at least US$2,000, and those with high positions in the SRP receive US$200,000," said Rainsy in a recent letter. "I am worried and feel pity for those [defectors] who get cheated. After the election they will be kicked out," he said. Hun Sen responded by saying that SRP defectors "are not goods or animals to be bought and sold".

The SRP has been left meek, and hoping for a highly unlikely post-election "people power" movement to challenge a CPP-dominated government. The SRP campaign has revolved mostly around the now globally recognized opposition stratagem of pointing to high oil and food prices as the incumbent government's failure to serve its people. But both strategies seem doomed to failure: a planned "mass rally" of SRP supporters against inflation saw a mere 300 supporters turn out, leading Hun Sen to quip that a local midget comedian usually has more people in his audience.

The punch-drunk party has also lost one of its more meaningful friends in the trade unions movement, which has the power to mobilize hundreds of thousands of garment and factory workers in a mass protest. The leader of the largest union, Chea Mony - whose brother popular SRP-affiliated union leader Chea Vichea was gunned down in 2004 - announced earlier this year the bloc was withdrawing from politics. The decision almost immediately followed Hun Sen's announcement of a $6 monthly increase to garment workers monthly salaries - bringing them to $56.

The loss of the trade unions - the largest organized sector in Cambodia - is a double blow to Rainsy, who, along with Chea Vichea and Ou Mary, founded the labor movement in 1996.

Opposition off the rails

Rainsy, a former minister of finance who was sacked for complaining about corruption, has tried another political tack. In several well-publicized broadsides, he has attacked the personal backgrounds of what he claims to be former Khmer Rouge members in Hun Sen's government. He recently alleged to supporters at a Buddhist ceremony at the Choeung Ek "killing fields" that CPP stalwart and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was once chief of the Khmer Rouge-run Boeung Trabek "re-education" center, where thousands of diplomats and intellectuals were interred before execution.

Hor Namhong rebuked the accusation, claiming he was instead a liaison between the prisoners and the wardens at the camp and insisting that several of his close family members were executed there. He filed a defamation lawsuit against Rainsy, but the salvo provided little political capital for the SRP. The arrest of an opposition-aligned newspaper editor who reprinted Rainsy's allegations drew international condemnation, but hardly enough to improve the SRP's electoral chances. Nor has international outcry over the assassination of SRP-aligned journalist Khim Sambor and his son, who were shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on July 11.

The other main opposition party, the royalist Funcinpec, has also disintegrated in the run-up to the polls. Crafty, almost choreographed, moves saw the party's past leader and erstwhile Hun Sen rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, ousted in an inter-party coup. The move was orchestrated by Nhiek Bun Chhay, secretary general of the party and a former defense minister. Funcinpec is still the coalition partner of the CPP, but since the ouster of Ranariddh, has been widely seen as a puppet of the ruling party.

Ranariddh was subsequently convicted for pocketing $3.6 million from the sale of Funcinpec's former headquarters and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, a move some have attributed to Hun Sen's alleged influence over the courts. He fled the country in December 2005, and has since resorted to giving telephone speeches to embattled supporters of his new Norodom Ranariddh Party from self-exile in Malaysia.

In June, Ranariddh reportedly sent Hun Sen a humbling private note asking for the return of his private jet. Meanwhile, his magnificent $2 million colonial-era villa in the center of Phnom Penh has already been sold off by the government to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia, which plans to turn it into a carbon-friendly boutique hotel. Hun Sen has said Ranariddh will be "handcuffed and taken to jail", if he returns to Cambodia and has blocked any chance or a royal pardon.

The fledgling Human Rights Party, led by self-styled people's champion Kem Sokha and backed by controversial former head of state Pen Sovann, is assured of winning at least a handful of seats. The party may have carved a small nationalist niche among the electorate, and like the SRP is known to have had US backers. Sokha left his previous organization, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, under a cloud of scandal as 16 former employees accused him of corruption and embezzlement from the US-financed group.

Despite Sokha's grassroots popularity, his HRP is not seen as a major threat to the CPP juggernaut. Nor is the US seen as overtly supporting any particular opposition party, as it has been perceived of in the past. Washington, which in 2004 threatened Cambodia with sanctions for lack of progress on trafficking issues, has since given the nation a glowing report its latest human trafficking report.

The US Embassy in Phnom Penh has commended the lack of violence in this year's election build-up, though it reacted strongly and offered Federal Bureau of Investigation assistance following the murder of Sambor. Washington has taken a softer line towards Cambodia in the past year as China moves to increase its local influence. After Chevron's apparent discovery of oil and gas, the US this year lifted a 10-year ban on direct aid to Cambodia in February and re-started direct military aid in May.

Assuming that the oil and gas deposits are actually there, an energy bonanza would profoundly change the Cambodian economy and its terms of trade. Drilling by a Singaporean firm began in mid-July and state and private companies from China, South Korea, Japan and France are currently negotiating contracts related to the find. Although the government is still awaiting a key assessment from Chevron, estimates range from anywhere between $200 million to $2 billion a year in potential revenues.

That should provide plenty of resources for Hun Sen to further consolidate his political dominance, and if this weekend's elections produce the landslide win for his CPP many analysts project, could signal the beginning of a new era of one-party rule in Cambodia.

Craig Guthrie is a reporter for the Mekong Times newspaper in Phnom Penh. He has covered Cambodian affairs since 2004.

Cambodia: Opposition Accuses Ruling Party Of Electoral Fraud

Monday, June 23, 2008
Analysis by Andrew Nette

"I think the Cambodian People's Party knows that we are doing well. This is why they are working so hard on their psychological and political game" - Mu Sochua, the Sam Rainsy Party's deputy secretary-general

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Jun. 23, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The ruling Cambodian People's Party appears certain to maintain its role as the dominant party and, for the first time, win enough seats in the National Assembly to rule on its own after the next election.

According to the National Election Committee, approximately 8.6 million Cambodians are registered to vote in the election, which is still more than a month away. The election will be the fourth to take place since the United Nations-sponsored peace plan in the early 1990s heralded the end of one-party rule.

Cambodian nongovernmental groups and a number of countries are gearing up for a major monitoring effort, and charges of dirty tricks and voter intimidation are already being leveled against the powerful Cambodian People's Party.

"The election process can be considered free in the sense that violence is down, people are obviously not intimidated to cast their vote and the administration is better," said Jerome Cheung, country director for the National Democratic Institute. "It is what happens before the election that does not make it fair, including the Cambodian People's Party's total domination of broadcast media and intimidation of journalists and opposition."

"So far we have found some technical problems, but the capacity of the National Election Committee has been improving and the number of irregularities has been declining," said Mar Sophal, monitoring coordinator with the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia.

In one particularly positive change, votes will be counted at the polling station at which they are cast on the night of the election.

In 2003, they were transported to collective counting stations which, observers agree, gave increased scope for manipulation.

The most contentious part of the process, voter registration, took place last year with the National Election Committee deciding to remove nearly 600,000 voters' names from the list.

A recent audit of the voter list by a number of organizations, among them the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia and the National Democratic Institute, found that most eligible voters to be registered and the vast majority of invalid voters delisted.

Some problems are administrative, whereas others "are the result of overzealous party officials acting for their party," Cheung said. "There's no national conspiracy by any political party manipulating the registration process."

It is commune chiefs -- the vast majority of whom are affiliated with the Cambodian People's Party -- who administer the process undertaken manually in handwritten form. Only when the registrations lists are passed on to the National Election Committee in Phnom Penh are they computerized. This opens up the possibility of significant transfer error.

While observers give the National Election Committee credit for improving its performance, many have serious misgivings about the committee's capacity and lack of independence. Concerns include the appointment of National Election Committee council members by political parties and the body's location within the interior ministry. With the exception of the two months leading up to an election, the National Election Committee has no permanent sub-national structure and must rely on the commune councils that take directions from the ministry.

However, the most serious barriers to free and fair elections stem from the country's broader political culture. The country's electronic media, most of which is controlled by the Cambodian People's Party, gives little time to opposition party voices.

Independent media outlets are often harassed or -- as recently happened in the case of one radio station selling airtime to opposition parties in the central province of Kratie -- shut down.

There is also a lingering culture of intimidation that prevents people from speaking out more freely in the pre-election period.

In early June, a coalition of 40 Cambodian civil society organizations expressed deep concern over the increase in political violence in the first half of 2008. There were five assassinations of political party members and 21 cases of political persecution in the first half of the year. Most of the perpetrators have yet to be arrested, let alone tried, by the court system, which is heavily biased in favor of the Cambodian People's Party.

"Cases of murder, threat, intimidation and political prosecution are occurring, especially in far flung areas," said Thun Saray, president of local rights group ADHOC.

Rights lobbies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also accused the Cambodian People's Party of political intimidation and manipulation of the judicial system in the lead-up to the July poll.

While lamenting the lack of a more level playing field, commentators concede that the opposition's continued focus on point-scoring rather than presenting a unified front has also contributed to the situation. Eleven parties will be on the ballot in the July 27 poll, down from 23 in the 2003 election.

The most serious challenger, the Sam Rainsy Party, named after its leader, has been weakened by a series of high-level defections to the Cambodian People's Party in return for well-paid adviserships paid for by state funds.

"I think the Cambodian People's Party knows that we are doing well. This is why they are working so hard on their psychological and political game," said Mu Soc Hua, the Sam Rainsy Party's deputy secretary-general. "Our people are under pressure, heavy pressure, every day. Some people with less integrity have been bought off."

The other major political player, Funcinpec, which his a coalition partner of the Cambodian People's Party's, has virtually disintegrated after in-fighting following the ouster of its leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh two years ago. Ranariddh -- who has formed his own party and is running for office from exile in Malaysia -- could gain some seats.

A nationwide grassroots political machine, a formidable war chest, and the backing of most of the country's wealthiest business tycoons augment the Cambodian People's Party's dominance.

A recent opinion poll by the International Republican Institute in Phnom Penh found that 70 percent of Cambodians believe the country is headed in the right direction. While the poll did not posit any direct correlation to voter intentions, there is little doubt that the Cambodian People's Party has positioned itself well to take credit for Cambodia's rapid economic growth while blaming problems such as skyrocketing fuel and food prices on international factors beyond its control.

There has been some speculation that the "youth factor" will be potentially running against the Cambodian People's Party, and more than 50 percent of registered voters are between 18 and 30 years of age.

But John Willis, the International Republican Institute's country director, does not think this is the case. "There is no demographic group that is more pro-[Cambodian People's Party] than youth," he said, adding that most young people live in rural areas and are concerned with their livelihoods. "They want jobs and the Cambodian People's Party is able to deliver them," he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has already vowed that the Cambodian People's Party will govern alone, if victorious, ending an unstable coalition deal in place since Cambodia's first multi-party election in 1993.

His decision has been facilitated by a constitutional amendment that allows government to be formed on the basis of a simple majority rather than a two-thirds majority, as was the case in previous elections.

It will be a historic victory for the Cambodian People's Party, which was installed by the Vietnamese when they invaded the country in 1979 and overthrew the Khmer Rouge government, which was responsible for the deaths of nearly 2 million Cambodians.

It would also be a personal triumph for Hun Sen, a peasant's son and former Khmer Rouge cadre, who has destroyed, co-opted or outsmarted all his rivals since being installed as president by the Vietnamese in 1985.

The United States, Japan and the European Commission have announced that they will be sending monitors to the election.

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia and the other major Cambodian poll-monitoring organization, the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, each plan to field some 7,000 short- and long-term monitors.

Opposition parties are dismissive of this effort.

"All the bad things have already happened," said Hua of the Sam Rainsy Party. "I say to all these international monitors, 'You may as well come to Cambodia and have a vacation on Election Day.'"

Cheung added, "The true test for this democracy will be when there is a peaceful transition of power ... this has not happened yet."

Oh, Sila-thor Khmer...? "Where is the Khmer Moral Conduct...?" - Poem by Serey Ratha Sourn

Click on the poem to zoom in

Sam Rainsy's message to CPP activists

Click on the message in Khmer to zoom in

Translated from Khmer

Message by Mr. Sam Rainsy, President of the Sam Rainsy Party
To All CPP Party Members

Respected and Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

Recently, the CPP Vice-President, who is also the Prime Minister, has been working very actively to attract SRP members to join the CPP.

Using money as bait, he was only able to attract a small number of people who were willing to sell their conscience to serve their personal interest. The CPP gave out huge cash prizes to those who defect the SRP to join the CPP, the minimum of which amounted to at least US $2,000 (more then 8 million riels). Some of those who held high ranking positions within the SRP prior to their defection received up to $200,000 (more than 800 million riels).

Furthermore, the recent SRP defectors were also offered positions as advisors to the Prime Minister with a rank equivalent to that of a minister, or government advisors with a rank equivalent to that of a government secretary of state or under-secretary of state. These positions allow these defectors to further indulge in corruption – as is the norm in the current government – earning them several tens of thousands of additional dollars.

It is really strange that the CPP highly values the recent SRP defectors who joint the CPP. Quite to the contrary, ordinary CPP members, like yourself, no CPP leaders came to offer any financial support amounting to tens of thousands of dollars to any of you at all. To the CPP officials at the grass root levels, such village chiefs, commune councilors, office chiefs, etc…, no CPP leaders ever thought of offering any of you a position of advisor to the prime minister, or government advisor, or under-secretary of state at all.

The actions undertaken by the CPP leaders clearly show that:

• They do not value you who have served and supported the CPP for many long years.
• They only value SRP members because they recognize that the SRP is highly valuable, because the SRP has high ideals and the number of its supporters is constantly growing.
• They use money to serve their personal interest and they do not care about your feelings.

I am therefore calling all CPP party members, who are nationalist and who love justice, to come and join the SRP, a party which encourages you the people, unlike the CPP whih can only use money to buy people to perpetrate bad deeds.

We must all unite to defend the interest of the entire Cambodian people, in order to provide a good living condition for the Cambodian people within a just society, and to eliminate corruption to achieve the following goals:

1. Providing secure jobs with appropriate income for the people, in particular for the youths,
2. Lower the price of market goods, in particular gasoline and fertilizers, and
3. Provide free healthcare.

As CPP party members, you also would like to see your children having a proper job with a decent salary. You are also victims of the current inflation, and in some instances, this condition almost causes famine among many villagers. You also face hardship when you are sick and you need to be hospitalized, but, you do not have money to pay the hospital bills and this situation makes you hopeless. More than 20 years have passed, and yet, the CPP did not resolve any of these problems. The new government led the Sam Rainsy Party will resolve all these problems properly, based on the goals described above, in order to serve the interest of all the Cambodian people.

Phnom Penh, 14 June 2008

Sam Rainsy
Sam Rainsy Party President

Mussomeli: Election likely to be peaceful and orderly ... Kem Sokha: CPP continues to buy off activists and buy votes

US Ambassador Expects Peaceful Elections

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 June 2008

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli expects a peaceful transition of power following free and fair elections in July.

Critics maintain that the ruling party continues to buy off or otherwise persuade activists from competing parties and to buy votes through gifts to the poor.

Mussomeli told VOA Khmer in Washington the election was likely to be peaceful and orderly.

That may be true, but the ruling party continues to buy off activists and buy votes through gifts to the poor, Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party said.

"The ruling party is buying or persuading the other political parties’ activists or offering gifts to poor people in the rural countryside in order to get their ballots,” he said. "Since my Human Rights Party was established, I've received so many threatening cases and more than 200 party signs were abolished."

Om Yintieng, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, said Cambodia's political environment had gotten "better and better" since elections in 1993.

"I don't think it can satisfy everybody in the world, but we are proud for our country to be able to improve the election process," he said.

Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said he was concerned for the election process, which has already seen eight murders and 20 cases of intimidation.

Hun Sen's confession of CPP ineptitude: SRP commune chief defector more valuable than CPP provincial governors, deputy governors and commune chiefs

SRP commune chief nominated as Hun Sen’s advisor

09 June 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek

On Monday 09 June, Hun Sen indicated that he promoted a former SRP commune chief to the rank of advisor. During a visit to the province of Kampong Chhnang, Hun Sen displayed his current favorite pastime: announcing the list of SRP defectors joining the CPP.

Among the 6 new defectors, Sok Sambath, the Kilo Lekh 6 commune chief, in Phnom Penh, was promoted to a position in Hun Sen’s cabinet. His is a special case, Hun Sen underscored. “Normally, this position is reserved for provincial governors and deputy governors,” Hun Sen explained. But, Sok Sambath distinguished himself because he succeeded in winning the commune elections twice: in 2002 and in 2007. Furthermore, at each election, the number of votes the SRP obtained has improved each time.

For Hun Sen, the explanation for this success comes from the fact that “Sok Sambath showed that he is nice and generous” towards his constituents. “If all the commune chiefs acted like him, the country would move forward on the development path,” Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen is also adopting the first advice given by his new advisor. The latter wants to incite the local police to work more earnestly to fight against the “gangsters – the Bang Thom.” Hun Sen immediately approved this choice. [KI-Media note: Does it mean that CPP officials never promote the fight against Bang Thom gangs in the past?]

Hun Sen used the cases of Meas Marin and Ou Sovann to stir doubts about SRP’s ability to raise funds among overseas Cambodians

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Even though opposition leader Sam Rainsy claimed that the SRP financial condition and grass root base support face no problem, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, President of the Licadho human rights organization, told The Mekong Times that: “The issue with the SRP is (1) the financial issue, if overseas SRP supporters overseas stop providing assistance, the SRP financial condition will decline because the local SRP supports do not have much money, but the overseas SRP supporters have money. (2) With the departure of these major party members, will they take with them supporters also or not? This is not clear yet, and we have to wait to see the actual results at the upcoming election.” Dr. Pung Chiv Kek said that those overseas defectors will not affect the votes, but it could only affect some financial support for the party only.

Sam Rainsy: Defection to the CPP is a theatrical act

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy addressing a pack crowd of supporters in Lvea Em district, Kandal province, on Wednesday 04 June 2008 (Photo: SRP)

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

While some SRP officials both inside and outside the country are defecting to join the CPP, opposition leader Sam Rainsy continues to claim that these defections do not affect the popularity of his party, and that the SRP support is even growing stronger. He said that these defections are mere theatrical acts. Sam Rainsy told his supporters in Lvea Em district, Kandal province, on Wednesday, that the defection of SRP members to the CPP is a mere theatrical act. He said that he met with voters who told him that they are not concerned about these defections, and they do not pay attention to them at all. In fact, these voters condemn this act, saying that the CPP wants to divert the attention from major problems such as inflation, joblessness, corruption which enrages the public against the CPP and push them to support the SRP instead. Sam Rainsy said with the voters’ sentiment at the local levels being like this, the effort put by Hun Sen to attract SRP members has no meaning whatsoever.

Opposition activist rejects money offer to join the CPP

04 June 2008
By Sophal Mony
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

One SRP activist is currently concerned about his personal safety after he rejected a money buyout offer to join the CPP.

Yav Saruom, the 2nd Ta Krey commune councilor, located in Kamrieng district, Battambang province, said that he does not dare go to work at the commune office for the last 2 days following an offer of $100 given to him by Sok Kong, the Kamrieng district governor, in order to buy him to defect the SRP and join the CPP instead.

Yav Saruom said: “I can provide the proof to this case because I received $100 from district governor Sok Kong. He personally handed (the money) to me two days ago.”

Sok Kong, the Kamrieng district governor, denied while claiming that he was too busy in a meeting: “I apologize, I am busy in a meeting.”

Ros Korb, the Ta Krey commune chief, said that he did not know about this “heart buyout” in order to force someone to join the CPP, however, he commented by saying that if there is influencing, it is the political rights of each individual who has the right to decide. Ros Korb said: “This is our right, for me, as a representative of the local authority, I don’t have any goal, nor the money to go buy political party membership cards like this. The most important is that it depends on their mind, if you are being bought out, and you took their money, but then you don’t follow what they tell you, it’s OK, this is how it actually happens.”

According to Yav Saruom’s claim, the $100 offer given to him took place after a group of 3 men went around to buy people’s SRP party membership cards in Kamrieng district about 10 days ago. 200,000 riels ($50) were offered for each set of 5 SRP membership cards bought.

Von Pon, chief of the Battambang Provincial Election Committee (PEC), said that he did not receive the information about this case yet, but he said that this action is against the law: “The buyout is illegal, and if there are complaints sent to us, we will review the case.”

Yav Saruom claimed that besides the attempts to “buy the hearts” of SRP activists, there was also a removal of a SRP sign in Kamrieng district also. Furthermore, during night time, homes belonging to SRP activists are being pelted with rocks also.

Koul Panha, Comfrel executive director, said that the actions which are taking place in Kamrieng district are illegal, and this clearly shows that the progress of the upcoming 27 July general election is not free and fair.

Meas Marin and Ou Sovann offered $500 and $100 each to buy into the CPP ... anybody willing to offer more for a "His Excellency" title?

Two Cambodian-American join the CPP

04 June 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

Hun Sen indicated that two Cambodian-American joined the CPP rank during the inauguration of a school on 04 June. Hun Sen said that the pair are Cambodians living in the US, and they were former advisor to the SRP for the USA and Canada. Hun Sen’s revelation adds to the list of 9 other SRP defectors who joined the CPP.

Hun Sen named the two men as being, Meas Marin, the son of Meas John, a VOA radio broadcaster, and Ou Sovann, the SRP advisor for the USA and Canada.

According to Hun Sen also, the pair offered a contribution to support the CPP and to rebuild the country. They have offered $500 and $100 each, respectively. “Money does not count, it comes from the heart. And with this, how can anybody say that the CPP buys its followers, didn’t they come on their own?” Hun Sen asked while indicating that he is expecting others to follow suit.

Hun Sen also indicated that that he will abstain from giving any speech during the month long election campaign, as he did in the past.

Mu Sochua: CPP still continues to ensnare opposition members

01 June 2008
By San Suwidh
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Mrs. Mu Sochua, SRP deputy-Secretary-general, declared on Saturday that the CPP and Prime minister Hun Sen continues to ensnare members of her political party still.

Mrs. Mu Sochua added that right now, the CPP continues to practice the strategy of breaking up the SRP, just like what it did with other parties in the past.

It should be noted that SRP defectors who recently joined the CPP have been nominated as government advisors by Hun Sen.

Mu Sochua said: “It is factual, it cannot be denied, after the ensnaring, there were paybacks in the form of (government) positions. We can see all these positions, they have all been made public: they are high-ranking government positions, government advisors, secretaries of state, etc… Therefore, people who defected receive positions from the prime minister, this is called an exchange that even includes money and positions as well.”

Nevertheless, Mrs. Mu Sochua claimed that this strategy will help push the voters to support the SRP even more.

She noted that Hun Sen’s strategy is aimed at diverting the attention of the Cambodian people from major issues affecting the nation.

Mrs. Mu Sochua said: “The most important factor is that the CPP, and prime minister Hun Sen in particular, they want to focus our attention on those who joined them, they want the SRP and party President Sam Rainsy to forget about the main problems faced by the country: land problems; high gasoline price problem; joblessness, especially among the youth; health problems; corruption problems; deforestation problems; land-grabbing connivance by CPP officials, etc… These are what the CPP, and prime minister Hun Sen in particular, wants us to forget about.”

CPP buying members of the HunSenpec coalition partner

CPP Forced Coalition Defection: Officials

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 May 2008

The Funcinpec party said Friday at least 50 members had been forced to join the ruling Cambodian People’s Party in Siem Reap province.

Chhum Sam, a Funcinpec commune leader for Srey Snom, said members were given money and gifts by CPP officials who told them a defection would mean they could live in peace and without intimidation.

Srey Snom District Governor Chhuern Chhean could not be reached for comment, but Tin Narin, a CPP commune chief, denied the accusations.

Adhoc investigator Sous Narin said he was working to confirm a lobbying effort by the CPP for Funcinpec, but he had not received a complaint from the coalition partner. Such acts could be a breach of election law, he said.

Defectors get preferential treatment from Hun Sen, something the CPP members don’t enjoy

Hun Sen shows his faithfulness to the defectors who joined his party

28 May 2008
By Duong Sokha
Ka-set
Unofficial translation from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

On Wednesday 28 May, Hun Sen announced that he would keep Ing Kantha Phavy as the minister of Women Affairs in his next government. A former Funcinpec member, she defected her party in January 2008, to join the ruling party. Ou Bunlong, the current secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and former defector from the SRP to the Funcinpec, then to the CPP, will also enjoy the same treatment.

Through this action, Hun Sen wants to show that the defectors who join the CPP will not be pushed out of power, once the legislative mandate is over. This seems to be Hun Sen’s reply to Sam Rainsy who accused the CPP of luring opposition party members only for the election reason, and he also warned those who are attracted to the CPP, that the CPP would get rid of them later.

Furthermore, Hun Sen also apologized to the Funcinpec ministers in the current government – Nuth Sokhom, the Health minister, and Kol Pheng, the minister of Education – warning them that their fate is not sealed for the upcoming government. “For the high ranking Funcinpec government officials, I cannot guarantee them anything. All will depend on their party’s results at the election, and on the decisions their president will make,” Hun Sen declared.

Transitional Cambodia Politics: July, 2008 Election of Segregation

Monday, May 26, 2008
Op-Ed By Khmer Young
On the web at http://cambodianbrightfuture.blogspot.com

I call this coming July 2008 national election of Cambodia as the Election of Segregation because the wealthiest and strongest CPP party has been keeping its Segregating Win-win Strategy forever. Regardless of how CPP has generated the capital resources to win the vote, this party has been tremendously trying to segregate the largest opposition party, the SRP. Hun Sen's win-win strategy is maintaining the same tactic: to weaken internal bond of opposition party, the SRP. There are many faces of that tactic, but the one current significant ongoing operation is to keep welcoming and appointing higher position to all those defectors from the SRP.

Generally speaking and fairly judgment, the sound policy of SRP towards some sensitive issues in Cambodian society surely make CPP's headache such as corruption, land grabbing, kleptocracy, illegal immigrants, commodities inflation, and biased judiciary system etc In responding to this SRP's key campaign, CPP under Hun Sen leadership is subverting the attention of Cambodian peoples and take advantage over SRP by building internal division and breaking inside SRP. Many defectors are increasing from SRP. As a genuine democratic party, SRP has hardship to stop those walking away in hope of finding new opportunity. The opportunists are existing in every party. But when CPP has been targeting SRP, it is surely incomprehensible. But CPP's tactic relating this internal breaking task-force is surely become double-edged sword. However, as an independent observer of Cambodia politics, why no one from CPP has been defected or walked away? Is this because of CPP is good and perfect? Or this is because of CPP is communist party that the defectors expect only to lose their life and invisible suffering?

Not only this internal operation of CPP that we should pay attention, the critical issues of Cambodian nation are neglected by CPP in correcting themselves for genuine development and sustainability of Cambodia. But in order to continue their position and power, CPP has to divide and eliminate any strong opposition party. It seems like CPP has not concerned and paid attention in collective actions and collaboration with the criticism of opposition parties, but CPP has concerned the abolishing anyone who has criticized their misbehavior.

In developed countries, with their professional political task-force, government regards the suggestions and criticism of opponents as the key proponents for their success and to improve the disadvantages of their nations. In contrast, Cambodia more sound criticisms made by opponents more divisive and marginalized will inevitably occur inside that opposition party.

In this matter, who are we going to blame? The political parties? The individual immature political leadership? Or the culture that has long time ingrained in Cambodian society?

The current interaction between government party and opposition parties are likely not basing on professional political career at all. Particularly, the government party (CPP) who is handing the largest social capital absolutely oversee the situation and perpetuate all opportunities to gain and maintain its power regardless of that power surely distracts the interests of Cambodian peoples.

In current transitional Cambodia politics, I can say politics is about the politics, politics is not about the investment of social good for Cambodia and the whole collective interests for them. Who is going to win is about your political party effective strategy, how good you understand the psychological traits of Cambodian peoples? How good you comprehend the collective behavior of Cambodian peoples when they think about politics? And how effective of your public speech in introducing your key policy precisely to be widespread tempted by the peoples to win their heart and mind?

However, to be fair the mechanism that can stimulate the Cambodian peoples and compete on the above perspective is absolutely excellent. But if the election procedure has already been projected to manipulate Cambodian peoples through the biased National Election Committees (NEC), it is a grave and ugly strategy. It is comparing like the winner pervasively robe and rape their own citizens!

Sam Rainsy: Hun Sen's political buyout diverts the public attention from actual major problems faced by the country

7 SRP candidates defect at Sam Rainsy’s return to Cambodia

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy returned back to Cambodia on 26 May while Hun Sen announced a large defection of 7 SRP candidates to the CPP.

During a distribution of diplomas to 2,259 students, in the morning of 26 may 2008, at the University of Human Resources, Hun Sen said that 6 SRP candidates for the 4th legislative mandate and a current SRP MP defected to join the CPP.

The 6 SRP candidates are: Mey Bun Vithya, a member of the steering committee, Chap Rithy, Bean Thul, Heang Soriyeak, Heang Rasmei, and Em Chantha. The 6 are all SRP candidates for the province of Kandal. Nou Sovath, the current SRP MP in Phnom Penh city has also decided to defect the SRP to join the CPP also.

Hun Sen presented his apologies to the SRP for these departures, however, he still claims that he will continue to accept all opposition officials who want to defect to the CPP. Hun Sen said: “I still accept them, if they are still coming, we will still be accepting them. I am certain that there will be more SRP defectors who will come, the CPP will accept them again because they are all Cambodians, we do not discriminate.” Hun Sen said that the issue that must be clarified is why they keep on leaving the SRP, this problem must be resolved.

Hun Sen added that he nominated Nou Sovath to become the chairman of the CPP workgroup in charge of helping Phnom Penh city. At the same time, Hun Sen also announced that Phauk Sovannrith, the Funcinpec secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mine, had also defected the Funcinpec to join the CPP.

Hun Sen’s announce about the defection of the 7 SRP party member coincides with the Sam Rainsy’s return back from Europe where he was visiting as part of his overseas political activities, as well as for the publication of his book “Rooted in the Stone” which depicts his life and struggle for democracy in Cambodia.

In his interview, Sam Rainsy accused: “This is a trick to divert the attention of the population from the real problems they are facing, such as land disputes, deforestation, joblessness, and inflation, etc…” Sam Rainsy said that the government does not resolve these major issues, but instead, it is using a trick to divert the population’s attention by buying such and such politicians.

Even though he is facing with the defection flow of important party officials, Sam Rainsy still believes that these defections would not affect the popularity and the votes for the SRP. He explained that people do not vote for individuals, but they support the STP standing and policy. He added that some people do not even know who the candidates for the election are.

Nevertheless, political commentators said that the defection of SRP candidates is not a minor issue, and it could hassle the SRP election campaign, and this could affect the attraction of supporters.

Hun Sen defending defectors: They are not goods or cattle that can by bought

Hun Sen: Defectors joining the CPP are not goods (They are merely buyouts)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

In response to opposition leader Sam Rainsy accusing the CPP of buying out people, Prime minister Hun Sen said that those who came to join the CPP are not goods. During a speech given at a diploma distribution ceremony in Phnom Penh on Monday, Hun Sen said: “SRP members who defected to the CPP are not goods and they are not cattle.” Hun Sen added that the accusation of the SRP members defecting due to buy out could affect these defectors and could affect the honor of the CPP. While defending the CPP and claiming that the CPP does not have a buyout culture, Hun Sen asked Sam Rainsy to reflect and to review on “why these people are defecting?” Hun Sen still continue to declare that he still accepts defectors from other parties who want to join the CPP. Hun Sen said: “I am not picky, please excuse me, I still accept (the defectors). As long as they come, I will always accept them.”

Political Cartoon: A Chair-Vendor

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)