Media Access Uneven in Upcoming Campaign Period: Monitors

SRP commune election campaign in Phnom Penh (Photo: Sam Ol posted on Facebook)

SRP commune election campaign in Battambang (Photo: Sor Chandeth posted on Facebook)

Thursday, 17 May 2012
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“We don’t have the resources to deliver our political platform and our activities.”

As 10 parties prepare to kick off campaigning for local polls next month, election monitors say they see a concerning disparity in access to mass media and other continued irregularities.

The official 15-day campaign period begins Friday, but Koul Panha, head of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said smaller parties have little ability to use TV or radio to get their messages across.

The Cambodian People’s Party dominates the airwaves, and other parties have long complained that its hold on media, especially television, imbalances the election process.

“There is a big gap between parties in their ability to use mass media, especially TV and radio,” Koul Panha said.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Pig Painter

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

Big Brother CPP is blacklisting you!

Cartoon by Sacrava

CPP Marking Constituents for Next Election

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 19 May 2010

“This classification of people is an internal rule of the ruling party.”

The Cambodian People’s Party has begun to identify supporters and dissenters of the party nationwide, categorizing them by the amount of support they give in apparent preparation for the next national elections, according to documents and officials.

The CPP has ordered government officials to identify constituents by three levels of support: white, grey and black. Those who are most supportive of the party in different communes are labeled “white;” the least are labeled “black.”

According to a CPP Phnom Penh committee order dated Sept. 14, 2009, party members are asked to list “CPP families,” “other party families,” and “activists of other parties.” Members are also asked to count the number of people in villages and mark them as white, grey or black.

The document orders party members to “do whatever we can do” to change black to grey and grey to white. It orders the deputy and chief of commune councils to strengthen their teams and organize a clear plan to carry out the order.

The order was signed by Krouch Phan, former governor of Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district.

“This classification of people is an internal rule of the ruling party,” Krouch Phan told VOA Khmer on Wednesday, declining to give more detail.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday the classification was not for individuals but was for different areas to help campaigning for the upcoming national elections in 2013.

He said the Phnom Penh committee order could have been the work of a lower-ranking member who did not understand the upper directive.

Meanwhile, the CPP is also preparing a youth “quick action” group to counter what it says is negative propaganda in Kampong Thom province.

“We’ve selected the youth reaction group in order to educate the youth to know about morality and to know about the policies of the ruling party,” said Nam Tum, former governor of the province and the current head of the provincial committee for the party. “They will help the ruling party in the national election in 2013.”

The Cambodian government must act against violence

Opposition SRP sign painted over (Photo: SRP)

9/5/2008
Ch. Narendra
MyNews.in (India)

The court of Phnom Penh has not so far acted upon the lawsuit filed by Ho Vann, a SRP Member of Parliament. Yet the same court has acted upon a criminal lawsuit against Sam Rainsy, the SRP leader, and has issued a summons for Sam to appear before it soon after the lawsuit had been filed.

Preparations are now under way for the next general election scheduled for 27 July 2008. Although the electoral campaign cannot begin until 30 days prior to the polls, political parties are already conducting a flurry of activities to challenge one another to score points and win votes. These activities include various measures to enlist more party members and supporters so as to deny them to rival parties.

As in past elections, all these activities are accompanied by a degree of violence, different kinds of government restrictions and also legal action against opponents. All these troubles hit almost exclusively the opposition parties. Interestingly, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), formerly a communist party, is free of such problems.

So far, lured by offers of public offices by the ruling party and unhappy with their party, six Members of Parliament and many members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the second largest party, have recently defected to the CPP. Opposition parties have banner signs dismantled or painted over, and their members have received threats and intimidation and have even been beaten. According to an election monitoring report dated March 2008, in 2007, there were altogether 51 cases of threat against all non-ruling parties, mostly against SRP (29), and 12 sign dismantling cases, creating a climate of fears among opposition activists. Such troubles are not expected to decline this year at the approach of the polls.

On 22 March 2008, a district security force of some 20 men went to put down an SRP banner sign in Phnom Penh and allegedly beat a SRP Member of Parliament named Ho Vann who was trying to protect the sign. Two days later, Ho filed a criminal lawsuit to the court of Phnom Penh against the perpetrators for battery and destruction of property with all evidence in support.

More recently, on 3 May, Noeu Noeuy, who is chief of Banteay Chhmar South village, Banteay Chhmar commune, Thmar Puok district, Banteay Meanchey province and also the CPP village committee chairman kicked and beat Hem Poeu who is chief of a group of houses in the village, when Hem refused to join CPP. This incident happened after Noeu had made a CPP membership card for Poeu with Poeu’s photo on it as if to force the latter to join CPP. After this discovery Poeu loudly told Noeu he would not “walk along the wrong path… I will not walk with you, the communist lot”. Poeu was the supporter of another party. When he walked away after this encouter, Neou kicked him from behind and beat his head and neck.

In all incidents affecting the opposition parties so far, the police and the courts of law, widely known as under political control of the ruling party, did not show any diligence in their investigations, and no perpetrator has been apprehended and brought to justice so far.

The court of Phnom Penh has not so far acted upon the lawsuit filed by Ho Vann, a SRP Member of Parliament. Yet the same court has acted upon a criminal lawsuit against Sam Rainsy, the SRP leader, and has issued a summons for Sam to appear before it soon after the lawsuit had been filed.

On 22 April Hor Nam Hong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and also a leading CPP member, filed this criminal lawsuit for defamation and disinformation at the court of Phnom Penh after Sam Rainsy had made a public speech Hor has alleged to have affected his name.

Sam made that speech on 17 April at a ceremony to commemorate the seizure of power by the Khmer Rouge and the beginning of their massacres of the Cambodian people on that day in 1975. Sam said that two ministers of the current government had been Khmer Rouge cadres. He mentioned that one minister, Senior Minister for Economics and Finance, had been Khmer Rouge Leader Pol Pot’s secretary and translator, and the other minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, had been chief of the Khmer Rouge prison at Boeung Trabek in Phnom Penh.

Earlier, in March, the court of Kompong Thom Province also acted promptly at the behest of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the CPP Vice-Chairman. On 17 March 2008, in a public speech, Hun Sen ordered with insistence investigations into alleged criminal offences against three persons who were working for CPP.

The first person named Tim Norn who was a woman commune councilor of Pong Ror commune, Baray district, Kompong Thom province. It was alleged Tim’s fellow SRP members had confined her against her will so as to prevent her from defecting to CPP. An SRP member named Tuot Sarorn, who was chief of Pong Ror commune, was soon arrested and has been in jail since. The other two persons were living in Takeo province. Both have allegedly received death threats through their phones while they were working to enlist support for CPP.

Violence against opposition parties, the absence of action against such violence together with restrictions on their activities not only mar the electoral process but also put these parties at a serious disadvantage compared with the ruling party. When opposition parties are placed in such difficult circumstances, it cannot be expected that the election will be free and fair.

The Cambodian government cannot ensure such a free and fair election as prescribed by the country’s Constitution without ending this violence, taking action against it without any discrimination, and creating a climate whereby all parties can conduct their political activities in security and freedom, and voters can freely exercise their choice.

CCHR: Smaller parties are targets of threat and intimidation by the "800-lb-Gorilla People Party"

The authority controlled by the CPP used police officers to tear down a SRP party sign in Phnom Penh City (Photo: SRP)
(Photo: SRP)

Small Parties a Target: Group

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
15 April 2008

With general elections fast approaching, smaller competing parties are likely to be targets of threat and intimidation, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said Tuesday.

In a monthly bulletin, the rights group warns that intimidation can include murder, but may be as seemingly small as the knocking down of party signs.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the rights group was wrong in its accusations, adding that smaller parties sometimes do not respect National Election Committee regulations.

Opposition members still face intimidation from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said.

Meanwhile, competing parties such as the Sam Rainsy Party, Human Rights Party and Norodom Ranariddh Party, are still not properly allowed to express themselves, said Hang Puthea, executive director of the Neutral & Impartial Committee for Free & Fair Elections in Cambodia.

Destruction of parties signs is now more frequent in Phnom Penh than the provinces, he said.

SRP Rejects the registration in Poipet [-CPP commune chief allowed the illegal registration to take place]

20 October 2007
By Lim Pisith Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The SRP, the largest opposition party in Cambodia, rejected and refused to recognize the results of the new vote registration in Poipet commune, O’Chrov district, Banteay Meanchey province, and it asked for a new registration, in particular in areas in the commune next to the Thai border.

Eng Chhay Eang, the SRP secretary-general, indicated the reason why his party rejected the results of the vote registration: “Because the registration in Poipet commune was done illegally and against the rule set up by the NEC. This means that, in the past, there were 19,000 registered voters, but those who (physically) came to register are about 4,000 only, the other 15,000 did not go to register to vote by themselves, (party officials) brought in their documents to register their name (without the actual voters’ presence), this is against the law.”

Eng Chhay Eang said that this action could affect the regularity of the upcoming 27 July 2008 general election.

Sean San Ho, the Poipet commune chief and also the CPP party president, recognized that the registration was indeed performed without the presence of the voters because these people were busy with their work. However, he claimed that this number is small and nothing close to the number raised by the SRP.

CPP’s Sean San Ho said: “There were some indeed, but the number is very small where people brought in (the documents to register for others) whom they claim are 2-3 of their relatives. We don’t know what to say, so we just let it go, but the number is not large as claimed.”

Ly Huong, an observer from the Comfrel organization in Banteay Meanchey province, confirmed that there were indeed registration of voter names without the voters presence in Poipet commune.

She indicated that Confrel considers such action as a violation of the election law, and the authority in charge of the election should resolve this issue.

Mrs. Ly Huong said: “Comfrel is following up on this issue about the legality of the action, and we are waiting to see what course of action the NEC will take to decide this case…”

Even though with the recent information revelations (about the irregularity in the registration), Hy Rong, a NEC executive director, decided to extent the registration process by 4 days in Poipet and Ampil Prem Doeum communes – the two communes with the most complicated problems – and the registration will continue between 21-24 October 2007. However, Hy Rong said that there will not be any new registration.

According to the number provided by the Poipet commune council, as of 19 October, 21,000 people, who have moved or who are newly eligible voters, were registered, whereas, it was planned that 20,087 newly eligible voters would be registering to vote in this commune.