Real number of CPP supporters is 30%: Kem Sokha

Kem Sokha (Photo: Tin Zakariya, RFA)

06 May 2012
By Tin Zakariya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Kem Sokha’s claim came in response to Hun Xen’s boating on 05 May, saying that his supporters number more than 60%.

Kem Sokha said on 06 May that the true number of CPP supporters is around 30% only, not even close to the 60% boasted by Hun Xen.

Kem Sokha made this claim during the meeting with about 500 commune councilors at the HRP headquarters in Phnom Penh on 06 May.

Kem Sokha advanced several reasons as to why the CPP has about 20 to 30% supporters: it is because the CPP uses funds to buy Cambodian people, it also threatens the people by claiming that, should another party wins the election, war will be waged. Furthermore, the majority of members of the National Election Committee (NEC) are CPP members, also the CPP has the exclusively use of state media to its advantage, etc…

Workers, a Potential Voter Block Disbursed

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 June 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the second in a two-part series examining the role of workers.]

Though unions are able to exercise some influence on their members, the worker vote is widely disbursed, as many find it easier to register in their home provinces than in Phnom Penh, a labor leader said.

Some leaders of Cambodia's 28 labor unions say they will push workers to join the vote on July 27. Nearly all of these unions are aligned with a political party, and more than 20 of them support the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union.

Cambodia's 394 factories employ about 340,000 people, but most of them are not registered in Phnom Penh. They are registered in their home provinces, because they find it easier to register, Chea Mony said, and registering in Phnom Penh is difficult, because they don't know the city.

Chuon Mom Thol, president of the Cambodian Union of Civil Servants, whose union of more than 7,000 members supports the CPP, told VOA Khmer recently he will inform his workers to join the vote, and if they have no ability to vote, he will hire a truck to them.

He believes all of his members will vote for the CPP, because the workers believe in the party's policy of a $6 wage increase earlier this year.

The environment is different compared to 2003, when 80 percent of workers supported the ruling party. Now 90 percent to 95 percent of workers support the party, he said.

Chea Mony, whose union has more than 80,000 members, officially supports the Sam Rainsy Party, he said. Free Trade members believe the opposition assists them in strikes in the name of workers or when they meet with violence, he said.

In the upcoming period, he said, he expects to rally at least 10,000 more workers to vote for the party, he said.

In addition to encouraging workers to vote for the opposition, Chea Mony said he also wrote a letter to the National Election Committee and the Ministry of Labor asking them to support the workers' right to vote.

Sam Rainsy Asserts that Human Rights Party Is Supported by Cambodian People’s Party

Wednesday, 25.7.2007
Original Source: Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #3095, 25.7.2007
The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 518
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“The leader of the no-longer opposing Sam Rainsy Party accused the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha of being a political tool of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP]. Mr. Sam Rainsy said publicly yesterday morning at the office of World Vision that the Human Rights Party is supported and sponsored by the CPP; however, Kem Sokha denied what Mr. Sam Rainsy said.

“Mr. Sam Rainsy said that the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha is supported by the CPP, which can be seen clearly because throughout the congress, which was cared for by the government, there was even an explosives detection system available for the congress of Mr. Kem Sokha. Mr. Sam Rainsy said that the congress of the Human Rights Party is not different from the congress of Funcinpec which was held on 18 October 2006 for the removal of Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh. He explained that the congress of Funcinpec had bodyguards to protect it, and careful explosives detection procedures were in place which have never been available before. It can be said that the ruling party has never had any sympathy or support for other parties, like it helped the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha.

“At the Funcinpec congress, a number of police officials, known as government officials, were sent to protect the Funcinpec congress. It is known that the congress of Funcinpec was supported by the ruling party. According to Mr. Sam Rainsy, the Human Rights Party organized the congress at this time not different from what Funcinpec had done in October.

“As for Mr. Kem Sokha, he responded to Mr. Sam Rainsy saying, ‘Because Mr. Sam Rainsy is frightened like a young bird when he saw that the congress of the Human Rights Party on Sunday was crowded and sounded like a busy rice mill. It can be said that Mr. Sam Rainsy fears a split of votes and losing in the election, as he saw the Human Rights Party forces were a big crowd in Phnom Penh.’

“While Mr. Sam Rainsy criticized the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha for having good relations with the CPP, Mr. Nguon Nhel, a senior CPP official and member of the Permanent Committee of the CPP Central Committee, expressed his position of favorably considering the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha. This shows more and more that there is no problem between the CPP and the Human Rights Party of Mr. Kem Sokha. It can be said that the two parties have very good relations and cooperate with each other, like the Sam Rainsy Party thought. Mr. Nguon Nhel blamed Mr. Sam Rainsy for making statements without having a basis for them. He considered Mr. Sam Rainsy’s speech to be just in line with his normal habits.

“The Human Rights Party congress on Sunday was praised for the large number of people participating, as no other party had ever achieved something like that. However, after a while, some said that most of the participants had been paid some money, or had received T-shits or kramas [Khmer cotton scarfs], etc. Nevertheless, meals were a failure, because many participants complained about having been promised a meal; in fact, they had nothing to eat, and some said finally that they were deceived by Kem Sokha.

“However, it is observed that the Human Rights Party gained a pretty good number of supporters, though the supporters were paid some small money. But it is a reality that government officials seemed to have cared for and helped the Human Rights Party to hold the congress smoothly and well, like Mr. Sam Rainsy had suspected.”