The opposition plans to destroy the NatAss meetings through the lack of quorum - គណបក្សប្រឆាំង មានផែនការបំផ្លាញ កិច្ចប្រជុំរដ្ឋសភា តាមរយៈធ្វើឲ្យខ្វះ កូរ៉ុមក្រោម១២០

13 Nov 2011
By Soy Sopheap
DAP-news
Translated form Khmer by Soy

Phnom Penh – According to a reliable source from the SRP, in the upcoming meeting at the NatAss (National Assembly), the opposition party which holds 26 seats had planned a treasonous scheme to destroy the meeting following a 3-month recess through resignations of MPs so that the NatAss meeting will be held with a lack of necessary quorum (currently set at 120).

The source above told DAP on 13 November 2011 that the NatAss will start its meetings in the next few days, following a 3-month recess.

The plan prepared by the opposition will consist of its absence from the NatAss meeting under the guise of their MPs’ resignation from the NatAss so that the quorum of 120 cannot be met as stipulated by Article 76 of the Constitution. Under this article, the opening session of NatAss requires a quorum of 120 MPs. Therefore, when they [opposition MPs] refuse to join the meeting, the necessary quorum will not be met and the NatAss cannot function, at that time, they [the opposition] will push the International community to put pressure on the government and the NatAss.

Nevertheless, legal scholars indicated that the SRP forgot that on 22 July 2003, the Constitutional Council had clearly commented on the article above, stating that the 120 quorum is applicable to the case right after the election only.

NEC sues Sam Rainsy for not paying fines

everyday.com
20th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The National Election Committee (NEC) has lodged a lawsuit in the Phnom Penh First Court to implement the decision of the Constitutional Council which fined Mr. Sam Rainsy (pictured), president of the Sam Rainsy Party, 10 million Riels ($US2,500).

Mr. Sam Rainsy has again faced the court because he defied the ruling of the Constitutional Council by refusing to pay the fines from charges that he insulted the leaders of the Cambodian People's Party during the 2008 election campaigns.

At the same time as repeatedly refusing to pay the 10 million Riels fines, Mr. Sam Rainsy has also threatened to sue the NEC (for electoral fraud). Mr. Tep Nytha, Secretary-General of NEC, has appointed two NEC officials to represent the NEC in court. He said that during the last election campaigns, 8 people, including Mr. Sam Rainsy, have been fined for violating electoral laws. But he added that among the 8 people fined, only Mr. Sam Rainsy has not paid the fines yet.

Single swearing in ceremony to be held

13-09-2008
Cambodge Soir Hebdo in English
Click here to read the original article in French

The Constitutional Council has rejected the joint applications sent to the King by the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and the Human Rights Party (HRP). The applications requested that the two opposition party MPs could swear in at a different time to the Cambodian People’s Party lawmakers, following alleged "election rigging”.

The Constitutional Council based its notification on two arguments, legal and customary. Article 7 from the Constitution provides that “The King shall be inviolable.” and therefore cannot be ordered to respond. Also that “the King of Cambodia shall be a symbol of the unity and eternity of the nation." (article 8), and “the King shall assume the august role of arbitrator to ensure the faithful execution of public powers”(article 9).

The Council recalls that “in the past, the King Father Norodom Sihanouk allowed National Assembly members to swear in together, not separately”.

Indirectly the King ended any suspense. Politics is left to politicians, as provided by Article 7 of the Constitution: “The King of Cambodia shall reign but not govern”. The King sent the matter to the Constitutional Council for advice. Then the King conveyed the Constitutional Council’s conclusions to the HRP and SRP heads.

Interviewed by Cambodge Soir Hebdo Sonn Chhay, a MP and SRP spokesman pretended to be surprised: “I cannot see an answer coming from the King, we have to swear in separately and will not attend the first session of the National Assembly”, he declared.

As for Yem Ponhearith, General Secretary of the HRP, his statement is confusing: “We will not attend the first session, but we want to swear in and we follow the king".

And the King seems to follow the Constitutional Council’s notification which advocates a single swearing in ceremony.

SRP Press Conference on 25 August 2008 on status of the election complaints

August 24, 2008
Source: SRP

INVITATION TO A PRESS CONFERENCE

Journalists, observers and all interested persons are invited to attend the following press conference:

TOPICS:

1- Status of election complaints lodged by the Opposition at the National Election Committee and the Constitutional Council: new evidence of election irregularities nationwide; refusal by the NEC to allow any ballot recounting for any polling station even when there are serious discrepancies and inconsistencies in documents from a given polling station.

2- Position of the Opposition regarding the CPP-scheduled swearing-in ceremony and first session of the new National Assembly.

3- Opposition's letters to the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements and Opposition's scheduled trips abroad.

VENUE: SRP Phnom Penh Headquarters.

DATE: Monday, August 25, 2008, at 02.30 pm.

SRP Cabinet

For more information please call 092 888 001 or 092 888 002 or 092 888 003

Next hearing at the Constitutional Council

Tuesday, August 26, 2008, at 08.30 am: Refusal by the NEC on August 12, 2008 to recount ballots cast at any of the 650 polling stations in Svay Rieng province where minutes of the counting (Form nº 1104) have been obviously tampered with. 1104 Forms collected by SRP representatives from 129 polling stations do not show the same figures as those on the same 1104 Forms collected be the CPP/NEC from the same 129 polling stations. The SRP asked the NEC to recount ballots from only 16 polling stations (out of 129) where signs of forgery of the 1104 Forms are the most obvious. The NEC remained adamant in its refusal. Based on results proclaimed by the NEC, the CPP claims to have won all Svay Rieng province's five National Assembly seats. The SRP lacks only a few hundreds votes out of a total of 287,995 valid ballots cast to win a seat from the CPP. A recounting could give the SRP this opportunity to win one seat, regardless of other election irregularities that have benefited the CPP: deletion of thousands of non-CPP voter's names from the voter registry before Voting Day (those citizens from Svay Rieng province unjustly deprived of their voting rights have thumb-printed a petition to be submitted to the Constitutional Council); issuing of thousands of forged 1018 Forms to illegitimate voters to fraudulently inflate votes for the CPP (a number of those forged 1018 Forms from Svay Rieng province will also be submitted to the Constitutional Council).

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Two Ting-Mong (Scarecrows)

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

Lack of Accountability Resulted in Disenfranchisement of Voters: Mu Sochua

Letter published in The Cambodia Daily, August 18, 2008

Lack of Accountability Resulted in Disenfranchisement of Voters

Responses given by the president and secretary-general of the National Election Committee in the article "NEC Rejects SRP Complaint on Election Fraud" (August 14, page 28), demonstrate the complete lack of accountability of the most senior members of the national institution charged with conducting free and fair elections in Cambodia. As a result of such lack of accountability, key international standards were not met and millions of voters were disenfranchised.

The SRP has sound evidence that hundreds of thousands forged 1018 forms were issued for the 2008 election. According to Article 53 of the amended Election Law, the NEC delegates the power to register voters to commune chiefs. CPP commune chiefs abused this power by issuing 1018 forms to people who were not eligible to vote. However, from a legal point of view, the NEC remains ultimately responsible for the fraud.

The NEC claims that falsified 1018 forms do not fall under its jurisdiction since "the forms are issued by commune councilors and not by election workers." But these falsified forms did have an impact on the election results. It is the duty of the NEC to ensure these results reflect a free and fair electoral process. Therefore the falsified forms most certainly fall under the NEC's jurisdiction and responsibility.

The election results should be re-calculated to reflect the true will of the Cambodian people by considering the large-scale disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters and the use of fraudulent documents [to illegitimate voters to inflate the number of CPP votes]. The SRP continues to collect these forged forms daily while the NEC refuses to accept them as evidence of fraud. The NEC clearly fears legal consequences and the potential reversal of election results that would give the CPP fewer seats.

An analysis conducted with the help of independent experts found that as few as five forged voter registration forms or five disenfranchised non-CPP voters per polling station deprived the opposition of one National Assembly seat. The SRP invites readers to examine this analysis at the SRP website, http://tinyurl.com/63zuyc

The SRP agrees with the NEC secretary-general that the commune chiefs who forged documents must be brought to justice. However, the NEC delegated full power to these commune chiefs, well aware that they had been abusing this power since the 2007 Commune Election. Must the NEC not also be held responsible?

The SRP calls on the Constitutional Council to act independently and give justice to millions of voters whose constitutional rights were denied on July 27. The SRP urges governments of signatory nations of the [1991] Paris Peace Accords to fulfill their duties with vigilance and allow Cambodia to move forward as a democratic nation.

Mu Sochua
Deputy Secretary-General
Sam Rainsy Party

Council Upholds Fine Against Sam Rainsy

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 August 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

The Constitutional Council announced Tuesday it would uphold a 10 million riel fine, about $2,500, against opposition leader Sam Rainsy, for "insulting" the leaders of the Cambodian People's Party during the election campaign.

The fine stems from a decision by the Kampong Cham Election Committee ahead of the national election, in a province where Sam Rainsy gave speeches and referred to a Global Witness report on illegal logging.

The report, "Cambodia's Family Trees," implicates a number of high-ranking officials and relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen in illegal logging and corruption and was banned in the country following its publication.

The National Election Committee subsequently upheld the Kampong Cham committee's ruling to fine Sam Rainsy, but it denied a recommendation to disqualify him as a candidate.

The Constitutional Council upheld the NEC decision to keep Sam Rainsy as an eligible candidate.

Constitutional Council President Ek Sam Ol said Tuesday after the hearing that the NEC had decided "in conformity with the law."

"I cannot accept the Constitutional Council's decision," Thach Setha, Sam Rainsy Party representative in the case, said. "It is not fair. I am very disappointed for the Constitutional Council, because [it] does not respect the law. The decision follows politics and the CPP will."

CPP lawyer Benson Samay said the ruling party accepted the decision, "because the CPP wants to have the opposition in Cambodian society."

Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the council showed the complaint following the legal procedure.

"But the Constitutional Council should more clearly interpret the law," he said.

Constitutional Council of Cambodia celebrates 9 years of service defending the CPP interest

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia celebrates its ninth anniversary

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia (CCC) celebrated its ninth anniversary with the announcement of 3 new members. The celebration took place on 15 June 2007 at the Constitutional Council building office, under the presidency of Sok An, vice-prime minister and minister of the council of ministers. Bin Chhin, CCC president, gave his report saying that in the past 9 years, the CCC received 130 complaints, and resolved 37 complaints by the National Election Committee (NEC), and it also visited a number of legal aspects. During the celebration ceremony, an announcement was made for the 3 new members of the CCC: Prince Sisowath Phandaravong who is nominated by the king, Ek Sam Ol who is elected to this position by the National Assembly, and Prom Nhean Vichit who is nominated by the Supreme Council of Magistracy.

Ek Sam Ol elected to the Constitutional Council

Friday, June 1, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On Thursday morning, the National Assembly (NA) voted to approve Prey Veng MP Ek Sam Ol to become the next member of the Constitutional Council, replacing the outgoing Bin Chhin who will complete his 9-year mandate at the Council on 30 June 2007. The NA organized a secret vote with a quorum of 100 MPs. Ek Sam Ol received 98 approval votes, 1 disapproval, and 1 vote was voided. Ek Sam Ol is a CPP MP, he was the only candidate to the Constitutional Council.