Opposition Party Leader [Kem Sokha] Observing Democratic Convention

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExmzGyOov0

Kem Sokha is among some 300 international political leaders to be invited by the democracy advocacy group to observe the convention.

06 September 2012

Reasey Poch, VOA Khmer

CHARLOTTE - Kem Sokha, head of the opposition Human Rights Party, is in North Carolina to observe the Democratic National Convention, at the invitation of the National Democratic Institute.

Kem Sokha is among some 300 international political leaders to be invited by the democracy advocacy group to observe the convention, during which the Democratic Party will officially announce its candidate, Barrack Obama, for the presidential campaign.

The convention, which ends Thursday, was important to witness, especially the way the presidential campaign is covered by US media, Kem Sokha said.

China's overreach is discomforting

Aug. 10, 2011
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

China's activities in Cambodia appear to impede Cambodian democrats' struggle against autocracy.

China's rising power is a fact, but the "Chinese Century" is still a matter open for debate. An examination of Chinese courses of action should tell us of China's foreign policy goals and national interests as defined by her leaders.

Interestingly, whereas American Thomas Jefferson's self-evident truths -- that "all men are created equal ... with certain unalienable rights" -- are ideals envied by the world's peoples, many of whom hope to see them emulated in their own nations, the billions of U.S. dollars spent and the thousands of U.S. soldiers lost have not made Americans popular in Afghanistan or Iraq.

However, Chinese businessmen and engineers are doing well in business there, and Chinese oil companies have acquired bigger stakes in the oil industry in those countries than have U.S. companies.

Headlines about China's rising influence and quiet power grab, and of Asian countries facing an increasingly intimidating China are numerous: China's navy is second only to the U.S.; China in dispute with neighboring Southeast Asian nations over the Spratlys; China seeking domination over the South China Sea.

Suthep Thaugsuban may be the next heir to Thailand's Democrat Party?

Democrats tap Suthep as saviour

ANALYSIS: The deputy PM, chosen to contest Surat Thani by-election, could be last man left standing if party is banned

27/09/2010
Pradit Ruangdit and Suphapong Chaolan
Bangkok Post

The Democrat Party is looking to its own survival in choosing its secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban to contest a by-election in Surat Thani next month.

A branch meeting in the southern province yesterday voted for the 61-year-old political veteran to stand in the by-election in Constituency 1 set down by the Election Commission for Oct 30.

The seat was vacated when the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions ruled on Sept 16 against Democrat incumbent Chumpol Kanchana.

The court found him guilty of falsely declaring 200 million baht in assets and stripped him of his status as an MP. The court also banned him from holding political office for five years.

The choice of Mr Suthep might come as a surprise to outsiders but not to those inside the country's oldest political party.

Sopha Kanchana had been tipped to run in the poll to defend the seat for the ruling party in the absence of her husband.

But party members in Surat Thani turned to the deputy prime minister to be their representative when Ms Sopha told the meeting she did not intend to stand.

The party's branch will forward its decision to executive members in Bangkok for approval.

Mr Chumpol told Democrats in his home province that there was no better choice for the party than Mr Suthep given the time to campaign before the poll was short.

"Given the time constraint, Mr Suthep is the most suitable person to represent the party," he said.

Mr Suthep had said he was reluctant to run.

"I am tired and did not offer myself as a candidate for the party in the beginning," he said yesterday.

"But when the meeting agreed to send me, I had to accept."

Mr Chumpol and Chamni Sakdiset, an MP for Nakhon Si Thammarat, mounted a campaign to convince Mr Suthep _ right-hand man of Democrat leader and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva _ to contest the by-election, a party source said.

"Mrs Sopha deserved a chance to run in the by-election. But most party members want Mr Suthep to be in," the source said.

Concern about the short time left for a campaign was not the main reason for the party choosing Mr Suthep.

Democrats believe their performance in the House will improve if Mr Suthep is there as an MP.

"Mr Suthep can work better with other coalition parties to fight the opposition in parliament," the source said.

The Democrats also need someone to take a lead role in case the party is disbanded by the Constitution Court.

The Election Commission (EC) has filed a case with the court accusing the Democrats of violating the Political Party Act. The party could be disbanded and executive members banned if the case goes against them.

The party has been accused of accepting illicit donations of 258 million baht from TPI Polene, a cement making firm.

The company is alleged to have given money to the party in 2005 through advertising agency Messiah Business and Creation. The money is believed to have been transferred to certain party members, whose leader at the time was Banyat Bantadtan.

Mr Abhisit was a deputy party leader. He and other executive members would be banned from politics if the court rules in favour of the EC.

Mr Suthep was not a party executive at the time. He would be left to lead the party and coalition government if the party was disbanded.

Although the party is confident it will not be found guilty, it has to prepare for a worst case scenario.

"Do not forget that the constitution requires the prime minister to be an MP," the source said.

The Democrats plan to set up a party under a new banner if it is dissolved.

Mr Suthep resigned as MP for Surat Thani's Constituency 1 in July last year after he was accused by the EC of violating the constitution by holding shares in prohibited businesses. He did not give up his ministerial post.

He later won the case when it went to the Constitution Court for a ruling.

Mam Sonando starts advocacy NGO

Mam Sonando talking to the crowd during the launch of the "Democrat Association" (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Thursday, 09 September 2010
Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

POLITICAL activist Mam Sonando has launched a new advocacy organisation that he says will aim to enfranchise rural voters and support a united opposition.

The organisation, called the Democratic Association, is expected to begin its work by the end of this year, Mam Sonando said yesterday. The group will register voters and provide them with government identification documents.

“I founded this association because I want to help people who have been living without legal documents and therefore have been denied the right to vote,” Mam Sonando said.

A veteran of opposition politics, Mam Sonando owns the Beehive FM radio station. He was arrested in 2003 in connection with anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh, and again in 2005 for allegedly accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of selling land to Vietnam; both arrests were roundly criticised by local rights groups.

Mam Sonando said the DA currently has 11 staff members and has registered roughly 1,600 voters since July. It has no external funding, though Mam Sonando said the group charges 2,000 riels (US$0.47) per person to secure legal documents.

“I want to see a strong opposition party that will balance the power of the ruling party and advocate for the rule of law,” Mam Sonando said.

Puea Thai accused of supporting Hun Xen's Cambodia in the conflict with Thailand: Thai Democrat MP

Dems counter Puea Thai criticism

21/12/2009
Bangkok Post

The Democrat Party slammed Puea Thai's assessment of the government on Monday, accusing the main opposition party of lying to the people.

The attack was led by Bangkok MP Boonyod Sukthinthai, deputy spokesman of the Democrat Party.

Mr Boonyod stressed Puea Thai's weakness in still not being able to pick an MP to be the opposition leader in parliament.

He said Puea Thai had supported the red-shirts of the United Front for Democracy againt Dictatorship in a number of violent incidents, particularly the protest that caused the collapse of the Asean Summit in Pattaya and during the following Songkran riots in Bangkok.

The party had lied to the public on many occasions, particularly by doctoring the audio clip featuring Prime Minister Vejjajiva and publishing it online to make people believe wrongly that Mr Abhisit ordered soldiers to use force to quell the red-shirts.

Frequent walkouts and absences from meetings of the House of Representatives by Puea Thai MPs put a halt to deliberation to several items of legislation, causing a delay of the passage of the 2010 Budget Bill and disrupting payments of the 500-baht per month subsistence allowance for the elderly and other projects.

Mr Boonyod said Puea Thai also supported the UDD's petition for a royal pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra despite knowing that in order to be eligible the former prime minister, having been convicted in a criminal case, must serve time in jail first.

Moreover, the opposition party had acted in support of Cambodia in its conflict with Thailand, both inside and outside the parliament, the Democrat MP said.

Obama: Change the Country, Change the World

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) talks to voters during a campaign stop at Dillon High School in Dillon, South Carolina, January 23, 2008. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
12 May 2008

Illinois senator Barack Obama wants to change the world. But first he wants to change the country. And to do that, he wants to become the first African-American president in the White House.

“We will win this nomination,” he told supporters recently. “You and I together will change this country, and we will change the world.”

Cambodian voters in America and politicians in Cambodia are watching to see what will happen.

Both Obama and New York senator Hillary Clinton have a chance at the presidency “because of the crisis in the US that President [George W.] Bush seriously generated,” said Chanly Kuch, a Cambodian voter who lives in Maryland.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy called Obama a new man with modern ideas. American voters do not have racial discrimination, he said.

Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yiep said Cambodia was watching the election closely.

Obama could prove popular because of his centrist approach, said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, in Cambodia.

“I think it’s good to focus closely and pay attention to what candidates raise and how to solve the issues, [and] the capacity, the ideals of the candidate, rather than focusing on where a person is from,” he said, adding that Obama was “brave.”