Five Parties Debate for K'Cham Voters

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Kampong Cham
18 July 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Voters asked Kampong Cham delegates Friday about their election strategies for winning, the prevention of "dictatorship" and upgrades of the living standards in Cambodia's most populous province.

The Sam Rainsy, Human Rights, Khmer Democratic, League for Democracy and Hang Dara Democratic Movement parties each addressed concerns from voters and questions from a moderator in a province with 18 National Assembly seats at stake.

Around 1,800 people, including party activists and individual voters, attended the debate, which was held by the National Democratic Institute and will be later televised on TVK. Friday's debate was the last televised debate held by the institute.

"It is very important for me to listen to the political party message, before I decide to vote," said Nov Sophal, a 40-year-old villager who lived nearby in O'Rang Oev district. "So the debate is not only good for me, but for all the voters in the area."

Party candidates promised their would-be constituents strategies for fighting corruption and decreasing the price of goods in the province, as well as agricultural promotion, establishing more jobs and providing free healthcare to villagers.

SRP candidate Mao Monyvann said his party's election strategy relied on campaigning from the grassroots to the national level. The party was campaigning on fighting corruption and inflation and job creation, he said.

Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha told participants that his party's strategy was the promotion of agriculture for farmers and a two-term limit for party president, to fight corruption, partisanship and a "dictatorship" within the party.

NDI senior adviser Thomas Andrews called forums and open debates such as this "an important ingredient to the creation of a strong and vital democracy."

"We can find our real leader through debate, but I keep it in my mind," Buth Saroeun, a 55-year-old villager, said. "Today, I gave up my farm work to join the debate to understand what the parties are saying before the election."

NEC Issues Debate Questions to Parties

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

Click here to listen to the program in Khmer

The National Election Committee on Thursday issued a list of questions to all the competing political parties for July's general elections, in preparation for a series of roundtable debates to be held in the upcoming campaign period.

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha said each of the 15 questions was important for helping voters decide on which party might serve them best.

The questions focus on the economy, corruption, natural environment, tourism, social security, justice, immigration, rule of law, public health, land disputes, foreign policy, prostitution, drugs, international borders, rights of women and children, rural development, poverty reduction and education.

Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the prepared questions would not benefit the voters, because the questions and answers would be prepared ahead of the debates. A system of live questions and answers between voters and candidates would help inform the election, he said.

Political party officials said they were preparing to answer the questions according to their platforms.

Political Cartoon: A face to face debate

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

Debate Or Not To Debate: Hun Sen Is Ducking For Cover?

Editorial by Khmerization
Originally posted at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

"The debate should take place, with or without Mr. Hun Sen. The democratisation process in Cambodia must be moving forward. No one, not even a prime minister of a country, can hinder this process."

Mr Kem Sokha’s proposal for a face to face televised debate among the prime ministerial candidates is a good thing for the democratisation process in Cambodia (read the links by clicking here and here). It will give an opportunity to the voters to see real democracy at work, first hand. It will also provide the candidates, including Prime Minister Hun Sen himself, an opportunity to experience a real taste of democracy. But most importantly, it will give Prime Minister Hun Sen an opportunity to set the record straight- and that is to face his critics and tackle them head on.

But, regrettably, Prime Minister Hun Sen has chosen to reject the proposal flat out. The Prime Minister’s rejection is a real blow to the democratisation process in Cambodia. A face to face debate is a chance for the candidates to put forward their ideas and political platforms to the voters but it was sensitive enough to send shivers through Prime Minister Hun Sen’s spine. For a man who used to debate with himself and who used to blast his critics for hours and hours non-stop on national TV, the ideas of a face to face debate has caused shivers that sent him scrambling and ducking for cover.

Prime Minister Hun Sen used his busy time schedule as a pretext of his refusal to participate in such a debate. He said that he is too busy trying to solve people’s everyday problems. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, an election debate is another form of efforts to hatch out ideas to find the solutions to the many national problems facing Cambodia today. If you are serious enough in seeking ideas and solutions to today Cambodia’s problems, this is the way to go.

Another pretext which Prime Minister Hun Sen used a justify his rejection of the proposal was that Cambodia has a proportional parliamentary system which the voters vote for the parties and not for the candidates, unlike the presidential elections in the United States and France whereby the people vote for the presidential candidates. Mr. Hun Sen’s reason is unreasonable. In countries like Australia, Canada and the UK which have a parliamentary system whereby the voters vote for the parties like Cambodia and, at every election, they always hold a televised debates among the prime ministerial candidates. So Mr. Hun Sen’s reason is absurd and preposterous.

Mr Hun Sen’s pre-emptive speech rejecting Kem Sokha’s proposal was not only a proof of his cowardice, but it was intended to intimidate, to interfere and to influence the decisions-making of an independent institution, the National Election Committee (NEC).

The NEC, as an independent national institution, should not be deterred by Hun Sen‘s speech. It should make its own decisions independently of any political influence, not even from a prime minister of a country. The debate should take place, with or without Mr. Hun Sen. The democratisation process in Cambodia must be moving forward. No one, not even a prime minister of a country, can hinder this process.

Kem Sokha: The Prime Minister Is Hindering Democracy

10th March 2008
By Mao Sotheany
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization

Prime ministerial candidate of the Human Right Party said that the immediate rejection from Prime Minister Hun Sen toward his proposal to the National Election Committee (NEC) for it to organise a face to face televised debate is an insult to the efforts of a national electoral institution to promote democracy.

Mr. Kem Sokha, who is also the president of the Human Right Party said that Mr. Hun Sen’s declaration of rejection on Saturday to his proposal to the NEC is a threat and an interference to NEC.

Mr Kem Sokha said: “First I would like him to support that debate because it is important for the promotion of democracy, promotion of the value of the electoral process and to provide a better opportunity for the people. But whether he will participate or not is up to him. But I would like to stress that, in his capacity as the prime minister who used to say that he wants to promote democracy, I want to see him support that idea first. Secondly, then we can discuss in details about the formula for the debate. If he has hindered even before the NEC, which many people think is under the rein of the ruling party, gave its answer to the proposal, it will scare the NEC not to give the permission for the debate to take place. I did not ask the permission from anybody, I didn’t ask the prime minister, I only ask the NEC to organise the debate. When he is making a pre-emptive speech it is like he is trying to stop and to intimidate the NEC not to hold the debate.”

In relation to the proposal for the debate Prime Minister Hun Sen said that there is no need for the debate because he is not a good public speaker like Mr. Kem Sokha. But Mr. Hun Sen sarcastically responded by referring to the internal problems that have plagued the parties of other prime ministerial candidates like this: “I don’t need to participate in such a debate. Talking about the national reconciliation I have united everyone since the country was still divided. Now I have united everybody. Please just talk about yourselves, like: how can you achieve a national reconciliation because you can’t even govern your own little party and allow all your members to defect to other party? You can’t even govern a non-governmental organisation, the members are suing the chairman for corruption which caused the break up of that organisation. Someone can’t even govern his own family, one child go west, the other go east. It is like putting the crabs in a winnowing basket (the crabs will run everywhere). How can he govern a country with a multi-party system? Only me can do it. So I wish to send a message to His Excellency Kem Sokha to please spare me. You can say that I am scared of you. I am scared of you because you know how to speak better than me.”

Mr Kem Sokha said that such a reaction from Mr Hun Sen shows that he is not listening to other people’s ideas and only wants to rule the country by himself.

Mr Kem Sokha said: “He is a prime minister. It shows that he wants to rule the country by himself forever. He said he wanted to open to suggestions but there is no sign that he wants to further promote democracy. He doesn’t want to listen to anyone’s ideas. He just takes his own ideas only. Even those ideas, which did not compromise our national interests and the interests of the people, but are promoting democracy, he didn’t dare to accept them. In a democratic society, sometimes the ideas from the opposition parties are taken into accounts. This means that he (Hun Sen) is not open to receiving suggestions and ideas from other people.”

Sam Rainsy: If Hun Sen refuses to participate in this political debate, then he is a coward PM

Hun Sen refuses to participate in election debate

15 March 2007
By Sav Yuth Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The CPP topmost official has refused the idea agreed upon by a number of political party leaders requesting the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to organize a political debate forum for the 2008 general election. The debate forum would invite all party leaders and candidates for the prime minister position to debate publicly about their political goals in front of the people, the owners of the votes.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said during the inauguration of the construction site for National Road No. 8, in Svay Antor commune, Prey Veng district, Prey Veng province, this morning that in the past as well as in the present, he is the prime minister and he will be the candidate for this position in 2008, therefore, he has no need to participate in a public political debate forum as requested by a number of political parties because people knew him already, and he leaves this opportunity for other unknown candidates to debate instead.

Hun Sen said: “I thank Radio Free Asia which broadcasted the story that in the upcoming election, the candidates for the PM position are asked to debate each other. Today, I am not campaigning for the election, I am only explaining and providing some comments. Cambodian people know Hun Sen very well in his role as a PM candidate right now, and who will be the PM in the next mandate. The main point now is for the PM candidates who have not yet acted as PM, they should show their capability. As for me, I don’t need to show it, because in reality, I am right here in front of you already.”

Hun Sen’s reaction and his refusal took place after three major political parties had supported the proposal made by the Sam Rainsy party asking the NDI, a US organization, and donor countries to help organize a public political debate forum for PM candidates in the upcoming 2008 election.

Even though Hun Sen declared this morning that he has long experience in negotiating with past strongmen, including King Norodom Sihanouk, Khieu Samphan, and Son Sann, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said that if Prime Minister Hun Sen refuses to participate in this political debate, then he is a coward prime minister.

Sam Rainsy said: “I believe that those who do not dare confront their opponents are coward because in other countries, even the sitting president who wants to obtain another mandate must debate with his opponents on TV. We should learn this lesson from developed countries that have true democracy. Even if they are presidents or prime ministers, they still participate in the debate with their opponents and leave it to the people to judge.”

On 12 March, Mu Sochua, SRP Secretary-General, requested the NDI and donor countries to help organize a public forum for the upcoming 2008 general election by inviting party leaders and candidates for the PM position to debate in public.

Mu Sochua said: “I ask one thing from the NDI and the donor countries: a debate for the 2008 election, which is also for conducted for choosing a prime minister. Party leaders, in particular the major parties, have the same opportunity to defend their party’s goals, as well as presenting their leader to the public, the actual owners of the votes.”

Democracy Advocates Push for Debate in 2008

Reasey Poch
VOA Khmer
Washington
13/03/2007

Cambodian democracy would benefit from head-to-head debates as the country heads toward general elections next year, leading party activists told VOA Monday.

Public debates would allow candidates to showcase their platforms for voters, strengthening the democratic process, Mu Sochua, secretary-general for the Sam Rainsy Party said by phone from Phnom Penh.

Debates are a hallmark of democratic countries, such as those televised debates among presidential candidates in the United States, Pok Than vice secretary-general for the newly formed Norodom Ranariddh Party said.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said he personally agrees with debates. It's important for party leaders to explain their positions to voters, he said, but he was waiting to see a formal request from the Sam Rainsy Party before he would decide what to do.

Information on parties' agendas is especially useful for voters, but the challenge is to convince every leader to participate in debates, Jerome Cheung, Cambodia director of the National Democratic Institute, told VOA. However, he said, not all parties are likely to agree because not all of them would come out looking good in a debate.

Cambodia is heading into local elections next month, where leaders for each of the country's 1,621 communes will be chosen. National leaders will be chosen next year.