Police Force Used to Stop Sam Rainsy Party Campaign in Kompong Chnang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3oN3PxQIY

Kompong Chnang
27 January, 2012

Sam Rainsy Party strongly condemns Kompong Chnang provincial authorities for failing to take immediate and appropriate action against provincial police from creating fear and chaos as the opposition party is attempting to show its campaign video in this provincial town.

According to the Law on Senatorial Election scheduled for Sunday 29 January, 2012 all parties are allowed to campaign from 7-27 January.

SRP will file a complaint against the provincial police with the Provincial electoral Committee for violation of the electoral law.

Over 15,000 copies of the SRP campaign videos have been distributed throughout the country in the past 20 days.

SRP Message to the people: "SRP defends Cambodia's territory and the people's land".

SRP Cabinet

Crusader Rowing Upstream in Cambodia

Incumbent Mu Sochua, 55, is already campaigning for the 2013 parliamentary election. (Justin Mott for The New York Times)

February 22, 2010
By SETH MYDANS
International Herald Tribune (Paris, France)
The Female Factor

“I voted for you. But don’t tell anyone.” - Cambodian farmer to SRP MP Mu Sochua

MAK PRAING, CAMBODIA — “I’m going to get my votes!” cried Mu Sochua as she stepped into a slender rowboat, holding one side for balance. “One by one.”

She was crossing a small river here in southern Cambodia on a recent stop in her never-ending campaign for re-election to Parliament, introducing herself to rural constituents who may never have seen her face.

The most prominent woman in Cambodia’s struggling political opposition, Mu Sochua, 55, is campaigning now, three years before the next election, because she is almost entirely excluded from government-controlled newspapers and television.

“Only 35 percent of voters know who won the last election,” she said.

She has no time to lose.

Ms. Mu Sochua is a member of a new generation of women who are working their way into the political systems of countries across Asia and elsewhere, from local councils to national assemblies and cabinet positions.

A former minister of women’s affairs, she did as much as anyone to put women’s issues on the agenda of Cambodia as it emerged in the 1990s from decades of war and mass killings. But she lost her public platform in 2004 when she broke with the government, and she is now finding it as difficult to promote her ideas as it is to simply gain attention as a candidate.

She says her signal achievement, leading the way for women into thousands of government positions, has done little to advance women’s issues in a stubbornly male-dominated society.

And like dissidents and opposition figures in many countries, she has found herself with a new burden: battling for her own rights. As she has risen in prominence, the political stands she has taken have become a greater liability to her than gender bias has been.

Most recently, she has been caught in a bizarre tit-for-tat exchange of defamation suits with the country’s domineering prime minister, Hun Sen, in which, to no one’s surprise, she was the loser.

It started last April here in Kampot Province, her constituency, when Mr. Hun Sen referred to her with the phrase “cheung klang,” or “strong legs,” an insulting term for a woman in Cambodia.

She sued him for defamation; he stripped her of her parliamentary immunity and sued her back. Her suit was dismissed in the politically docile courts. In August she was convicted of defaming the prime minister and fined 16.5 million riel, or about $4,000, which she has refused to pay.

“Now I live with the uncertainty about whether I’m going to go to jail,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m not going to pay the fine. Paying the fine is saying to all Cambodian women, ‘What are you worth? A man can call you anything he wants, and there is nothing you can do.”’

This gesture is one of the few ways she has left to champion the rights of women, the central passion of her public life.

As an outspoken opponent of the prime minister, she has found, her participation taints any group, action or demonstration with the stigma of political opposition.

“My voice kills the movement,” she said. “It’s my failure. Now I am the face of the opposition, a woman’s face in opposition. Women say, ‘We believe in you. We admire you. But we can’t be with you because the movement will die.”’

During her six years as minister of women’s affairs, Ms. Mu Sochua campaigned against child abuse, marital rape, violence against women, human trafficking and the exploitation of female workers. She helped draft the country’s law against domestic violence.

In part because of her work, she said, “People are aware about gender. It’s a new Cambodian word: ‘gen-de.’ People are aware that women have rights.”

But where political empowerment of women is concerned, she said, quantity has not produced quality, and prominence has not translated into progress for a women’s agenda.

Over the years, Ms. Mu Sochua has worked with nongovernmental groups to field thousands of candidates in local elections. Largely because of her activism, there are now 27 women in a National Assembly of 123 seats.

But 21 of these are members of the governing Cambodian People’s Party — window dressing, she said — and have little impact, following the party line like their male counterparts.

“They don’t speak out,” she said. “It’s hard to talk about this — I don’t want to antagonize women — but if women suffer from our silence, we are responsible. What are we doing to make their lives better?

“This is where women can hurt women. They are in politics, but they are part of the problem by keeping silent.”

Cambodia is still a traditional society in which women are expected to behave demurely and subordinate themselves to men. Schooled in the United States, Ms. Mu Sochua said she had to keep an eye on her own Westernized ideas and behavior, to be “careful I don’t push things too far.”

The daughter of a well-to-do merchant in Phnom Penh, she was sent to study in the West at the age of 12, ending up at the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a master’s degree in social work and thrived on the culture of outspokenness of the 1970s.

“When I hit San Francisco, I knew that that was my city,” she said. “I began to shine. I let my hair grow. I looked like a hippie.”

She met her future husband, an American, when both were assisting Cambodian refugees on the Thai border after the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. Since 1989 they have lived together in Cambodia, where he works for the United Nations. They have three grown children living in the United States and Britain.

“I have to be very, very careful about what I bring from the West, to promote women’s rights within the context of a society that is led by men,” she said. “In the Cambodian context, it’s women’s lib. It’s feminism. It’s challenging the culture, challenging the men.”

She has this in mind as she walks through the villages of her constituency, a woman with power but a woman nonetheless. “I walk into a cafe, and I have to think twice, how to be polite to the men,” she said. “I have to ask if I can enter. This is their turf. I am a woman, and I should be sitting in one of these little shops and selling things.”

And so she paused the other day at the stoop of a little cafe here in this riverside village, an open-fronted noodle shop where men sat in the midday heat on red plastic chairs.

She had succeeded in halting a sand-dredging project that was eroding riverbanks here, and she wanted the men to know that she had been working on their behalf.

“I came here to inform you that you got a result from the government,” she told the men, showing them a legal document. “I want to inform you that you have a voice. If you see something wrong, you can stand up and speak about it.”

Asked afterward what it was like to have a woman fighting his battles, Mol Sa, 37, a fisherman, said, “She speaks up for us, so I don’t think she’s any different from a man. Maybe a different lady couldn’t do it, but she can do it because she is strong and not afraid.”

Fear was a theme as Ms. Mu Sochua moved through the countryside here. At another village, where cracks were appearing in the sandy embankment, a widow named Pal Nas, 78, said the big dredging boats had scared her.

“I’m afraid that if I speak out, they will come after me,” she said. “In the Khmer Rouge time, they killed all the men. When night comes, I don’t have a man to protect me. It’s more difficult if you are a woman alone.”

Mr. Hun Sen’s party holds power throughout most of rural Cambodia, and Ms. Mu Sochua said that party agents kept an eye on her as she campaigned.

Before she boarded the little boat to cross the river, a man on a motorcycle took photographs of her and her companions with a cellphone, then drove away.

Across the river, a farmer greeted her warmly, climbing a tree to pick ripe guavas for her.

“I voted for you,” he said as he handed her the fruit. “But don’t tell anyone.”

Video Clip Showing The Unfair Arrest of Two Young SRP activists on election day

Gov’t appeals against ‘political pollution’ ahead of election campaign

Thursday, 26 June 2008
Chun Sophal
The Mekong Times

“International [election] observers have to pay more attention to the issues rather than driving a car round sightseeing ... We don’t have faith in the government appeal.” - SRP MP Yim Sovann

The government has called for political parties, NGOs, and election observers to join together in preventing “pollution of the political environment” during this year’s national election campaign.

“NGOs, party representatives, international and national observers, and the Cambodian people should cooperate with each other in providing information on the threats and irregularities of people wishing to pollute the political environment during the election campaign and the election,” said a three-page statement issued yesterday, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“Security forces and authorities have to take urgent measures to curb potential offences – such as robberies, intimidation, violence and crimes – abusing and injuring parliamentary candidates, party members, campaigners, international and national observers, election officials, and voters.”

Authorities, commune councilors and village chiefs must perform their work independently and impartially to ensure that the political environment is peaceful and secure, read the statement, adding that political parties should run their campaigns based on the principles of equality and democracy.

European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) Deputy Chief Observer Graham Elson, who arrived in Cambodia last weekend, said yesterday that the EU does not wish to see any pre- or post-election conflict in Cambodia.

“I want to hear Cambodian politicians speaking about developments rather than disputes in their electoral campaign,” said Elson, adding that the EOM yesterday sent its first group of 44 observers to all Cambodian provinces to monitor the election campaign and process.

The EU plans to spend US$4 million to observe the July 27 elections and is sending a total of more than 130 election observers.

“I believe that the EU EOM will encourage the electoral process to go much more smoothly, freely and fairly,” said Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, a prominent local election monitoring NGO. “I think that, together, [election] observers and political parties can secure a peaceful and better electoral process.”

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yim Sovann said his party remains very concerned over intimidation and politically motivated violence ahead of the election.

“International [election] observers have to pay more attention to the issues rather than driving a car round sightseeing,” he said. “We don’t have faith in the government appeal.”

Today is the first official day of the one month election campaign.

A Relentless Campaign Of Intimidation And Its Boomerang Effect

Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu
Iraq's Saddam Hussein

Thursday, June 19, 2008
Editorial by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

“Mr. Hun Sen should look around himself and see the fates of other fallen dictators. Many have died a terrible and agonising death. Adolf Hitler was incinerated in a bunker (1945). Mussolini was hanged upside down by his own people (1945). Ceaucescu of Romania was sentenced to death by a firing squad by his own people (1991). Zia Al-Hug of Pakistan died of a plane crash, presumably from an assassination. Laurent Kabila of The Congo also died in a plane crash, presumably from an assassination (2000). Najibula of Afghanistan was hanged upside down by the Taliban(?) in 1989. Last but not least, Saddam Hussein, but not yet Saddam Hun Sen, was hanged by the Iraqi and the Americans soldiers in 2006.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen is in his irrational and manic mind again. His erratic behaviours and his belligerent political manoeuvres of late is worrisome. The latest developments in the Cambodian political spectrum is a cause for concerned. As a concerned citizen who followed the political event in Cambodia very closely, I am saddened to see PM Hun Sen devoting all his entire energy and time to a campaign of political intimidation and victimisation of his political nemesis.

I am of the opinion that Mr. Hun Sen’s use of Mr. Hor Namhong’s defamation suit as an excuse to suspend Mr. Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity and his decision to revisit a finished business of the 1998 mortar attack on his motorcade was nothing more than an attempt to thwart and hijack Mr Sam Rainsy’s electoral victory. (Full details here).

People may recall that some time ago, I have written that when one said the truth one said it for the interests of the public and the truth is defendable in a court of law. It was the undeniable fact that Mr Hor Namhong was indeed a chief of Boeng Trabek Prison and Mr. Sam Rainsy’s speech, whether malicious and vexatious or not, was the truth and said in the public interests.

I, like many others, believe that the 1998 mortar attack on Mr. Hun Sen’s motorcade was a set up, organised and orchestrated, by Mr. Hun Sen himself in order to use it as a pretext to arrest Sam Rainsy and Ranariddh when they refused to accept him as the PM during a post election political stalemate. So, the reactivation of this case is to open up an old wound with the intention of bullying his way into a PM job again, should he loses the upcoming election. (Full details here).

A long term observers of the Cambodian political situation would view the latest political developments with cynicism, with sinister perception and with a sense of déjà vu. With this kind of relentless campaign of terror and political intimidation, Cambodia and the Cambodian people could never have peace in their mind. A sense of fears would discourage them from participating in the election process and create an atmosphere not conducive to the holding of a free and fair election.

The lesson of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s should be learned. When people’s legitimate political rights and freedom had been suppressed and a campaign of terror and victimisation was unleashed against them, the resultant effect was that they opted for an armed struggle. I am not an apologist of the Khmer Rouge and never will be, but many would have agreed with me that their armed struggle was not of their own choice but rather it was forced upon them as a result of the suppression of their legitimate political rights and freedom. I am drawing a parallel here as I want to wake up Prime Minister Hun Sen to the fact that his suppression, oppression and victimisation of opposition activists would see a return to the 1960s style of political movement turning into an armed movement. We could also see some aspects of vengeance and revenge killings against Lon Nol’s officials by the Khmer Rouge and the revenge killings against Khmer Rouge cadres after Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979.

Coming back to the real issue, I believe that the reinvestigation of the 1998 mortar attack on Mr. Hun Sen’s motorcade and the request for the suspension of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity, is nothing short of a political witch hunt against Mr. Hun Sen’s political opponents. The investigating team, which consists of amateurs, resembles a vigilante group set up to hunt down Mr. Hun Sen’s political opponents in order to bring them to his kangaroo court.

Now, let’s look at the investigators’ credentials and their expertise or the lack of it. Meas Sophea and Mol Roeub are army generals who have no experience or expertise in the police investigation. Lek Bun Nhean, a Sam Rainsy Party defector from the countryside, was probably nothing more than an unemployed farmer who is seeking an opportunity to make a fortune from his defection. In an independent judiciary, these three people appointed by Hun Sen’s to investigate an attack of that magnitude would be called a vigilante group because they have no jurisdiction or expertise to investigate such a case, which should fall under the jurisdiction of the police.

One could not comprehend Mr. Hun Sen’s relentless campaign of terror against Mr. Sam Rainsy other than to say that it might be born out of a personal, a political and a vindictive vendetta, as Mr. Sam Rainsy is the only serious contender who could cause Mr. Hun Sen’s political downfall. Apparently, Mr. Hun Sen is building up a case against Sam Rainsy in order to use it against him after the election should the latter chooses to get in the way of his prime ministership. And one could say that a pattern of Mr. Hun Sen’s bellicose behaviours at this stage is reminiscence of the 2005 case when Mr. Sam Rainsy, Mr. Chea Poch and Mr. Cheam Channy were stripped off their parliamentary immunity, arrested and exiled.

Mr Hun Sen’s latest actions has reinforced the belief that he has no intention of relinquishing his grip on power should he loses the election. His campaign of terror cannot ensure a smooth election, let alone a smooth transfer of power should Sam Rainsy wins. The lifting of Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity could see him arrested any time soon and sent to long prison term. Should this scenario is to occur, we would see the darkest episode of Cambodia’s present day politics.

Does Sam Rainsy have any weapons to fight back?

Should the scenario that has been unveiled above is to occur, Sam Rainsy has to exhaust and unleash all options. In a tit-for-tat, Mr. Sam Rainsy should fight back through legal channel. There is a belief that Prime Minister Hun Sen was linked to a range of crimes and a possible war crime. It might be a wishful thinking, however, it is possible that Sam Rainsy can try to request for the FBI to release its investigations into the 1997 grenade attacks in front of the National Assembly which killed 19 people and wounded approximately 190 people, including one American. Victims and their families can lodge a law suit against Mr. Hun Sen in the Cambodian court, if the FBI investigations linked him to that crime. Secondly, Sam Rainsy can request to the Cambodian court to reinvestigate the murder of actress Pisith Pilika, which many people believed was masterminded by Hun Sen’s wife, with him as an accessory. Thirdly, the tortures and executions of Ranariddh’s loyalists after the 1997 coup can constitute a war crime. There is a belief that Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered their tortures and executions after they surrendered. This crime is prosecutable in the International Criminal Court and is punishable by long prison term. Fourthly, as Mr. Hun Sen was a former Khmer Rouge’s high-ranking cadre, he is a suitable candidate for prosecution by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, which is currently still in full operation.

Of course, this is just a wishful thinking. With Mr. Hun Sen at his firm grip on power, prosecuting him for any crimes would be hard, if not impossible. But Mr. Sam Rainsy should exhaust all options in order to fight back.

What is the boomerang effect on Mr. Hun Sen’s latest actions?

Mr Hun Sen must realise that no one, including himself, could live forever and therefore, rules forever. Mr. Suharto of Indonesia, with his military might, lasted for 30 years, after his military abandoned him. Mr. Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines lasted 21 years when the people power rose up against him and his military abandoned him. Mr. Augusto Pinochet of Chile lasted 17 years, again, after his military refused to go along with his brutal rule.

Furthermore, Mr. Hun Sen should look around himself and see the fates of other fallen dictators. Many have died a terrible and agonising death. Adolf Hitler was incinerated in a bunker (1945). Mussolini was hanged upside down by his own people (1945). Ceaucescu of Romania was sentenced to death by a firing squad by his own people (1991). Zia Al-Hug of Pakistan died of a plane crash, presumably from an assassination. Laurent Kabila of The Congo also died in a plane crash, presumably from an assassination (2000). Najibula of Afghanistan was hanged upside down by the Taliban(?) in 1989. Last but not least, Saddam Hussein, but not yet Saddam Hun Sen, was hanged by the Iraqi and the Americans soldiers in 2006.

These are just some examples that Mr. Hun Sen needs to reflect on his future fate. He had ruled long enough, amassed more than enough personal fortunes and so he should retire quietly and enjoy his stolen wealth in a foreign country, presumably in Vietnam.

Updated Interview with Dr. Lao Mong Hay on the 2008 General Election

Cambodia’s ruling party tipped to win overwhelmingly in July 27 polls

June 17, 2008
Radio Singapore International

Cambodians will go to the polls in about six weeks’ time.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party is widely expected to be re-elected due to weak opposition.

The CPP has been accused of vote-buying, intimidation and other forms of political pressure in past elections but the party has dismissed these claims.

To find out more, Yvonne Gomez spoke with Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher at the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission.

LHM: Over the years, the ruling party has been trying to rewrite divide and rule, means that it has been using different means to destroy the weak and rival parties. Over the years, the ruling party has assigned senior, powerful and rich officials to look after different districts. They have been going out there trying to help and offer to give donation in the long term. Short term, during the election campaign, they offer gifts and all that. There is an intimidation at the same time before the polling day and after and perhaps throughout the year. Those who are known as supporting the opposition parties are discriminated against with regard to the public services. There are people who are compelled to join the party or support the ruling party because of this kind of discrimination to have good feelings with the government officials.

Despite Hun Sen’s political dominance, Cambodia has 57 parties, with 11 of them running in the July election. Why is that these parties haven’t banded together to form a more coherent and perhaps stronger opposition?

LHM: I think under these political circumstances of a repression of or control, I think it’s very difficult for people to unite. Under the rule Khmer Rouge, people were so much repressed that even if they eat together, they do not trust one another.

How do you expect the main opposition Sam Rainsy party to fare in the election?

LHM: I think it is a bit difficult because their party lacks resources and likely because of the action on the part of the ruling party. I think many of its members have defected to the ruling party and that causes quite a bit of difficulty. Furthermore, there is a court action against Sam Rainsy himself and now his own son has he is implicated in some issue of involving in a plot of something.

Do you expect much violence in the run-up and during the July 27 polls?

LHM: Violence has been going on openly or in secret. Violence against rival parties for instance, dismantling of party signs and intimidation and even killing of party activists. Now there are threats and intimidations going on to even both who are against and who are opposed to the ruling party. Because of extensive ruling party networks across the country, the ruling party has an advantage since it has been there running the army to believe administration that they can know everything that’s going on at the local level.

Political killings start again with the approaching election

Civil Society Condemns Pre-Election Violence

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

Click here to listen to the program in Khmer

Members of Cambodia's human rights agencies said Monday they were worried about violence in the pre-campaign period, with some candidates already being intimidated, threatened, and, in a few cases, killed.

The violence was contributing to a "political crisis," according to the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, a coalition of 21 civic groups.

"Political killings, intimidations and harassments have been rising, in particular, in the remote areas," the coalition said.

At least five political activists were killed between January and May, the coalition said.

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.

NGOs, Opposition Meet Over Recent Election

Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17/05/2007

NGOs and opposition officials met Thursday to discuss lessons from April's local election, seeking ways to curb voter intimidation and ensure regulations are closely followed in the 2008 national elections.

Opposition lawmakers said the Cambodian People's Party had intimidated voters by threatening to take away benefits if the party lost the elections. The CPP won an overwhelming majority of commune chief seats in this year's election.

CPP officials say they won fairly, but opposition and smaller parties have complained the election's run-up and polling day were unfair.

"I'll give an example," SRP lawmaker Kuoy Bun Roeun told VOA Khmer. "It was said that if the ruling party did not win, meaning it lost the election, tens of thousands of projects would be cancelled, and Cambodia might face insecurity. This is pressure on voters that makes it difficult for them to make a decision at their will."

Cambodia's local election results receive mixed reactions from parties

April 25, 2007

The final results from Cambodia's April 1 commune councils election have met with varied responses from contending political parties, with support from the winner and dissatisfaction from the opposition, the Rasmei Kampuchea daily reported Wednesday.

According to the figures announced Tuesday by the National Election Committee (NEC), the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 1,591 out of the total 1,621 commune-chief seats throughout the country, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) won 28, and the co-ruling Funcinpec Party won just two seats. The Norodom Ranariddh Party ( NRP) and Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party came fourth and fifth respectively with only commune-chief assistant and council-member seats.

CPP President Chea Sim welcomed the results, calling the election a successful, free and fair competition, the newspaper said.

"In the name of the Cambodian People's Party, I would like to solemnly announce my support for the result of the second mandate commune councils election, which the National Election Committee has officially announced," Chea Sim was quoted by the daily as saying.

"We must respect and protect the election results and continue to do our utmost to realize the wishes of the people," he added.

A Funcinpec deputy secretary general echoed the statements of his coalition partner, telling the paper that they welcome and support the official result of the election.However, he added that the general procedures of the NEC in the elections were a bit difficult and complicated.

The forerunner SRP, on the other hand, did not fully accept the result, citing unresolved complaints over irregularities at a number of communes.

In Poipet commune of Banteay Meanchey province, for example, only 30 percent of registered voters actually went to vote, according to SRP Secretary General Mu Sochua, who added that village chiefs and commune chiefs were present at polling stations on the election day, which may have had intimidated voters, the paper said.

Source: Xinhua

NEC rejects some 30 complaints brought up by the SRP

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
By Duong Sokha
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial translation from French by Luc Sâr

Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French

The National Election Committee (NEC) refused to look into some 30 complaints related to the commune election brought up by the Sam Rainsy Party.

The opposition party demanded that the NEC reorganize the elections due to irregularity encountered during the voting and the counting in 21 districts in Phnom Penh city, and in 3 communes in Poipet, Prey Veng and Kandal. The other complaints denounced the presence of village and commune chiefs near the voting poll stations, and intimidations perpetrated in Kompong Chhnang, Prey Veng, Kandal, as well as in Phnom Penh. “We led investigations on the spots. But the majority of the complaints lack legal basis, this prevents us from considering them. Witnesses and proofs are also lacking,” Keo Phalla, the director of the NEC department of legal affairs and conflicts, justified. While qualifying the NEC decision as “normal,” opposition leader Sam Rainsy blames the NEC of making decisions in favor of the ruling party.

At least 100,000 unable to vote in Cambodia's local election

April 11, 2007

Some 100,000 out of the 7,799, 371 registered voters couldn't cast votes in the April 1 local election due to absence of their names on the list and lack of identification cards, local media said on Wednesday.

"As I estimate, at least 100,000 could not vote in the commune councils election," Mar Sophal, monitoring coordinator with the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), was quoted by English newspaper the Cambodian Daily as saying.

He also conceded that it was difficult to calculate the precise number of registered votes who left the country's 14,428 polling stations without voting.

Meanwhile, Theary Seng, director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), said that only about 65 percent of those who registered went to the polls, reported daily newspaper the Khmer Mekong News.

More than 2.5 million registered voters failed to join the elections, reported another daily newspaper the Samleng Yuvechun Khmer.

The CSD has attributed the low turnout to various irregularities regarding the elections.

Many registered voters failed to receive voter notices distributed by the National Election Committee; electoral officials at polling stations didn't understand the process and help voters verify their names; voter names and birthdays unmatched with those on the voter notices; and local officials, police, military police and commune chiefs and councilors used their positions to stand in front of polling stations, intimidating voters, the Khmer Mekong News quoted CSD as saying.

According to preliminary results, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won a landslide victory, receiving 3.1 million of the 5.1 million votes cast during the elections, followed by the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, the opposition Norodom Ranariddh Party and the co-ruling Funcinpec Party.

In the election, altogether 102,266 candidates from 12 political parties competed for 11,353 seats in 1,621 communes and sub-communes nationwide. Official results will be announced on April 24.

Source: Xinhua

Heng Samrin: CPP is faultless

Pro-Hun Sen supporters jump from their truck to attack opposition protesters during a parade through the streets of Phnom Penh (circa 1997).

30 March 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

While 2 major parties, the SRP and NRP, are complaining about the violence and intimidations committed by CPP party members against its activists during the last 10 days of the election campaign, Hen Samrin, the president of the National Assembly and CPP honorary president, said that the CPP did not commit anything wrong. The Cambodia Daily reported Heng Samrin’s claim in today’s edition. He also said that the complaints brought up by other political parties, claiming that the CPP violated the election law, is not true. He said that these complaints are only political pretext, and that CPP activists never use violence. He added that violence during the election campaign is normal and it is caused by personal dispute.

Voters took gifts from CPP officials ... but that didn't mean they had to vote for them

Election Monitor Notes Intimidation as NEC Warns Gift-Givers

Khemara Sok
VOA Khmer
Washington
26/03/2007

Small incidents have marred the commune elections so far, an election observer told VOA listeners Monday, as a government election official warned parties not to buy votes with gifts.

Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, took questions from "Hello VOA" listeners Monday, and Tep Nitha, secretary-general of the National Election Committee, spoke to VOA Khmer by phone.

Comfrel is an independent election watchdog that has witnessed and candidate intimidationsuspects the ruling Cambodian People's Party of using money from the national budget to fund its own candidates.

Koul Panha said Monday his group had recorded about 100 verbal attacks between parties competing for commune council positions, as well as instances where political signboards were torn down.

The elections are meant to decentralize the government's power structure, but so far that change has been slow, Koul Panha said. Real change won't likely be felt until as far away as the 2012 elections, as Cambodia's democratic processes grow.

Any political candidate that tries to buy votes with gifts will be removed from the elections, Tep Nitha said.

The CPP has faced accusations of vote-buying in recent days, but so far is not under formal investigation by the NEC.

Villagers might take gifts, Tep Nitha said, but their votes will be secret when they cast their ballot in a private box.

Voters told VOA earlier this week that sometimes they took gifts from CPP officials, but that didn't mean they had to vote for them.

Comfrel: CPP is suspected of using money from nat'l budget to bolster its politicking

CPP Faces Financial Abuse Charges, Smaller Parties Find Niches and Union Leaders Demand Day Off to Vote

VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
25/03/2007

[Editor's note: For full audio to VOA Khmer's coverage of this story, scroll throughout. Real Media Player required]

An independent monitoring group said Saturday it suspected the ruling Cambodian People's Party of using money from the national budget to bolster its politicking, as commune election campaigning entered its second week.

Smaller parties, meanwhile, focused their efforts in tight areas and union leaders stepped up pressure on factory owners to allow workers time off on Election Day, as VOA Khmer followed the run-up to commune elections.

In every election, the CPP is suspected of using money from the national coffers, Koul Panha, executive director for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, told VOA. And this one was no different.

"Actually, every time, the ruling party is the target for the monitors on the operations involved with state assets," Koul Panha said.

Chiem Yiep, chairman of the CPP's finance committee, said money for elections comes from members of the party, not the government budget.

"For the CPP, all active members must give contributions to the party," he said. "Other than that, our local parties might have some businesses which give us income."

To listen to Mony report in Khmer, click here.

Villagers in Takmau, Kandal province, meanwhile, say they have heard the same campaign promises for five years, with little result.

Back then, candidates said they would fix the roads, clean the environment and create jobs, villagers told VOA during a debate organized by the National Democratic Institute. Now, they are making the same promises.

To listen to Kong Soth report in Khmer, click here.

More than 400 people attended a similar debate in Siem Reap Sunday. All of the 12 parties campaigning for commune council positions were invited, officials said, but only three participated: the CPP, Sam Rainsy and Norodom Ranariddh parties.

A number of onlookers told VOA that the debates gave them a chance to see candidates face to face and that they would like to see more in the future. Cambodians increasingly are understanding that no one can tell them whom to vote for, observers say.

To listen to Kong Soth report in Khmer, click here.

As VOA Khmer continued its election coverage, Sam Rainsy Party officials said they continued to experience intimidation and their complaints were being ignored.

Small parties, meanwhile, were focusing their efforts in tight areas where they might have a chance of winning, and villagers in Kampong Thom found a grenade dangling from a tractor in what political leaders suspected was a failed attempt to harm candidates.

To listen to Khemara Sok report in Khmer, click here.

Nearly 8 million Cambodians are registered to vote, but some ethnic minorities told VOA Sunday they had not been issued voter IDs.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh has written a letter to his father, former King Norodom Sihanouk, complaining that the courts were poltically biased and had sentenced him unfairly to 18 months prison in absentia. His self-named party is emerging as a second opposition after the prince was ousted form Funcinpec, the government's coalition partner.

Prominent union leaders, meanwhile, said over the weekend they would file complaints in court for factories that don't allow their workers a day off to vote on Election Day, April 1.

To listen to Khemara Sok report in Khmer, click here.

CPP faithful kicked out of the party, his crime: his wife joined another political party

CPP Koh Kong group leader kicked out from the party

22 March 2007
By Keo Pech Metta
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

One CPP group leader in Ksach Kraham village, Chi Khor Leu commune, Sre Ambil district, Koh Kong province, said that his party removed him for the party when the election campaign started on 17 March. The CPP noted that his wife joined another political party.

The group leader, who declined to provide his real identity, added that his removal from the party was done by his party representative, the Chi Khor Leu commune chief who is also a CPP member like himself. “I am the party group leader for 22 years already, now they remove me, they throw me away, they told me that my wife joined the SRP.”

The Ksach Kraham village CPP group leader also said that a few days after his removal from the party, his family was threatened and was told not to live in the village anymore, in particular, his wife was sneered at.

Another woman who asked to remain anonymous, and who claimed to be the wife of the villager removed from the CPP, indicated that she asked to join the SRP over a year ago. She said that it was her right to join this political party, and that this has nothing to do with other parties.

The same woman said that the removal [of her husband] is not something that she pays much attention about, but what worry her most are the threats on her family: “The commune chief and the village chief are both from the CPP, they told me: ‘If you join Sam Rainsy [Party], you should move out of your village and go live in the Sam Rainsy [Party] area,’ that’s what they said, they give me a lot of hard time.”

Kham Poum, the Chi Khor Leu commune chief, denies all the accusations above, saying that he did not take the action that he is accused of.

Kham Poum: “No, I don’t know anything about it. Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy [parties] work with me without any problems in all mandates.” Keo Pech Metta: “Did you remove the CPP party leader from his position?.” Kham Poum: “No.”

Tep Hay, a SRP activist in Chi Khor Leu commune, confirmed that the man who claimed to be the CPP group leader, is indeed a CPP member in the commune. The man has now switched his allegiance to the SRP Chi Khor Leu commune chapter on his own free will, SRP did not do anything to bring him over.

Heng Neng, the Koh Kong provincial election committee, said that he is not aware of the removal of a CPP party member, nor does he know about the threats made. He has not received any complaints about the threats yet.

Election campaign calm did not last long, vandalism, indimidation start to rear their ugly heads back

Cambodian voters in Kampong Speu in 2002. Nearly 8 million voters are registered for the 2007 commune elections.

Vandalism, Intimidation Appear for Election Season

VOA Khmer Stringers
Phnom Penh
19/03/2007

[Editor's note: For full audio to VOA Khmer's converage of this story, scroll throughout. (Real Media Player required to listen to audio segments)]

As the Cambodian election season ramps up, some parties say they are facing unfair impediments, with signs torn down and supporters shut down, with less than two weeks before Election Day.

Nearly 8 million Cambodians will go to the polls April 1 to select local commune leaders, in elections meant to decentralize governmental power and strengthen democracy.

Cambodian elections are typically a time of increased violence and intimidation, and lengthy interviews by VOA Khmer with various party leaders suggest this season will likely be no different.

Activists for the Norodom Ranariddh Party saw signs torn down in Kampot and Kampong Cham provinces following what they call a surge of support in both provinces. To listen to Chun Sakada report in Khmer, click here.

"These people destroyed the posters, and the persons who were nearby did not notice the action," NRP candidate Mak Oeung told VOA by phone. "My side of the party is strong. I was with Funcinpec previously, but later I left the party and joined the Norodom Ranariddh Party. All the strong people follow me."

A local election committee representative, Yim Ran, told VOA he was investigating.

Meanwhile, Sam Rainsy Party supporters say a military commander in Koh Kong province stopped a political procession for an hour after the group tried to rally inside one area where land-grabbing was an issue.

Military and government officials are increasingly taking land from the rural poor, a situation that has become highly politicized in this election.

National Election Committee Secretary-General Tep Nitha told VOA he had not heard of the Kon Kong incident, but in general groups should seek permission first before rallying in public areas.

Parties should notify the NEC, so it "can provide security," he said.

These elections have 12 separate parties in them. And while only the Cambodian People's Party, Funcinpec, SRP and NRP have nationwide campaigns, many of the smaller parties are carving niches for themselves in select areas.

The Khmer National Party, for example, told VOA it was against corruption and was campaigning on a platform to pass anti-corruption legislation that has been around since 1994. Land grabbing was also an area of concern, party leader Sum Sitha said. To listen to Mony report in Khmer, click here.

Funcinpec, meanwhile, is campaigning on its royalist roots, said Keo Puth Reaksmey, head of the party. The principles of a free constitutional monarchy remain, as well as support for the king, the promotion of people's interests, social freedom and economic development, he said. To listen to Reaksmey Heng report in Khmer, click here.

The Sangkum Jatiniyun Front Party will be the rule of law, party delegate Prince Sisowath Thomico has said.

The party, which was put together this year from a handful of smaller parties, wants "a society that people love, taking the international level as a standard," he told VOA as the elections kicked off Friday. "The party's priority is to implement the law." To listen to Mony report in Khmer, click here.