HRP repeats call for opposition merger

Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights party, speaks at party headquarters on Monday about his recent visit to the US. (Photo by: Pha Lina)

Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

HUMAN Rights Party (HRP)President Kem Sokha has again called on the country’s opposition parties to join forces in a bid to challenge the dominance of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party at future elections, expressing hope that a merger could happen later this year.

“The HRP wants to call on all nationalists and democrats to open talks to create this alliance urgently in 2010,” Kem Sokha said at a press conference on Monday. He also chided the Sam Rainsy Party – the country’s largest opposition group – for not taking the initiative in the push for a merger.

“The ball is in the SRP’s court, so we will wait to see whether SRP plays or not,” he said.

Kem Sokha was “100 percent” certain of a merger between the HRP and other opposition forces, but said the SRP’s involvement in the plan was still uncertain. “If the SRP wants to merge tomorrow, the HRP will merge tomorrow,” he added.

Kem Sokha said that during his recent visit to the United States he noted support for a united opposition party that would secure Cambodia’s territorial integrity and bar illegal immigration. “They want to see democrats merge on a democratic basis,” he said.

Mu Sochua, deputy secretary general of the SRP, said the party’s stance on the merger had not changed, and that an alliance must be based on democratic change.

“We have the will to merge, but only a merger that would prompt change and strengthen human rights and democracy in Cambodia,” she said.

CPP officials mocked the notion of an opposition merger, saying the parties’ track record for cooperation did not bode well for the plan.

“The CPP is fearless,” said senior party lawmaker Cheam Yeap. The opposition parties “cannot live together for a long time. They have talked about a merger for a long time and so far they are still the same, it still hasn’t appeared”.

When contacted on Monday, Pen Sangha, spokesman for the Nationalist Party, would not respond to Kem Sokha’s appeal for a merger, saying that his announcement for a union of “democratic and nationalist” groups did not refer to any specific parties.

“Kem Sokha should be clearer than this: He should write a letter stating specific names,” Pen Sangha said.

Opposition party merger considered

Tuesday, 05 August 2008
Written by Meas Sokchea

Combined parties could compete with dominant CPP

As election results look increasingly likely to confirm a landslide victory for the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), civil society groups have begun suggesting that the Kingdom’s main opposition parties merge in a bid to better complete with the ruling party.

In an interview Sunday with a civil society radio program, Thun Saray, president of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), said that if the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), Human Rights Party (HRP) and Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) enter into a coalition, they could pool their political power.

Mu Sochua, the deputy secretary-general of SRP, said by telephone Sunday that the three parties could merge because they share the same goal to eliminate poverty and corruption.

“We could merge into one big vote in parliament, but we have not yet talked about one big party. But we have much optimism to merge,” Mu Sochua said.

Chea Vannath, an independent analyst and former director of the Center for Social Development, said the parties should join to help develop the country, while Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, also said merging is an important point for the three parties because it would make them stronger.

Chan Sophal also said that a merger would make it easier on voters, explaining that instead of dividing the electorate, it could make for an easier decision to cast a ballot for a single party.

“When three parties merge, they are a good-looking competitor with the CPP because they have equivalent force,” Thun Saray said.

Protesting the election

NRP spokesman Muth Chantha acknowledged that the three parties, who engaged in their share of finger-pointing prior to the July 27 vote, could join. But he said their first priority was to continue contesting the election results.

The opposition is claiming the NEC rigged the vote by eliminating thousands of names from voter registration lists, giving the CPP an unfair advantage.

“We have long time to talk about merging. We will not deny our ability to merge, but what we are focusing on right now is rejecting the election results,” Muth Chantha said.

“We lost because of two reasons: The first is the fraud committed by the National Election Committee (NEC), the second is not having merged into one party,” Muth Chantha said.