Moneakseka Khmer
Translated from Khmer and Posted online
The National Election Committee [NEC] has just recruited 245 new personnel to serve its electoral work. These 245 new recruits are taken in for correcting any erroneous old voter lists of the 2007 election in preparation for the upcoming fourth general elections in 2008.
However, impartial election observers from COMFREL [Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia] and NICFEC [Neutral and Impartial Committee on Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia] claimed that individuals selected to work for the elections must be neutral, not biased toward any party. Although the NEC asserted that the 245 staffers recently recruited to serve the elections were not partial toward any political party, the observers have had difficulty believing it.
The NEC nowadays is almost completely controlled by the Cambodian People's Party [CPP] as its chairman and secretary general are top CPP officials. Most of the NEC personnel also are CPP members. At each election the NEC announces the recruitment of observers; but in majority these observers are CPP activists. For this reason, although during past elections there were complaints against irregularities filed by various political parties, the NEC never resolved them fairly on the legal basis. The NEC usually claimed that the complaints lodged by the parties were "groundless."
Now that the NEC has announced the recruitment of 245 new personnel to serve the elections, some observers become concerned that the recruited staff could be made up of pro-CPP political activists. The NEC claimed that the recruitment of these new staffers was for correcting a number of mistaken lists, especially those in the second commune/precinct council election in 2007, because the NEC is now preparing for the fourth general elections to be held on 27 July 2008. For this reason, it needs personnel for checking the voter lists and keeping them correct as of now.
According to some diplomats and observers, if the lists of the 2007 commune/precinct council election were wrong then it means that the result of that election was also not correct. If so, why did the NEC recognize it?
However, a senior Interior Ministry official claimed that in Cambodia with the CPP in control anyone who is strong is the winner; no one cares about the law or democracy. Like now, because the CPP is the election winner, the NEC welcomes it with open arms, by readily announcing the election outcome as correct. However, if in that election the CPP turned out to be the loser, maybe the NEC would not have made the same announcement. As a matter of fact, in some constituencies where the CPP lost, the NEC also wanted to please the obstreperous CPP by defying the result.
On Monday 9 July, Beijing gave NEC equipment worth nearly $1.3 million. However, to some diplomats, the Chinese aid was not surprising because China's habit is always to help anyone who is strong and who is in control. China does not care about democracy or the survival of the people. For example, Beijing did not hesitate to help even the Khmer Rouge who massacred so many people. Therefore, it is not strange that China should give aid to the current regime. Besides, the Chinese now need the Cambodian leaders to help them in the Khmer Rouge tribunal and they also need Cambodia as their economic-political middle ground.
However, impartial election observers from COMFREL [Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia] and NICFEC [Neutral and Impartial Committee on Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia] claimed that individuals selected to work for the elections must be neutral, not biased toward any party. Although the NEC asserted that the 245 staffers recently recruited to serve the elections were not partial toward any political party, the observers have had difficulty believing it.
The NEC nowadays is almost completely controlled by the Cambodian People's Party [CPP] as its chairman and secretary general are top CPP officials. Most of the NEC personnel also are CPP members. At each election the NEC announces the recruitment of observers; but in majority these observers are CPP activists. For this reason, although during past elections there were complaints against irregularities filed by various political parties, the NEC never resolved them fairly on the legal basis. The NEC usually claimed that the complaints lodged by the parties were "groundless."
Now that the NEC has announced the recruitment of 245 new personnel to serve the elections, some observers become concerned that the recruited staff could be made up of pro-CPP political activists. The NEC claimed that the recruitment of these new staffers was for correcting a number of mistaken lists, especially those in the second commune/precinct council election in 2007, because the NEC is now preparing for the fourth general elections to be held on 27 July 2008. For this reason, it needs personnel for checking the voter lists and keeping them correct as of now.
According to some diplomats and observers, if the lists of the 2007 commune/precinct council election were wrong then it means that the result of that election was also not correct. If so, why did the NEC recognize it?
However, a senior Interior Ministry official claimed that in Cambodia with the CPP in control anyone who is strong is the winner; no one cares about the law or democracy. Like now, because the CPP is the election winner, the NEC welcomes it with open arms, by readily announcing the election outcome as correct. However, if in that election the CPP turned out to be the loser, maybe the NEC would not have made the same announcement. As a matter of fact, in some constituencies where the CPP lost, the NEC also wanted to please the obstreperous CPP by defying the result.
On Monday 9 July, Beijing gave NEC equipment worth nearly $1.3 million. However, to some diplomats, the Chinese aid was not surprising because China's habit is always to help anyone who is strong and who is in control. China does not care about democracy or the survival of the people. For example, Beijing did not hesitate to help even the Khmer Rouge who massacred so many people. Therefore, it is not strange that China should give aid to the current regime. Besides, the Chinese now need the Cambodian leaders to help them in the Khmer Rouge tribunal and they also need Cambodia as their economic-political middle ground.
