Sam Rainsy a criminal???

លោក សម រង្សី ជាឧក្រិដ្ឋជន?

10 ខែកក្កដា 2012 
Originally posted at:
http://khmersme.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/%e1%9e%9b%e1%9f%84%e1%9e%80%e1%9e%9f%e1%9e%98-%e1%9e%9a%e1%9e%84%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%9f%e1%9e%b8-%e1%9e%87%e1%9e%b6%e1%9e%a7%e1%9e%80%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%9a%e1%9e%b7%e1%9e%8a%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%8b%e1%9e%87%e1%9e%93/

ខ្មែរស្មេរ មិនយល់ និងមិនដឹងថា មូលហេតុអ្វី ដែលគេចោទលោកសមរង្សីជាឧក្រិដ្ឋជននោះទេ ហើយក៏មិនដឹងថា គេចោទលោកជាឧក្រិដ្ឋជនពីបទអ្វីដែរ។ តាមខ្មែរស្មេរ ធ្លាប់ដឹង កំហុសលោកសមរង្សីកន្លងមក ភាគច្រើពាក់ព័ន្ធតែទៅនឹង ការរាំងមិនឲ្យគេពុករលួយ មិនឲ្យគេប្រព្រឹត្តអំពើអយុត្តធម៌លើជនស្លូតត្រង់ និង ព្យាយាមកុំឲ្យយួនចូល មកយកដីខ្មែរតែប៉ុណ្ណោះ ជាពិសេសរឿងលោកដកបង្គោលតម្រុយព្រំដែននៅស្រុកចន្រ្ទាខេត្តស្វាយរៀង។

ខ្មែរស្មេរ មិនទាន់សំឡឹងឃើញលោកសមរង្សីប្រព្រឹត្ត ឧក្រិដ្ឋ ដូចជាសម្លាប់មនុស្ស រំលោភសេពសន្ធវៈ ឬក្បត់ជាតិទេ។ អ្វីដែលលោកសមរង្សីធ្វើខុស គឺមកពីលោកមិនព្រមចុះចូល មិនព្រមសម្របខ្លួន ឬមិនព្រមលក់ខ្លួន ឲ្យគេប្រើ និយាយឲ្យចំ លោកមិនព្រមរួមចំណែកក្នុងការប្រព្រឹត្តអំពើពុករលួយ ដូច្នេះហើយ ទើបលោកត្រូវបានតុលាការចោទប្រកាន់ជាច្រើនករណី ដូចជា ផ្សព្វផ្សាយ ព័ត៌មានមិនពិត បរិហាកេរ្តិ៍ និង បំផ្លាញសម្បត្តិសាធារណៈ ដែលគេផ្តោតលើការដកបង្គោលតម្រុយព្រំដែន។

ប៉ុន្តែ ទោះជាយ៉ាងក្តី ខ្មែរស្មេរ ពុំបានឮតុលាការចោទប្រកាន់លោកពីបទឧក្រិដ្ឋទេ តែកាលពីថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ លោកទេពនីថា អគ្គលេខាធិការគណៈកម្មាធិការរៀបចំការបោះឆ្នោត បានប្រាប់អ្នកកាសែតថា លោកសម រង្សី ជាឧក្រិដ្ឋជន ដូច្នេះ លោកសម រង្សី មិនអាចចូលមកបោះឆ្នោតបានទេ។ លោកបន្តថា លោកសម រង្សី ត្រូវបានលប់ឈ្មោះចេញ ពីបញ្ជីរអ្នកបោះឆ្នោត និង អ្នកឈរឈ្មោះបោះឆ្នោតទៅហើយ។ លោកនៅតែពណ៌នាថា លោកសមរង្សី ជាឧក្រិដ្ឋជន។

Rainsy campaign ban considered [-Hun Xen afraid of Sam Rainsy's campaign message?]

Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy poses for the camera outside Australia's Parliament house in Canberra. Photograph: AFP PHOTO

Monday, 09 July 2012
Meas Sokchea and Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post

The National Election Committee is considering a new rule that would effectively ban self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy from campaigning for his party from abroad.

The move, coming ahead of parliamentary elections in July next year, could further isolate Rainsy, who lives in France and reaches most of his supporters via the internet or rousing video broadcasts.

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha told the Post yesterday that Rainsy is already barred from registering to vote or standing for office because he was convicted of a crime.

Nation Election Cheating plan to ban Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy from future election campaign

អគ្គលេខាធិការ​របស់ ​គណៈកម្មាធិការ​ជាតិ​បន្លំឆ្នោត ទេព នីថា (RFA/Sok Serey)

គ.ជ.ប.​​ គ្រោង​បង្កើត​ច្បាប់​មិន​ឲ្យ​ទណ្ឌិត​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​ឃោសនា​បោះ​ឆ្នោត

ដោយ វណ្ណ វិចារ
2012-07-08
Radio Free Asia

គណៈកម្មាធិការ​ជាតិ​រៀបចំ​ការ​បោះ​ឆ្នោត (គ.ជ.ប.) គ្រោង​ស្នើ​សេចក្ដី​ព្រាង​ច្បាប់​បន្ថែម​ទាក់ទង​នឹង​ការ​ឃោសនា​របស់​គណបក្ស​នយោបាយ ដើម្បី​ការពារ​កុំ​ឲ្យ​មេ​គណបក្ស​ដែល​មាន​ឈ្មោះ​ជា​ទណ្ឌិត អាច​មាន​ឱកាស​ឃោសនា​នយោបាយ​បាន។

អគ្គលេខាធិការ​គណៈកម្មាធិការ​ជាតិ​រៀបចំ​ការ​បោះ​ឆ្នោត លោក ទេព នីថា នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​០៧ ខែ​កក្កដា ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា គ.ជ.ប. មាន​គម្រោង​ជំរុញ​ការ​បង្កើត​នីតិវិធី​បន្ថែម​ទៀត ដើម្បី​រារាំង​មិន​ឲ្យ​មេដឹកនាំ​គណបក្ស​នយោបាយ​ដែល​មាន​ទោស​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​ឃោសនា​បោះ​ឆ្នោត​អាណត្តិ​ទី​៥ នា​ពេល​ខាង​មុខ។

លោក​បន្ត​ថា គ.ជ.ប. កំពុង​តែ​សិក្សា​ពី​នីតិវិធី​មួយ​ចំនួន​ស្ដីពី​ការ​ឃោសនា​បោះ​ឆ្នោត និង​រង់ចាំ​ពេល​វេលា​បន្ថែម​ទៀត ក្នុង​ការ​សម្រេច​សេចក្ដី​ព្រាង​នេះ៖ «យើង​ស្ថិត​នៅ​លើ​ការ​ពិនិត្យ​មើល​លើ​មូលដ្ឋាន​ច្បាប់​ដែល​មាន​ជាក់ស្ដែង រៀបចំ​នីតិវិធី​នេះ​ឲ្យ​ស្រប​នឹង​ស្ថានភាព​ជាក់​ស្ដែង​ក្នុង​សង្គម​កម្ពុជា»។

NEC: jailed councillors must vote

The NEC's Tep Nytha: ‘Detained councillors have the right to vote.' (Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON)

Thursday, 07 May 2009
Written by Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Election organising body says two councillors are in jail, but the opposition says there are five.

THE National Election Committee has asked the Ministry of Justice to ensure that jailed commune councillors are allowed to vote in the May 17 election.

Tep Nytha, secretary general of the NEC, told the Post on Wednesday that he knew of at least two commune councillors currently in provincial prisons.

He said provincial authorities would be responsible for taking imprisoned members to and from polling stations.

"Members of the commune councils who have been detained still have the right to vote," Tep Nytha said. "If any members of the commune councils are missing on election day, that will affect the result since there are only a small number of voters."

The country's 11,353 commune councillors from four political parties - the ruling Cambodian People's Party, the Sam Rainsy Party, Funcinpec and the Norodom Ranariddh Party - will vote in the poll to elect members to provincial, district and municipal councils.

The vote is part of the government's decentralisation program and is meant to fill the gap in political representation between commune councils and parliament.

SRP says five in jail

Yim Sovann, an MP and spokesman for the SRP, told the Post that at least five SRP councillors were in prison.

"One is the SRP commune chief in Kampong Thom province," Yim Sovann said. "He was accused of kidnapping, but this is political intimidation to threaten our activists."

The commune chief, Tuot Saron, was arrested March 18 and charged as an accomplice in the alleged illegal detention of a party activist.

Tep Nytha said he had not received any complaints of political intimidation from the contesting parties since campaigning had started.

He said the two largest parties - the CPP and the SRP - were running active campaigns, but Funcinpec and the NRP - which have only 699 councillors between them - were gathering in small groups at those councils where they have members.

Prime Minister Hun Sen recently appealed to the police and local authorities across the Kingdom to cooperate with the NEC to ensure a sound political environment and a free and fair election.

The election monitoring NGO Comfrel has previously said it will boycott the election. It stated that because the poll is restricted to commune councillors, and since the public cannot take part in the vote, it would not reflect the will of the people.

Challenges in Election System Remain

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 March 2009

Cambodia’s election system needs the help of a more functional legal system and an independent election body, an international group said in Washington recently.

“Obviously the legal framework has to be in place,” Chad Vickery, Asia and Europe director of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, told VOA Khmer. “So of course we can work on the framework of the election, we can work on the legitimacy of the voter registration, which is a real issue in Cambodia, we can work over campaign finance oversight regulation—but there are also has to be other players, there has to be economic development, there has to be civil society engagement and education.”

Cambodia is preparing for district and provincial council elections in May, where its electoral system will be tested again.

National Election Committee Secretary-General Tep Nitha said that the general elections in Cambodia have made good progress from term to term because Cambodia has its own election law with international standards.

But an independent election observer, Ma Sophal, disagreed. Cambodia “needs a lot of reform,” he said, “including true independence from the National Election Committee, and pushing to pass a law on political party financing.”

Cambodia has had four national elections since 1993, but many irregularities began in 1998, analysts say, when ballot-cheating, intimidation of voters, violence, bribes and other means were used to influence the outcome of the election.

Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yiep told VOA Khmer that Cambodia’s elections had received praise from the international community, and were just and fair. No elections are perfect, not even in the West, he said.

Opposition party president Sam Rainsy told VOA Khmer by phone that the political process in Cambodia remains “dishonest.”

NEC sues Sam Rainsy for not paying fines

everyday.com
20th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The National Election Committee (NEC) has lodged a lawsuit in the Phnom Penh First Court to implement the decision of the Constitutional Council which fined Mr. Sam Rainsy (pictured), president of the Sam Rainsy Party, 10 million Riels ($US2,500).

Mr. Sam Rainsy has again faced the court because he defied the ruling of the Constitutional Council by refusing to pay the fines from charges that he insulted the leaders of the Cambodian People's Party during the 2008 election campaigns.

At the same time as repeatedly refusing to pay the 10 million Riels fines, Mr. Sam Rainsy has also threatened to sue the NEC (for electoral fraud). Mr. Tep Nytha, Secretary-General of NEC, has appointed two NEC officials to represent the NEC in court. He said that during the last election campaigns, 8 people, including Mr. Sam Rainsy, have been fined for violating electoral laws. But he added that among the 8 people fined, only Mr. Sam Rainsy has not paid the fines yet.

HRP wants to hold it electoral market

14 July 2007
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French

Considering that it would be normally difficult to get inside Phnom Penh’s markets, Khieu Sem, the deputy secretary-general of the Human Rights Party (HRP), sent a letter to Im Suosdey, president of the National Election Committee (NEC), to that effect.

In his open letter, Khieu Sem noted that “since the beginning of the election campaign, market sellers do not receive enough information on the political party’s programs and they do not know the candidate of their precinct.”

In order to fix this situation, he asked that Kem Sokha, his party president, could enter “in the 11 markets in the capital, without parade and without microphones, while being accompanied by HRP Phnom Penh candidates.”

When asked by Cambodge Soir Hebdo, Tep Nitha, NEC secretary-general, recalled that he already told the parties that if they want to go the markets, “they have to write to the market chiefs.” He reminded that the parties “only have the right to distribute leaflets” on the spot.

Tep Nitha also indicated a subtle distinction to emphasize his words. According to the latter, a market “is not a public place, even though it is a place that receives the public.” Even though the market space is controlled by the state, “it must not be forgotten that inside the markets, there are private properties which are under the protection of the market chief.”

In fact, “parties that want to visit the markets, must inform beforehand the market chief, telling him the time of the visit,” Tep Nitha concluded.

Khieu Sem said that he will faithfully follow this procedure.

Political Cartoon: The Dice-Game

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

Election Ballot Count a Concern: Monitors

Election observers warned Wednesday a new method of ballot-counting could lead to disputes.

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 July 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

A revised method of ballot-counting that includes the participation of commune-level election offices could lead to miscounts and disputes, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections said Wednesday.

An adjustment to the election law calls for ballot counts from individual polling stations to be tallied by commune election committees, or CEC, which will then pass the count to the provincial election committees, the PEC.

Comfrel officials told reporters Wednesday this method could mean problems and urged the National Election Committee to return to the previous method, where individual polling stations passed their results directly to provincial offices, skipping the commune offices.

"Comfrel is deeply concerned about the lack of procedural transparency and legitimacy and about the report concerning the consolidation of election results," Thun Saray, president of Comfrel's board of directors, said. "We are very concerned about the ballot-counting, because there can be a dispute if the CEC totals the wrong numbers."

NEC Secretary-Generla Tep Nitha told reporters Wednesday the ballot stations would still be required to send tallies to the provincial election offices, as well as the commune offices.

"The NEC has the right to provide some duties to CEC, and added one more duty to the CEC, to watch over the result in the commune, plus total the result, and send all the documents and the results to the PEC," Tep Nitha said. "The PEC can watch over the report and the result from both sides [the ballot stations and the CEC]."

Comfrel also said Wednesday that the security environment surrounding the elections was so far better than years past, but activities of civil officials, authorities and armed forces in favor of the ruling Cambodian People's Party had increased, including "supporting the ruling party [and] activities against other political parties."

Political Cartoon: NEC, a Neutral Tool

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

Ten parties already authorized to participate in the election

19 May 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

Tep Nitha, NEC secretary general, announced on Monday morning that ten out of the 12 political parties registered, will be running in the upcoming election.

Ouk Phourik’s Khmer Democracy Party must review its candidate list, several of them did not register beforehand on the voting list. According to Tep Nitha, “The Khmer Democracy Party shouldn’t have too much problem to validate its candidate list.”

On the other hand, the NEC refused to validate the Sangkum Khmer Niyum Party which sent a complaint to the Constitutional Council. “It has 10 days to get the approval,” Tep Nitha said.

Between 10 to 12 parties will participate in the 4th mandate election, whereas there were 20 parties in the past election. According to Tep Nitha also, this lower number of political parties is due to the fact that they lack personnel to prepare the candidate files.

Election law violation will get fines

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On 06 May, an official of the National Election Committee (NEC) said that any political party which hold election campaigns that are violating the rule and the election campaign legal procedures, will be fined between 5 to 10 million riels ($1,250 to $2,500). Tep Nytha, NEC secretary-general, said that if, (say) on 26 July, the day where it is prohibited to hold an election campaign, and a party or a candidate still hold a campaign on that date, the Commune Election Committee (CEC) or the Provincial Election Committee (PEC) which sees the campaigning by itself, can prevent and issue a written or verbal warning. Tep Nytha added that, in the case, the campaigning party or candidate refuse to follow the order, the CEC or PEC will decide (1) revoke the right to vote, (2) remove the candidacy of the candidate involved, or (3) issue a fine between 5 and 10 million riels.

Ranariddh can stand for election: NEC

Monday, 28 April 2008
By Soun Sophalmony
The Mekong Times

Tep Nitha, Secretary General of the National Election Committee (NEC) said yesterday that Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the opposition Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), can still stand in the upcoming election despite a breach of trust appeal case pending at the Supreme Court.

“[An] individual who the court has decided upon has no right to register as a candidate. But if the decision hasn’t been released yet, he can register,” Tep Nitha said, adding that registration for premiership candidates starts today and ends May 12.

Prince Norodom Ranarariddh is currently in self-exile abroad following his conviction in March 2007 over the sale of the former Funcinpec headquarters. The prince was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and ordered to pay US$150,000.

Ranariddh (KI-Media: Noranarith?) Anandayat, special advisor to Prince Ranariddh, agreed that the prince can register but was unsure if he would return for the Jul 27 election.

“If the [Supreme Court] releases a decision which convicts him with any punishment, Norodom Ranariddh will ask for a king’s pardon so that he can lead the NRP into the election,” Ranariddh Anandayat said.

Liv Sovanna, a defense lawyer for Prince Ranariddh, said that he was unsure when the Supreme Court will set a date for his hearing.

“The absence of Prince Norodom Ranariddh causes concern that the election will not be free or fair. So, he should seek for resolution with the court,” said Hang Puthea, executive director of electoral NGO the Neutral and Impartial Committee on Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia.

“The government should allow all political parties to conduct equal levels of activities in order to gain support from all citizens,” he added.

Election Official Arrested in Land Dispute [-The CPP turns against one of their own?]

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
10 April 2008

A national election official was arrested and questioned by the court Thursday in a continuing land dispute in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, officials said Thursday.

Saum Solida, an adviser to the secretary-general of the National Election Committee, was arrested with his wife and a land broker Wednesday.

They were brought to Sihanoukville Municipal Court Thursday for questioning and are being detained at military police headquarters, human rights officials said.

They are accused of land theft from Evergreen, a development company, officials said.

Evergreen has received a letter from the national government to develop 54 hectares of coastal beach, but Saum Solida had purchased a parcel of the land from four private residents, said Pot Samon, an investigator for the rights group Licadho.

Sihanoukville has become a hotbed of tourism development. The boom has brought with it a rash of land conflicts, some of them violent.

Pls. don't say the NEC is biased ... it is only strongly leaning towards the CPP

Official Defends Role of National Election Body

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
28 March 2008

The National Election Committee is preparing voter information and seeking funding to stage general elections in July, Tep Nytha, secretary-general for the national body said Thursday.

About 8.12 million voters have registered, and the election will cost nearly $17 million, he said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."

The NEC is currently seeking about $2.5 million from donors to stage the election, he said.

He recommended voters keep their documents safe ahead of Election Day and reminded political parties to prepare documents for registration, which begins April 28.

The NEC has already begun preparations for the election, including the creation of voter information cards and the search for suitable ballot sites.

Tep Nytha defended accusations of NEC bias, saying the NEC was not the sole organization to hear complaints.

Parties that do not agree with NEC decisions can file an appeal to the Constitutional Council, he said, adding that it was normal for complainants to be dissatisfied with some resolutions.

NEC: Most Election Funds Pledged

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
08 February 2008

Cambodia is about $1 million shy in election funds, following pledges from donors and the government in recent weeks that have nearly filled the coffers, election officials said Thursday.

The July elections will cost around $17 million, and most of that has been filled, said Tep Nitha, secretary-general of the National Election Committee.

The government will spend about $10 million, along with $3 million from Japan, with the rest coming from other countries.

The rest of the funds will come through the UNDP via donors, he said, “but we missed about $1 million.”

UNDP spokesman Men Kim Seng said Japan, Canada, Sweden, Denmark and Australia had met over funding in recent weeks.

“The discussion is continuing so we have not received any final decision,” he said. “But we hope to get that soon in the coming days.”

The money will fund administration, staff and services, when as many as 50 political parties compete for parliamentary seats July 27.

With intense pressure, the NEC found 56 foreign names to remove from the voter list - Bravo, Tep Nytha??? -sic!-

NEC Removes 56 Foreign Names from Voter Lists

Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
06 November 2007

Amid rising pressure from opposition groups and election watchdogs, the National Election Committee announced Tuesday it had removed 56 foreign names from registration lists.

Critics say Vietnamese nationals have been allowed to register to vote, stirring a sensitive topic among Cambodians as the country heads toward national polls.

"After some research, local authorities and local police noted that those [56] people only have residency cards are and not Cambodian citizens," NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha said. "They did not have sufficient grounds and clear documents concerning their nationality, and we decided to remove the names from the list."

Cambodia has citizens who are ethnic Vietnamese and by law should be allowed to vote, but those registrations have been tainted by the possibility of Vietnamese non-residents also trying to vote, a move often decried as trickery of the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Tep Nytha: The NEC never do wrong -sic!-

Head of Election Committee Defends Poll Policies

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
05 November 2007

The policies of the National Election Committee on registration and voter lists are helping ensure fair national elections next year, director Tep Nitha said Monday.

He and his agency face heavy criticism from opposition leaders and election monitors for failing to make voter registration easy for many people in the provinces.

This year's local elections saw the worst voter turn-out in the short history of Cambodian democracy, and many blame the NEC.

But Tep Nitha, who was a guest on "Hello VOA" Monday, said the policies netted 907,000 new voters this year. There are 8.6 million eligible now for July's national elections.

He also addressed allegations that Vietnamese nationals were registering to vote, saying the NEC was working to ensure that no ineligible foreigners voted.

Voter have until Nov. 30 to check registration lists in their local areas, to ensure they are properly registered, he said.

Voter registration ends, results disputed

Watchdog groups question unusual number of 'proxy' registrations and other irregularities

By Vong Sokheng
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 22, November 2 - 15, 2007

The National Election Committee said this week it will not extend the voter registration period, although three voter watchdog groups complained about problems with deleting voters from the lists.

The groups also said there were a "surprisingly high" number of new voters, raising the possibility of multiple registrations by some voters.

The NEC reported that about 8.6 million Cambodians have registered to vote including almost 900,000 new voters.

NEC said 664,796 voter names were deleted from the lists and 682,459 eligible voters failed to register.

The three voter rights watchdog groups issued a joint statement October 26 saying they had "serious concerns" about the deletion list."

The joint statement was issued by the Committee for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia (Comfrel); the Neutral and Independent Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC); and the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).

Voters are supposed to register in person. But the groups said that a "substantial number of voters were registered by proxy as party agents, commune officials, military police officers and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces officers took their identity documents and photographs and registered them as voters in connivance with registration officials."

It cited several locations where that happened in the provinces of Banteay Meancheay and Steung Treng.

The statement said several voter registration stations did not comply with stipulated working hours and either opened late or closed early.

They said the high number of new voters registered was "30 % more than originally estimated by NEC." They raised questions about the possibility of "multiple registration," and possible underage or non-Cambodian citizens being registered.

The Center for Social Development called for NEC to extend the registration process by at least one more month in order to accommodate other potential voters to come to register.

The changes in the list took place between September 15 and October 20 to reflect deaths, migration and other changes in advance of the national elections in July 2008.

Tep Nytha, secretary general of NEC, said the process has been done according to the law and NEC will not extend the registration and revision period.

"We were working according to the law and there was also participation from the local election NGOs and political parties," Nytha said.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, president of the Sam Rainsy Party, in a letter to NEC on October 23, called for a new meeting to examine the deletion of voter names in 241 commune councils, about 15 percent of the communes nationwide.

"Our party representative found that some of the commune councils did not respect and implement the guidelines of the NEC and deleted the voter names without relevant documents and evidence to prove lost voting rights," Rainsy wrote in his letter to NEC.

Sam Rainsy: NEC removes Cambodian names from the voting list while preserving Vietnamese names

Sam Rainsy rejects the voting list

27 October 2007
By Ouk Sav Borey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy declared that he rejects the preliminary 2007 results of the voting list verification, as well as the voting registration. Sam Rainsy called on the National Election Committee (NEC) to preserve the names listed on Form 1025 and not to erase them from the voting list.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said at a press conference held on 27 October that the NEC erases the names of people who should not be erased, and it preserves the names of those who should be erased instead, and this action is not acceptable to the SRP.

Sam Rainsy added that the number of newly registered voters in 2007 has unbelievably increased, and the SRP cannot accept the results announced by the NEC.

Sam Rainsy said: “What that SRP demands from the NEC is for them not to remove names from the voting list if there is no proof to that effect, and we know that hundreds of thousands of people have their names removed (from the voting list) without proof, we demand the inclusion of these people’s names in the voting list, this is the first issue. The second issue: we demand that the NEC removes the names of foreigners (from the voting list), more specifically, the names of Vietnamese (nationals). We condemn the NEC because the NEC removes names that should not be removed, and those are Khmer names, but for the names that should be removed, the NEC preserves it, these are Vietnamese names.”

Regarding the issues raised by the SRP, Tep Nytha, NEC secretary-general, said that the increase in the number of voters was because: “The population reaching the age of 18 on the election day, and the number of the people moving into a new communes can also register, in spite of the fact that they are still registered at their old place already, however, the law in Cambodia does not allow the transfer of the names of these people who moved to their new communes.”

Tep Nytha added that regarding the request to preserve the names shown on Form 1025, the NEC will re-examine again: “We will review the documents used by the commune councils to make the decision (to erase someone’s name from the voting list) after we received sufficient documents from the communes. We will review them and make a decision on these cases. Furthermore, any decision is based on actual proofs from the local levels.”

Regarding the preliminary results of the voting list verifications and the vote registrations, Hang Puthea, Nicfec organization director, aid that civil society observed that the results announced by the NEC regarding those who registered to vote saw an increase from 100% to 130.87%, this number is unclear, therefore the outcome of the election will also be unclear.

Hang Puthea said: “Normally, when something starts with an unclear situation, the outcome will also be unclear as well.”

Tep Nytha indicated that the preliminary voting lists will be posted almost all over the country for 5-day, starting from 27 October.