Observers: Cambodian Vote Improved but Problems Remain

A woman finds her name on a list during a local commune election in Phnom Penh, June 3, 2012.

June 04, 2012
Irwin Loy
Voice of America

"Free and fair, with the international standard - no, not at all. Because you see the CPP controls the important media, especially the television, all the radio, and also the newspapers ... They control the media. And they also have a lot of the money. They donate to, not every voter, the voters that they know support them."

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's ruling party won the majority of seats in local elections nationwide Sunday, but observers say the vote was not without its problems.

Even going into Sunday's election, there was little doubt which party would come out on top. But critics say the dominance of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has been aided by past irregularities at the polling booth. This year was no different.

Mu Sochua is a lawmaker with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). Early results suggest the SRP lost ground this election, even in its traditional strongholds like the capital, Phnom Penh.

Speaking by phone, Sochua said she witnessed subtle attempts at voter intimidation on Sunday. She said she saw influential local officials, aligned with the CPP, standing near polling stations as Cambodians arrived to vote.

"It has an effect, it does. It is one of the factors, in terms of voters not voting their conscience," said Sochua.

2012 Fake Commune Election - Op-Ed by Khmer Guardian

Election observers must observe ongoing election tricks before Voting Day

June 1, 2012

ELECTION OBSERVERS MUST OBSERVE ONGOING ELECTION TRICKS BEFORE VOTING DAY

In my May 30 statement titled "Preventing the CPP from distorting the people's will", I elaborated on the two main tricks used by the ruling party to manipulate elections including the June 1 commune elections: Disenfranchisement and Impersonation (see text below).

Based on past experience and recommendations from opposition grassroots activists throughout the country, I have suggested practical measures to counter the impersonation voter fraud scheme that is being implemented by the CPP with the complicity of the biased National Election Committee (NEC).

Because the NEC refuses to examine any transparency-based measure as the ones I legitimately suggested, the situation is getting out of control with regards to the issuing by CPP local authorities of controversial voter identification documents whose official name is "Identification Document" or "Statement of Identity", which is the new version of "Form 1018" decried in 2008 by the Election Observation Mission from the European Union..

The corresponding impersonation voter fraud scheme allows the CPP to secure a landslide election victory before Election Day in those communes where "Statements of Identity" are being fraudulently issued to illegitimate voters on an unprecedented scale.

On Election Day, there is no need for any election observer to observe anything in any polling station in any commune where the CPP has been implementing its impersonation voter fraud scheme many days before Election Day: There is no point in observing a forgone conclusion unfold.

Excerpt from an authoritative election report published in 2008 by a group of researchers from Princeton University (USA): "The CPP uses a variety of tactics to illegitimately define who can and cannot participate in the electoral process. This reflects the CPP's shift in focus from manipulation on Election Day to manipulation in the months leading up to Election Day. By enfranchising illegitimate but loyal CPP supporters and disenfranchising opposition supporters, the CPP can influence electoral outcomes in advance.

http://tinyurl.com/79ueagx

Sam Rainsy

Elected Member of Parliament

Leader of the Opposition

-------

May 30, 2012

PREVENTING THE CPP FROM DISTORTING THE PEOPLE'S WILL AT NEXT SUNDAY'S

COMMUNE ELECTIONS

As a general pattern the ruling CPP has two combined ways to manipulate elections so as to secure a landslide victory before Voting Day: Disenfranchisement and Impersonation.

I- SYSTEMATIC DISENFRANCHISEMENT TO REDUCE VOTES FOR THE OPPOSITION There is a massive disenfranchisement affecting citizens that CPP-affiliated village chiefs and other local officials throughout the country have identified as non-CPP supporters or potential opposition voters. Based on political reports from CPP grassroots agents, the CPP-controlled National Election Committee (NEC) establishes voter lists in such a way as to exclude as many opposition voters as possible. According to independent observers from COMFREL (Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia), up to 1.5 million Cambodians representing 17 percent of the electorate will lose their right to vote in the upcoming commune elections due to irregularities in voters' registration lists (*).

II- SYSTEMATIC IMPERSONATION TO INFLATE VOTES FOR THE RULING PARTY At the same time that countless real citizens and legitimate voters are excluded from voters' registration lists (see Point I related to disenfranchisement), the NEC slyly keeps countless ghost voters' names in voter lists in order to allow illegitimate voters paid or manipulated by the CPP to cast votes through impersonation with the use of controversial voter identification documents fraudulently issued by CPP local officials who control the country. According to independent observers, ghost voters represent up to 10 percent of registered voters in many polling stations. The controversial voter identification documents are a new version of "Form 1018" now called "Identification Document" with similar characteristics as "Form 1018" that easily allow fraud (**). Moreover, with more and more CPP-affiliated state employees being encouraged to register as voters more than once at different places (see evidence presented by the opposition SRP at their May 29 press conference) and also with the increasing number of migrant workers who will not be able to vote at the place where they were originally registered as voters, the CPP will be in a position to make use of a larger number of ghost voters' names for impersonation through illegally issued voter "Identification Documents", thus allowing them to bring a larger number of illegitimate voters into polling stations on Voting Day. Those illegitimate voters will be fraudulently given the names and voting rights of ghost voters to inflate votes for the CPP.

CPP destroyed SRP signs, party alleges

“We have his photo ordering [someone] to tear down our signs”

Friday, 01 June 2012
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party filed one complaint to the Commune Election Commission on Wednesday, and will file another today to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court accusing officials from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of destroying private property.

Suong Sophoan, president of the SRP Youth Movement Executive Committee, and Ly Sovichea, secretary of the Phnom Penh municipal SRP, said yesterday party members had seen CPP commune officials destroy 30 SRP banners around Phnom Penh.

In a complaint to be filed with the municipal court, the SRP claims commune chief Khat Narith ordered his assistant, Hun Tong Han, to destroy the signs.

“I am the plaintiff, and I wrote the complaint myself, suing the Tonle Bassac commune chief for ordering his assistant to destroy the SRP signs,” Suong Sophoan said, calling the two “equally guilty”.

The Courage for Changes

Supporters of Iranian Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi hold placards and pictures depicting injured protesters during a protest against the election results in Iran near the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. Western leaders expressed rising anger at Tehran's crackdown on protesters disputing Iranian election results and on foreign journalists covering the story soiled diplomatic relations. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)

June 21, 2009
Op-Ed by Jayakhmer

"The changes from within can only happen when the majority of Cambodian people feel that the country is heading toward a wrong direction and have the courage to express those desires for changes in elections."

Watching the development in Iran, one could not help but wonder why the U.S. does not take a stronger action to a situation that started as a protest against allegedly fraud elections turned into the challenge to the regime.

As of today at least 10 protesters were killed during the courageous acts of defiance to the regime that endorses what widely believed to be rigged Iranian election of June 12th. The protesters are directly challenging the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini who approved the questionable elections that declared President Mahmoud Amahdinejad as a winner over the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania told John King of CNN on Sunday morning in response to the criticism that the current administration does not do enough that President Barack Obama “strikes the right balance.” Congress also passed non-binding resolutions “to condemn the ongoing violence against the demonstrators by the government of Iran, and expressed its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law.”

Iranian analyst Afshin Molavi told CNN that President Obama takes the right approach, “He needs to be on the record in standing with the Iranian people, but that does not mean he should aggressively insert himself into the political debate in Iran or aggressively insert himself the battle between the regime and the protesters.”

The delicate balance has to be taken because the U. S. has to deal with Iranian nuclear capability which continues to be a vexing issue that the U.S. will have to resolve to stabilize the region.

The way in which the U.S. handles the situation in Iran puts those who inspired by idea of democracy in notice. That includes all of us. While Cambodia desperately needs changes, external supports are only secondary to the changes from within. The U.S. by its nature has worldwide responsibilities for its security and worldwide security that largely driven by regional stability.

The changes from within can only happen when the majority of Cambodian people feel that the country is heading toward a wrong direction and have the courage to express those desires for changes in elections.

International Election Observers Must Open Their Eyes

October 8, 2008
Source: SRP

INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS MUST OPEN THEIR EYES

The following is further evidence of massive election fraud at Cambodia's national elections on July 27, 2008. One of the most obvious cases of election manipulation is related to the methodical issuance of forged 1018 forms, which inflated votes "won" by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to a decisive extent. The electoral trick using the names of ghost voters was associated with the disenfranchisement of a significant portion of the electorate suspected of sympathy for the opposition, finally giving the CPP a "landslide victory."

I- What is a 1018 form?

The 1018 form is a special voter identification document purportedly issued by local authorities for those who are registered as voters in a given commune but do not possess the standardized National ID Card which voters must normally show at the polling station. Two witnesses are required to "certify" the alleged identity of the applicant. The 1018 form is actually used by the holder as a voter card valid only in his/her commune of residence. It bears the signature of the commune chief and the stamp of the commune office. It was the source of a massive election fraud at the July 27, 2008 poll because it was an easy tool for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to manipulate the election. Because the CPP controls the National Election Committee (NEC) and its ramifications (*) and because local authorities are also under its control (**), the ruling party could methodically issue forged1018 forms according to a well-planned scheme.

In 2007 and 2008, under the pretext of "cleaning up" voter lists, the NEC deliberately did the opposite of what it should have done: it deleted names that should have remained on the lists and kept names that should have been deleted. The NEC deleted hundreds of thousands of names of bona fide voters known to be unfavorable to the CPP, and kept hundreds of thousands of names of ghost voters in order to build up a reserve of fraudulent votes for the CPP. The outcome was that hundreds of thousands of persons without the right to vote (citizens not registered on the lists of the residential commune, or underage, or foreigners) were able to vote by using forged voter 1018 forms which were methodically provided to them by local authorities by using names of these ghost voters. The NEC has in fact killed three birds with one stone: it has succeeded in cleverly reducing the opposition's votes to a large extent, fraudulently inflated the CPP's votes to the same extent, and maintained a decent rate of "voter" turnout. See CPP election strategy at http://tinyurl.com/3o9t9v
To see a blank 1018 form and an example of forgery using a ghost's name, with English translation, please click at http://tinyurl.com/4b3jyb

Notes:
(*) At the local level, there are 24 Provincial Election Committees (PECs) and 1,621 Commune Election Committees (CECs) which are also controlled by the CPP.
(**) 99 percent of village chiefs and 98 percent of commune chiefs are affiliated with the CPP.

II- Pre-stamped and pre-signed empty 1018 forms

The pre-stamped and pre-signed empty 1018 forms are documents fraudulently prepared in advance in order to be quickly filled out by CPP local authorities by using ghost voters' names; they were to be immediately given to illegitimate voters on Voting Day. See sample at http://tinyurl.com/5v9xbe

From countless communes we have collected bunches of such pre-signed and pre-stamped empty 1018 forms, which shows the general pattern of a massive election fraud.

III- Pre-stamped, pre-signed and partly pre-filled 1018 forms

In order to proceed even faster with the issuance of forged 1018 forms on Voting Day, CPP commune chiefs pre-stamped (in red), pre-signed but also partly pre-filled (in black as a result of photocopy) bunches of 1018 forms, so as to be able to very quickly issue those forms in large quantities to illegitimate voters on Voting Day by just filling out (in blue) the rest of the form. The CPP local authorities often had to wait until the last minute - the document is backdated to get around the law - before completing the form by using the identity of a ghost voter or that of a legitimate voter who obviously was not going to show up at the polling station at the last minute. The form must be fraudulently completed for an illegitimate voter whose sex and age roughly matched those of the ghost or real-but-absent voter. The illegitimate voter's face as shown on his/her photo stuck at the last minute on the form, must be consistent with the data written in blue on the form, especially the sex and age of the ghost or real-but-absent voter as stated on the voter list. See sample of "three-color 1018 forms" at http://tinyurl.com/6cdzev

IV- The typical case of Memot district in Kampong Cham province: It was like that all over the country

The SRP head of Memot district, Nou Pisakha, wrote a detailed report on election irregularities (intimidation by CPP local officials, political discrimination, disenfranchisement, impersonation) that took place in his district on Voting Day. In Tonloung, Choam Tamao, Kompoan and Koki communes, the four CPP commune chiefs issued fraudulent 1018 forms to illegitimate voters by using ghosts' names. These illegal activities took place either in the commune office belonging to the state or in the CPP office in the corresponding commune. The report was written on July 27, at the end of Voting Day, and immediately given to EU observers for Kampong Cham province. Nou Pisakha succeeded in taking photos of the Tonloung commune chief while he was illegally issuing the controversial 1018 forms.

See report and photos with captions in English at http://tinyurl.com/5gkzgj

A similar incident happened in Kampong Seam district, also in Kampong Cham province, also on Voting Day. Please see details in English at http://tinyurl.com/4rsd7m

Another similar incident - showing forged 1018 forms being issued by CPP local authorities to illegitimate voters on Voting Day - was witnessed in Kampong Trolach district in Kampong Chhnang province. Please see photos with explanation in English by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/55n4yw

V- Confession by a CPP Election Working Group member

The CPP official reveals that the scheme to issue forged 1018 forms using ghosts' names on a large scale was prepared in advance by the CPP leadership with the complicity of the National Election Committee (NEC). See confession with English translation at http://tinyurl.com/4zgkp6

VI- Confession of a CPP-affiliated commune clerk

We have posted on our Web site a taped conversation between Phnom Penh's Boeng Salang commune chief Touch Meng Sreang (SRP) and commune clerk Kuch Bunnarith, who confesses having stamped more than 200 forged 1018 forms illegally signed by the CPP deputy commune chief without the knowledge of the commune chief. To listen to the audio tape please click at http://tinyurl.com/3fzfms

VII- Ghosts and forgery allowed underage to vote

The CPP used ghosts' names and forgery to allow under-aged persons (less than 18 year-old) to vote. See concrete evidence of fraud at http://tinyurl.com/5lvt35

VIII- Haste in the issuance of forged 1018 forms led to appalling irregularities and wrongdoings
Most of the forged 1018 forms were hastily filled out on Voting Day, which led to breathtaking irregularities and wrongdoings.

For instance, there are at least seven appalling irregularities in the following 1018 form handed to a 13-year old girl in Kampong Thom province. Please click at http://tinyurl.com/57vdu8
Sometimes, one same person has been issued several 1018 forms showing different names or different ages. See examples at http://tinyurl.com/6gul5g

Sometimes, in order to deliver fake 1018 forms very quickly on Voting Day, a CPP local official acted as witness to certify the applicant's identity but he did so by putting his fingerprints in advance on empty 1018 forms. These are to be filled out later for illegitimate voters whose real identity was not known yet when the fingerprints were put on the document. See examples at http://tinyurl.com/68v458

Some 1018 forms bear the official commune stamp but show no photos, and therefore could be fraudulently used by anybody. See examples at http://tinyurl.com/5abu9t

Another revealing mistake: On a forged 1018 form the CPP commune chief put on the holder's photo the stamp of the Commune Election Committee (CEC), which reports to the NEC, instead of the stamp of his commune office. On the document, a 25-year-old man was given the identity of an 82-year-old ghost! This shows the NEC's responsibility in the forgery of a public document. To see the incredible document please click at http://tinyurl.com/5cxkn2

IX- NEC cannot tell how many 1018 forms have been issued

As of today there has been no answer to opposition leader Sam Rainsy's August 13, 2008 letter to NEC President Im Suosdey asking how many 1018 forms have been issued for the last election. See letter in Khmer at http://tinyurl.com/3rs6ru

NEC Secretary General Tep Nitha has confessed that he doesn't know how many 1018 forms have been issued. In The Cambodia Daily , August 15, 2008, he is quoted as saying, "the NEC does not keep any record of how many 1018 forms are used by voters in the [July 27, 2008] election", leaving all such reckoning to the commune chiefs - the very people that might be improperly issuing them in the first place. See press report at http://tinyurl.com/5eo33w

Read comment on Tep Nitha's statement at http://tinyurl.com/3ecmw6

In relation with the issuance of forged 1018 forms the opposition SRP has filed criminal lawsuits against CPP commune chiefs who are involved in the forgery of a public document. See details of the lawsuits at http://tinyurl.com/5eo3yn and http://tinyurl.com/42r69l
X- Independent report on the issue of 1018 form

An independent and detailed report on the issue of the 1018 form being used as a tool for election fraud can be read at http://tinyurl.com/5eo33w

CONCLUSION

Forged 1018 forms were methodically and systematically issued throughout the country in order to substantially inflate the number of votes for the CPP. To see a sample of some 200 ready-to-be-used 1018 forms collected from all parts of Cambodia, which were fraudulently filled out using ghost voters' names, please click at http://tinyurl.com/6cmh94

Each case shows the real identity of an illegitimate voter as shown in his/her ID card as well as the fake identity given to him/her as shown on the forged 1018 form. Both documents show the same photo of the same person.

The above-mentioned cases and incidents show that the issuance of forged 1018 forms corresponded to the implementation of a well-planned scheme that was conducted on a large scale, nationwide, with a significant impact on the election results. The forged 1018 forms that we have exposed were not isolated and fortuitous cases: They reflect the general pattern of a massive election fraud. In fact, hundreds of thousands of 1018 forms were fraudulently issued, inflating by the same amount votes "won" by the CPP.

With regard to the impact of this fraud on the election results, it can be shown that as few as five fraudulent 1018 forms per polling station in a given constituency could unfairly deprive the opposition of a parliamentary seat in that constituency (see sensitivity analyses at http://tinyurl.com/4275dz ).

In fact the 1018 form was an essential election trick for the CPP to secure its "landslide victory" on July 27, 2008.

For more evidence of election rigging nationwide by the CPP-controlled National Election Committee, please click at http://tinyurl.com/4eegak

In particular, please read "New evidence of disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters: voter list cleaning and political opponent cleansing" by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/45mfpu and "What election observers did not see in a rigged election" by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/6gw3rz

SRP Members of Parliament

The July 27, 2008 Election Was Not Fair

Translation of a statement by a CPP Election Working Group member
Source: SRP

THE JULY 27, 2008 ELECTION WAS NOT FAIR

As a member of a CPP [Election] Working Group I can say that the July 27, 2008 legislative election was marred by irregularities and was not fair. For example, in Memot district [in Kampong Cham province]:

I- Threats, intimidation, human rights violations and fake 1018 forms using ghosts' names

• a) Threats were made to Memot rubber plantation workers: "Those who support the opposition will be fired and expelled from their village" [worker villages are controlled by CPP-affiliated plantation managers].
• b) Human rights violations were perpetrated on those who are suspected of sympathy for the opposition: They were threatened and intimidated into supporting only the CPP.
• c) Regarding fake 1018 forms using ghosts' names, a large number of such documents were issued by CPP officials especially commune chiefs and village chiefs. Three or four days before Voting Day, commune chiefs and village chiefs met to prepare the issuance of fake 1018 forms and to discuss other issues.

II- A special case

On July 17, 2008 [ten days before Voting Day] a high-ranking CPP official, H.E. Ouk Bun Chhoeun [a Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee # 6] came to Memot district and told our local officials (commune chiefs and village chiefs) to issue fake 1018 forms and to implement other measures so as to increase votes for the CPP. He told the local [Election] Working Group: "Don't worry. If there are complaints [or lawsuits filed against us by the opposition], we have our supporters at the National Election Committee (NEC). And if [the complaints] reach [following appeal proceedings] the Constitutional Council, this body is exclusively made up of our supporters and nothing [bad to us] will happen."

[Written on] September 01, 2008
[Thumbprint and signature]
[Name]

CPP [Election] Working Group member

The name, thumbprint, signature, official position of the statement's author are not published here for security reasons. But the original hand-written statement in Khmer with all the data related to its author has been shown to independent human rights organizations and EU election observers, who have even interviewed him.

For more evidence of election rigging nationwide by the CPP-controlled National Election Committee, please click at http://tinyurl.com/4eegak

New Evidence Of Disenfranchisement Of Non-CPP Voters: Voter List Cleaning and Political Opponent Cleansing

September 23, 2008
Source: SRP

NEW EVIDENCE OF DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF NON-CPP VOTERS:
VOTER LIST CLEANING AND POLITICAL OPPONENT CLEANSING

We have collected new evidence showing a massive disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters.

As of today, 30,115 disenfranchised citizens have protested against the loss of their voting right. See petition with translation in English at http://tinyurl.com/4oeyeg

If, with our limited means and in less than two months, we could identify over 30,000 legitimate voters who tried to vote on July 27 but were not able to do so, and if we could convince them, in the current atmosphere of fear and intimidation, to sign or thumbprint a petition denouncing the authorities, it means that a much larger number of potential voters faced the same voting problem on July 27 and have the same grievance now.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) which quoted several reliable sources, over one million voters were disenfranchised because they were suspected of sympathy for the opposition. Read summary in English of the RFA's report at http://tinyurl.com/4osh3t

Actually, the disenfranchisement of non-CPP supporters through manipulation of voter lists started in 2006 and continued until February 2008, thus predetermining the results of the July 27, 2008 election. See relevant press articles at http://tinyurl.com/4pjmgj

In 2007, the opposition rang the alarm bell by issuing a warning titled: "Voter list cleaning and political opponent cleansing." Another SRP statement clearly explained that, under the pretext of "cleaning up" the voter register, the CPP-controlled National Election Committee (NEC) was actually deleting names of eligible voters but keeping ghost voters on the electoral rolls for ballot tampering. See relevant statements at http://tinyurl.com/3o9t9v

The NEC has never responded to a letter from opposition leader Sam Rainsy asking for evidence or reasons justifying the deletion of 585,723 voters' names. Voters should not be required to prove that that they are "not dead" or have "not moved" from the commune. See summary in English of Sam Rainsy's letter protesting against the illegal reversal of the burden of the proof, by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/6eyahu

In June 2008, the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) estimated that "57,000 voters were wrongly stricken from voter rolls." But any post-election survey now will prove that many more voters were improperly and unfairly disenfranchised through various tricks before and on Voting Day. See corresponding press article at http://tinyurl.com/4j6wrh

The disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters did have a big impact on the election results. As few as five disenfranchised non-CPP voters per polling station unfairly deprived the opposition of one National Assembly seat for a given province/constituency. For instance, the SRP lacks only 1,727 votes to win a parliamentary seat for Svay Rieng province, 3,423 votes to obtain a seat for Pursat province, and 3,269 votes to conquer an additional seat for Kampot province. The HRP lacks only 1,745 votes to win an additional seat for Kampong Cham province, and 3,178 votes to obtain a seat for Kampong Speu province. Sensitivity analyses at http://tinyurl.com/4275dz

No vote recount was allowed by the NEC for any ballot box at any of the 15,254 polling stations in Cambodia's 24 constituencies. See SRP and HRP's letter to U.S. President George W. Bush at http://tinyurl.com/4ly2xd

For more evidence of election rigging nationwide by the NEC and to see the general pattern of a massive election fraud, please click at http://tinyurl.com/4eegak

SRP Cabinet

Most Authoritative Expert On Cambodia: Frauds Were Systematic And Massive. SRP Probable Winner In A Fair And Free Election

September 21, 2008
Source: SRP

MOST AUTHORITATIVE EXPERT ON CAMBODIA :
FRAUDS WERE SYSTEMATIC AND MASSIVE.
SRP PROBABLE WINNER IN A FAIR AND FREE ELECTION

Excerpts from Editorial in the latest issue (August-September 2008) of Espace Cambodge-Infos, a French-language publication that enjoys the support of François Ponchaud, a respected lifelong French-born but Khmer-fluent missionary, who is probably the most authoritative expert on Cambodia known as "the Catholic priest who brought the Cambodian genocide to the attention of the world" (Alan Channer).

"Election frauds were systematic and massive, to use an opposition's expression, which corresponds to the reality as observed on the spot (…). The SRP, the only viable opposition party, [would be] the probable winner had the elections been fair and free. However, because all the political, police, military and economic power is concentrated in the hands of the CPP, a victory of the opposition would have probably degenerated into civil war because those who are currently in power are not at all prepared to give up their source of immense profits."

To read the whole original text in French please click at http://tinyurl.com/4o5dkf

CPP Votes Inflated By Foreigners Illegally Voting In Cambodia

September 18, 2008
Source: SRP

CPP VOTES INFLATED BY FOREIGNERS ILLEGALLY VOTING IN CAMBODIA

The following is an example of a commune where a very large number of foreigners are illegally registered as voters. Actually they outnumber Khmer-born citizens. For historical and political reasons the CPP has given those foreigners illegal documents to fraudulently vote for the ruling party.

For a foreign-born person to legally obtain Cambodian citizenship, the 1994 Nationality Law requires that that person receive a Royal Decree from His Majesty the King explicitly and namely granting him/her Cambodian citizenship. None of the foreign-born persons on the voter list we present below, has ever received such a Royal Decree. The corresponding polling station is in Chong Khneas commune, Siem Reap district, Siem Reap province.

The official voter list can seen by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/3j6w7e

Other examples like Chong Khneas commune can be found in Kandal, Prey Veng, Kompong Chhnang, Pursat and Svay Rieng provinces.

More evidence of methodical election rigging by the CPP nationwide can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/4eegak

SRP Cabinet

Sam Rainsy may be sued by Hun Sen again

(Photo: DR, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

Hun Sen cannot take the insult of “an Assembly of thieves, ghosts and Yuons”

18 Sept 2008
By Ung Chamroeun
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French

Sam Rainsy could be sued again for insulting the CPP MPs.

“Next time, Sam Rainsy will have to think twice before advancing such claims,” Hun Sen reacted to the claim made by the opposition leader who criticized the July election “rigging” by calling the future National Assembly: “an Assembly of thieves, ghosts and Yuons (i.e. Viets)”. “This is not a threat, but what you said is an unforgivable insult. The National Assembly should think about bringing a lawsuit in this case,” Hun Sen said nervously by raising the possibility of a lawsuit to be brought up by the 90 CPP MPs labeled by Sam Rainsy.

Sam Rainsy was already ordered by the NEC to pay 10 million riels ($2,500) for insulting the top three CPP leaders, the verdict was later upheld by the Constitutional Council.

At the same time, Hun Sen also revealed that the opposition had sent an emissary to negotiate the vice-presidency position for 4 Parliament committees out of a total of 9 committees. “It is a shame to ask the thieves to share power,” Hun Sen reacted. The latter also said that he is not concerned about the upcoming first session of the National Assembly in spite of the boycott threats by the SRP and the HRP because there is no fixed quorum set for the first Parliament session.

Hun Xen Leng Bay Khom - "Hun Xen plays [cheating] Mancala": A Poem in Khmer by Yim Guechsè

Click on the poem to zoom in

Poem in Khmer by Yim Guechsè (on the web at http://kamnapyimguechse.blogspot.com)
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodian people must reject poll results

August 27, 2008
By Sourn Serey Ratha
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia Online

Cranston City, RI, United States, — The full implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement is the only alternative to lead Cambodia toward freedom and democracy.

Presently, Cambodia is a police state just as were Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria during their occupation by the Red Army of the Soviet Union. The elections in Central Europe during the Red Army occupation were merely a masquerade for the communist control of these countries by the Soviet Union.

It was the same in the Cambodian parliamentary elections held last month. The European Union said the elections failed to meet international standards because they were biased in favor of the ruling party. Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party claimed a landslide victory, ensuring that he will keep the seat he has held for 23 years.

In the same way as the police states of Central Europe, the Cambodian People’s Party has absolute control of all aspects of Cambodian life: the police, the army, the administration, education, healthcare, the economy, land, real estate, natural resources and the National Election Committee, without transparency and true representative oversight.

As in Central Europe then, elections in Cambodia are a sham.

Although less apparent, the People's Army of Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia was comparable to the Soviet Union's Red Army's occupation of the Eastern European countries. Prime Minister Hun Sen once publicly admitted in a speech broadcast on national radio, "Yes, I am a Vietnamese puppet. More than 100,000 Vietnamese soldiers still occupy Cambodia."

Hence, Vietnam had Cambodia under its thumb.

While under Vietnam's control, CPP leaders signed the 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 2005 treaties with Vietnam in violation of Cambodia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and ceded lands and territorial seas to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Through these treaties, millions of Vietnamese flooded into Cambodia, and the majority of them have been authorized by the NEC to vote for the CPP, out a total of 8 million voters. Simultaneously, several hundred thousand legitimate Cambodians had their voting rights "ripped off," according to Puthea Hang, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia. Without a doubt, these millions of immigrant Vietnamese voters have artificially increased the number of CPP-elected members.

How can we rectify the wrongs committed by the CPP and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Lao People's Democratic Republic toward Cambodia?

The solution is the integral implementation of the Paris Peace Agreement of Oct. 23, 1991.

Under the CPP's watch, the elections have always been manipulated, rigged, unfair, and undemocratic.

To reach the full implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, we urge the opposition parties to stick to the following strategy in two stages:

The two main opposition parties, the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party must, as they have already done, reject the results of the July 27 election and continue to do so.

What exactly does it mean? This means that SRP and HRP must agree that they were awarded respectively 26 and three "elected members,” but they must claim that they should have obtained more than 29 seats. Therefore, they are contesting the validity of the mandate of the 90 CPP-elected members to the Parliament.

Simply put, the three opponent parties are not rejecting their own 29 "elected members" to Parliament.

Hence, Article 118 E. of the Electoral Laws did not apply to these 29 "elected members.” Therefore, the NEC cannot rip off the mandate of these 29 "elected members" of SRP and HRP to distribute these 29 seats to other parties, as Hun Sen declares.

The first line of Article 76 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia stipulates that the National Assembly consists of at least 120 members. This article will block the Fourth National Assembly from being fully constituted if any four of the "elected members" refuse to participate in the first session of the Fourth National Assembly.

So, it needs only the non-participation in the first session of the Fourth National Assembly of any four "elected members" of SRP and HRP to block the Fourth National Assembly from being fully constituted.

Conversely, if 120 "elected members" participate in the first session of the Fourth National Assembly – which will be convened by the king or, in his absence, Senate President Chea Sim – on Sept. 24, then the Fourth National Assembly will be de facto officially constituted because the CPP has at its disposal 90 "elected members.”

"With a super majority of two-thirds, you can appoint a horse as president," a U.S. congressman once said.

Hence, a fortiori, the CPP with its 90 elected members – more than the two-thirds majority, and more than the number required for a quorum of 87 – can appoint anyone as president and the next day can strip that person of all parliamentary immunity rights, then put him on trial by a kangaroo court and execute him as a traitor to the nation. Such a kangaroo court already condemned Norodom Rannaridh in absentia as a traitor.

Hence, the 90 seats for the CPP are not acceptable because they indicate that the elections were not really free and fair. In a true democracy, no political party would get more than a two-thirds majority. Only when the elections are not free and fair, such as under communism or fascism, can one party get more than a two-thirds majority of seats.

With 90 CPP "elected members,” Cambodia will be forever under the dictatorship of the CPP.

According to NEC rules, the first session of the Fourth Assembly is to be held on Sept. 24. Therefore, according to article 78, the mandate of the Third National Assembly will terminate on Sept. 24. From that day on the Hun Sen regime will become the caretaker government, legally empowered only to conduct routine business, and will have no political and economic mandate to act on behalf of Cambodia. This already happened during 11 months of 2003-2004 until the unconstitutional package vote put an end to the stalemate.

If four "elected members" refuse to participate in the first session of the Fourth National Assembly, then Cambodia will have neither a National Assembly nor a government.

Therefore, by blocking the Fourth Assembly from being fully constituted, the king, if he has the courage to do so, can ask for new elections to be organized and supervised by the United Nations, which is the only way to bring about the full implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement.

This is the only way to cut the Gordian knot and dismantle the police state that has ruled Cambodia since the signature of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement.
--
(Sourn Serey Ratha is chief of mission of the Action Committee for Justice and Equity for Cambodians Overseas, based in Rhode Island, United States. He was born to a farmer's family in Cambodia, earned B.A. degrees in law and sociology in Phnom Penh and an M.A. in international policy from Mara University of Technology in Malaysia. He has been a social activist for his country on the national and international levels since 1997. ©Copyright Sourn Serey Ratha.)

Thumbprints of 20,000 voters back fraud claim

Sam Rainsy Party Deputy Secretary General Mu Sochua walks into the Constitutional Council building on Tuesday. (Photo: HENG CHIVOAN)

Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Written by Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Sam Rainsy Party submits vast body of evidence to Constitutional Council in effort to substantiate allegations of electoral fraud by the ruling CPP

THE thumbprints of 20,000 disenfranchised voters were submitted to the Constitutional Council Tuesday as part of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party's drive to substantiate its allegations that the July 27 ballot is invalid due to systematic electoral fraud.

"We have presented evidence and witnesses to the Constitutional Council and we will answer all of their questions," Kong Sam On, a lawyer acting for the SRP, told reporters waiting in the Senate compound, near to where the Council convenes.

Kong Sam On said that the Constitutional Council had summoned party officials for questioning in relation to the complaints.

"We hope that a hearing will happen within the next two weeks," he added.

Constitutional Council spokesman Pen Thol told the Post that the Council has yet to rule on the opposition's complaints.

However, he said the Council intended to rule on the complaints prior to the announcement of the official election results by the National Election Committee (NEC) which are due September 17.

SRP President Sam Rainsy told reporters that he is scheduled to fly to foreign countries that are signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, saying that when they signed the accords they committed themselves to helping guarantee free and fair elections in Cambodia.

"Electoral fraud is still a huge problem and stripped many voters of the right to cast their ballots," Sam Rainsy said, adding that international pressure could highlight the government's actions.

"We hope that independent countries will condemn the NEC for playing a role in stealing votes for the CPP."

King Norodom Sihamoni is scheduled to preside over the inauguration and swearing-in of the new National Assembly on September 24, but Sam Rainsy said that the opposition parties were not interested in the formation of a new government.

"I am not interested in other issues at the moment, and I am focusing on the Constitutional Council," he said.

Despite continued threats by the opposition to boycott the swearing-in ceremony, the ruling Cambodian People's Party has pledged to go ahead, issuing warnings that opposition lawmakers not present at the event could forfeit their seats in the Assembly.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: My Dropping

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

Incident showing the pattern of the issuing of forged 1018 forms nationwide

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Source: SRP

The incident is detailed in an article titled "Hearing at NEC to decide on complaints related to 1018 forms" published in Koh Santepheap, August 18, 2008. See original article in Khmer at http://tinyurl.com/55ugvv

The incident which took place in Kokor [not Krokor as written in the article] commune, Kampong Seam district, Kampong Cham province shows the pattern of the issuing of forged 1018 voter ID forms by the CPP local authorities nationwide. SRP activists succeeded in preventing a CPP village chief and his deputy from illegally issuing 1018 forms to approximately 40 to 50 persons on Voting Day. The venue planned for the last-minute distribution of the forged 1018 forms was a pagoda near a polling station in Kokor Pi village. The village chief confessed that he brought the forms to the pagoda on July 27 under the instructions of the CPP commune chief. The half-filled forms were going to be completed on the spot and handed to illegitimate voters.

SRP Cabinet

Council Weighs Election Results Appeal

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 August 2008

The Sam Rainsy Party filed more than 17,000 documents as evidence of vote fraud to the Constitutional Council Tuesday, in the party's final appeal contesting the results of July's election.

The leading opposition party maintains that the results of the elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People's Party claims to have won 90 of 123 National Assembly seats, are not valid.

The party, which has claimed 26 seats, has called for a nationwide re-vote, joined by the Human Rights Party in a denial of the results.

The National Election Committee ruled earlier this month the election results should stand, and the Council now has between 10 and 20 days to determine whether a hearing is necessary for the complaint.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has said he will wait to hear the results before determining whether to attempt to deadlock the government by boycotting a National Assembly swearing-in ceremony next month.

The SRP complaint included more than 100 administrative forms, numbered 1018, which the party claims was used in lieu of photo identification to add votes to the CPP count.

"We have additional, new evidence to support our complaint to the Constitutional Council," SRP lawyer Kong Sam On told reporters Tuesday. "We have witnesses, witness reports, form 1018, and nearly 20,000 voter's with their names omitted [from registries]."

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday he had no faith in the Constitutional Council.

"We've come here for hopelessness," he said. "But we must follow the procedure."

The Council's decision was likely to serve the interest of the CPP only, he said.

The Council has denied two previous SRP appeals. The Council upheld a fine against the party for insulting CPP leaders, and denied a hearing on the validity of the 1018 forms for voter registration.

Khmer Intelligence News - 19 August 2008

19 August 2008

Ranariddh plots to topple Hun Sen (2)

CPP and Funcinpec leaders have in their possession a tape recording a recent phone conversation between self-exiled prince Norodom Ranariddh and Sao Rany, a prominent member of the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) and a high-ranking official of the Interior Ministry. In the conversation the two politicians discussed about a plot to topple Hun Sen from power with the support of Vietnam and a faction of the CPP hostile to the current Prime Minister.

Thaksin prepares his comeback with the support of Hun Sen (2)

Former Thai Prime Minister and business tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra has recently signed an official deal with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to purportedly develop the Cambodia's south-western maritime province of Koh Kong.

In fact, Thaksin wants to secure very convenient Cambodian-based facilities to prepare his political comeback in Thailand. Hun Sen is well aware of Thaksin's hidden agenda but the pair have many things in common.

The current tension between Cambodia and Thailand about Preah Vihear temple is in part due to false assurances given by Thaksin to Hun Sen in the past about border delineation. A possible additional reason for the tension is pressure exerted by Vietnam on Hun Sen to prove his loyalty toward Hanoi (see news above: "Ranariddh plots to topple Hun Sen"). From this perspective the current tension is reminiscent of the anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh in January 2003 which were organized by the most pro-Vietnamese elements within the Cambodian government.

Real results of Cambodia's recent elections (2)

Independent observers recognize that the July 27, 2008 national election in Cambodia was marred with two serious irregularities: the issuing of forged voter identification documents to illegitimate voters in order to inflate votes for the ruling CPP, and the disenfranchisement of a significant portion of the electorate in order to reduce votes for the opposition (see KI News, 20 May 2008: "CPP's new strategy: disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters").
Reasonably adjusted for these two forms of fraud, the election results would be as follows:

• CPP: 2.99 million votes (instead of 3.49 million); 75 National Assembly seats (instead of 90).
• SRP: 1.84 million votes (instead of 1.32 million); 36 seats (instead of 26).
• HRP: 0.55 million votes (instead of 0.40 million); 7 seats (instead of 3).
• NRP: 0.48million votes (instead of 0.34 million); 2 seats (unchanged).
• FUNCINPEC: 0.43 million votes (instead of 0.30 million); 3 seats (instead of 2).
• Six other parties combined: 0.23 million votes (instead of 0.16 million); 0 seat (unchanged).

Underlying estimates for the above adjustment: the CPP votes were unduly inflated by roughly 0.50 million votes; the opposition votes were unduly reduced by roughly 1.00 million votes.

To check methodology and estimates and to enter different estimates/assumptions for sensitivity analysis, please click at http://tinyurl.com/63zuyc

Hundreds of CPP commune chiefs could be jailed for forgery (2)

Just before and on Voting Day, CPP commune chiefs throughout the country illegally issued an unprecedented number of 1018 forms which are substitute ID document and serve as voting card valid in a specific commune. There is evidence showing that the CPP methodically issued those 1018 forms to illegitimate voters in order to inflate its votes. Illegitimate voters are under-aged people, non-registered citizens, migrant workers unable to return to vote in the commune where they were originally registered, and foreigners with no voting rights. Through forged 1018 forms the CPP gave illegitimate voters the identity of "ghost voters" who are officially on the voter list but do not exist or are not present. These "ghost voters" are deceased people, twice-registered voters and voters who have permanently moved away from the commune.

In what was presented as a "cleaning-up" process that started in 2007, "ghost voters" were deliberately kept on the voter registry while names of legitimate voters known as non-CPP supporters were deliberately deleted from the voter registry. The CPP-controlled National Election Committee killed two birds with one stone: On the one hand it built up a reserve of hundreds of thousands of "ghost voters" for the CPP, and on the other hand it disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters (see news above: "Real results of Cambodia's recent elections") .

All the forged 1018 forms were certified, with signatures and official stamps, by CPP commune chiefs from all over the country.

The uncontrolled issuing of the 1018 forms did have a significant impact on the election results: As few as 4 fraudulent (1018-form-related) votes for the CPP per polling station could deprive the opposition of one parliamentary seat.

Article 49 of the Criminal Law states, "Any elected official or civil servant [who is involved in the forgery of public documents] shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of five to fifteen years."

See examples of 1018 forms by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/6cmh94
_________________________
20 May 2008

CPP's new strategy: disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters (2)

It has become obvious now that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is implementing a new strategy, which was successfully tested in 2007, to secure another election victory even before Voting Day on 27 July 2008. In the voter list "clean up" process conducted by the CPP-controlled National Election Committee (NEC), some 600,000 names have been deleted from the voter registry. Names which should be deleted (ghost voters, foreigners with no voting right) have been kept on the list whereas names of real and legitimate votes have been deleted because related to those identified by CPP-affiliated village chiefs as non-CPP supporters.

Over the last five years, from the 2002 commune elections to the 2007 commune elections, the CPP has dramatically lost ground. In 2007 as in 2002, the CPP collected 61 percent of the popular votes. But there is a big difference between the two elections: in 2007, the voter turnout was only 65 percent whereas it was 87 percent in 2002, meaning that support for the CPP computed on the basis of the whole electorate dropped from 53 percent in 2002 to 39 percent in 2007. It was only through a massive disenfranchisement of non-CPP voters that the CPP could maintain its positions. The CPP is resorting to the same strategy in 2008.

[End]

Afflicted by CPP blindness and bias, the NEC can't see any election fraud

NEC Dismisses Complaints of Voter Fraud

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 August 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

The opposition party on Thursday criticized as partial and political the National Election Committee's denial of its voter fraud complaints, as the Cambodian People's Party and Funcinpec decided on a reduced number of positions in the new government.

The NEC on Tuesday struck down the Sam Rainsy Party complaints of widespread voter irregularities.

The NEC said Tuesday not enough evidence had been presented to warrant a public hearing over the alleged irregularities.

The Sam Rainsy Party said Wednesday it would appeal to the Constitutional Council.

The complaints included allegations that local officials had distributed an identification form, No. 1018, in lieu of photo identification, allowing for ineligible voting.

"We are very disappointed for the denial by the NEC, and call the denial not in comformity with the law, because we have full witnesses and documents in our complaint," said Kong Sam On, SRP lawyer in charge of election complaints. "We have evidence enough about the irregularities, including more than 3,000 witnesses who have real addresses and form No. 1018 illegally issued by commune officials."

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha defended the decision, as "following the law and NEC procedure."

As the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties maintained a denial of the election results Wednesday, Funcinpec prepared to join the government with less posts than in the past.

CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Thursday Funcinpec members will hold positions in government such as deputy prime minister, senior minister, or secretary of state, but there would be no Funcinpec ministry heads.

The CPP will lead all of the ministries, he said.

"We are preparing the list for government posts," Funcinpec Secretary-General Nhiek Bunchhay said Thursday. "There are at least 62 people: one for deputy prime minister, four for senior minister from former ministers...and the remaining are secretary of state and undersecretary of state."

"This is our pride, to get some government posts, if we get two seats in the Assembly. All of these positions are concessions and gifts from the CPP, because we used to work together," he said. "If we didn't get the government posts, we would have been disappointed, because we got a bad result from the election."

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: 90 seats

Click on the cartoon to zoom in

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