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Election Results Adjusted for Fraud Give Fewer Seats to CPP
Sam Rainsy's letter as published in The Cambodia Daily, August 12, 2008
Election Results Adjusted for Fraud Give Fewer Seats to CPP
In "Opposition Parties Reiterate National Assembly Boycott Threat" (August 9-10, page 3), you mentioned figures about the election results adjusted by SRP for irregularities.
NEC's provisional figures published on August 9, 2008, reiterated that the CPP won 3.49 million votes and 90 seats versus 2.05 million votes and 31 seats for the combined opposition: SRP, Human Rights Party and Norodom Ranariddh Party.
''The true results of the election" that I presented -- 77 seats for the CCP, 35 for the SRP, seven for the HRP and two each for Funcinpec and the NRP -- were based on taking back from the CCP votes that were fraudulently collected after CPP commune chiefs had issued forged 1018 registration forms to its supporters. Another adjustment was made taking into account the fact that a significant portion of the electorate identified as non-CPP supporters, had been disenfranchised.
We have made our calculations based on two hypotheses.
1- Our minimum hypothesis is based on the assumption that:
a) An average of 10 forged 1018 forms were given out in the vicinity of each of the 15,254 polling stations, making a total of 152,540 forged forms and inflating the CPP votes by the same amount.
b) An average of 50 non-CPP supporters were disenfranchised at each polling station, meaning that a total of 762,700 voters nationwide were prevented from voting for non-CPP parties. Many independent observers acknowledge that up to 10 percent of the 8.1-million-strong electorate were prevented from voting.
2- Our maximum hypothesis is based on the assumption that:
a) An average of 65 forged 1018 forms were given out in the vicinity of each polling stations, making a total of 991,510 forged forms and inflating the CPP votes by the same amount (see July 29 SRP statement "What election observers did not see in a rigged election"). We now have proof that the 1018 forms were methodically and systematically issued by the CPP local authorities nationwide. This maneuver was conducted on an unprecedented scale.
b) An average of 65 non-CPP supporters were disenfranchised at each polling station, meaning that a total of 991,510 voters nationwide were prevented from voting for non-CPP parties (see the above-mentioned SRP statement). This figure is to be compared with the 2.1 million registered voters who did not or could not vote at the July 27 poll. Based on the much smaller number of people (less than one million) who did not vote at the previous national elections, we can infer that half of the above 2.1 million people wanted to vote but could not because they were disenfranchised. This led to the lowest voter turnout for a national election since the poll organized by the United Nations in 1993. The three opposition parties are now collecting petitions throughout the country from those voters who deplored the loss of their voting rights.
For each of the two hypotheses, we have revised the election results by:
a) Taking back from the CPP votes associated with forged 1018 forms.
b) Increasing, for the main non-CPP parties (SRP, HRP, NRP, Funcinpec), the number of their votes by the number of disenfranchised voters, using an allocation key that reflects the actual breakdown of non-CPP votes based on figures published by the NEC.
The minimum hypothesis shows the following results:
- CPP: 3.34 million votes; 78 seats
- SRP: 1.75 million votes; 34 seats
- HRP: 0.52 million votes; 7 seats
- NRP: 0.45 million votes; 2 seats
- Funcinpec: 0.40 million votes; 2 seats.
Total CPP + Funcinpec: 3.74 million votes; 80 seats
Total SRP + HRP + NRP: 2.72 million votes; 43 seats
The maximum hypothesis shows the following results:
- CPP: 2.50 million votes; 67 seats
- SRP: 1.87 million votes; 41 seats
- HRP: 0.56 million votes; 7 seats
- NRP: 0.48 million votes; 3 seats
- Funcinpec: 0.43 million votes; 5 seats.
Total CPP + Funcinpec: 2.93 million votes; 72 seats
Total SRP + HRP + NRP: 2.91 million votes; 51 seats
Furthermore, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap's statement about the "three opposition parties" having "representatives" in the National Election Committee is simply not true.
In all cases NEC members had to resign from their original parties; therefore, to say that NEC has political party members as its representatives is a mistake. In any case, no NEC members came from NRP and HRP and only two members were originally from SRP, versus five from CPP and two from Funcinpec, making a total of nine.
What's more, the representatives originally from SRP had actually protested in writing against NEC's plan to unfairly delete voters' names, but they were overruled, which is hardly surprising given they were by far in the minority.
Finally, Cheam Yeap advocated that the NEC's proceedings were observed for irregularities at all levels by international observers and party representatives. In this connection, what does this CPP official think about the assessment by the EU Election Observation Mission that the Cambodian elections of 2008 "fell short of key international standards"?
Sam Rainsy
SRP PresidentLabels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Giving up freedoms to settle for 'peace'
Giving Up Freedoms to Settle for 'Peace'By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D. (Pacific Daily News)
Whether one perceives Cambodia's recent elections as a glass half full or a glass half empty depends on one's personal political socialization.
Some would see the elections as successful, as the level of violence associated with this exercise of franchise was less than it has been in the past. Those who were victims of the violence that did occur could be expected to have a different view. Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams warned against "the trap of using lower standards" for judging Cambodia's elections. The Mekong Times' Ly Menghour's Aug. 4 article refers to photos depicting a finger-wagging Hun Sen apparently scolding opposition leader Sam Rainsy at a departure ceremony for King Father Norodom Sihanouk and his family on Aug. 1, as their "first public exchange of words" since the elections." The Times says Sen called "demonic" a joint letter by the Sam Rainsy Party, the Human Rights Party, and the Norodom Ranariddh Party protesting election results; and reports Sen's warning to Rainsy that the SRP's "26 seats" won in the elections "will be divided among other (political parties)" should the SRP boycott the Sept. 24 swearing-in ceremony of the elected parliamentarians. The Times says the smiling Rainsy responded: "My party represents the votes of two million." In his Aug. 5 letter to the editor, Rainsy declares, "the new Assembly cannot even validly convene without participation from the opposition." Published reports state the head of the royalist FUNCINPEC party, Keo Puth Reasmey, and his wife, Princess Norodom Arunrasmey, a prime minister candidate, have been told by Sen to resign from the party. On July 28, the Voice of America broadcast a four-party call to Cambodians and the world "not to recognize the results of the July 27, 2008, elections." Prince Sisowath Sirirath signed for FUNCINPEC. But an Aug. 2 article by Menghour reports FUNCINPEC's reversal of opinion, as it announced after a closed meeting that it may be "not satisfied with the (election's) outcome," but it "(will) not make a complaint against the election results." Beyond Sen and Cambodia's elections is the fundamental issue that divides peoples and nations: economic development versus rights and freedom of men. A political animal, man seeks freedom and justice. Without justice, some men will not stop struggling, undermining a durable peace. When I was still teaching, I attended a lunch in Washington, D.C., with two good friends: One, a political appointee, touted the policies of human rights and freedom of the United States; the other, a ranking Asian diplomat, defended his country's policy of order and security as a prerequisite to economic development. What I injected into the discussion was my view -- summarized in "Individual freedom in stable society" in the Sept. 10, 1997, edition of the Jakarta Post, and "The world must have balance for survival," in the Sept. 7, 1997, issue of the Pacific Sunday News. Both referenced Somalia, Bosnia, Myanmar and Cambodia, where "repressive" regimes used terror against their people while the West, notably the United States, did not intervene, and how the Association of South-East Asian Nations embraced "non-interference." I believed then and now that economic development and human rights and freedom are not mutually exclusive. I didn't think my two friends finished their meal satisfied. I find the July 29 Christian Science Monitor's David Montero's "In Cambodia vote, stability wins" sums up the Cambodian elections well: "Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled for 23 years, won another five-year term Sunday. His party has overseen several prosperous years; critics say it stifles democracy." Sen is credited for Cambodia's economic growth of more than 10 per cent a year since 2000. The CEO of private-equity fund Leopard Capital that will inject $500 million into Cambodia's economy, cheered Sen's election as a "best-case scenario" for big investors. I doubt if Cambodian victims of land grabbing agree. British economist Christopher Windsor, who called Cambodians "brainless" for handing the elections to Sen, reminded that even if Cambodians make "twice more" than they did before, the goods and services are "three times more expensive," and the 10 percent growth rate that is "distributed among rich CPP members" means that "all Cambodians" are hurt. The head of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, Galabru, spoke of the CPP's "mirage of economic stability" as the poor are being evicted from their homes and their land at an alarming rate: "You have a GDP increase, but look at the gap between rich and poor. More than 40 percent (of Cambodia's total population of 14 million) live below the standard income." Political analyst Sedera Kim told Montero that in Asia, "you don't care about the content of democracy. You care about economic performance first." Galabru begged to differ: "Democracy anywhere, in Europe, in North America, in Asia, must be the same. This is a universal principle," she argued. Ironically, no Cambodian is in a better position than Sen himself to redress the imbalance of values and principles, and stability and order. But he is the man who said he would stay in power until he's 90, and would not leave power even if he would not win the elections. A balance between economic growth and human rights must be established in Cambodia, where the people have too long suffered. Unfortunately, economic growth that does not lift the poorest of boats only diminishes the horizon for the millions who are left in the shallows. A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com. Labels: CPP, Election, Funcinpec, Prince Ranariddh, Sam Rainsy
Royalist Parties U-Turn and Accept Cambodia Poll Results
Royalist Parties U-Turn and Accept Cambodia Poll Results PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's royalist parties said Tuesday they would accept the results of last month's election, despite their previous claims that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party had rigged the polls. The royalist Funcinpec party and its offshoot the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) joined opposition leader Sam Rainsy late last month to complain that thousands of people were left off voter lists in the July 27 election. Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) claimed victory as early results showed they won nearly 60 percent of the vote, and in separate statements released Tuesday the royalists said they would accept that outcome. "NRP considers that the election ... was transparent, free, fair and in accordance with democratic process in Cambodia," the party headed by former Funcinpec leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh said. His old outfit, meanwhile, said: "Although there are some technical irregularities, Funcinpec party publicly supports and accepts the temporary results of the election." Their apparent u-turn comes after Hun Sen said last week he would include Funcinpec in the new government. He also said another party with two seats in parliament -- and apparent reference to the NRP -- had approached him. Early results released by the National Election Committee (NEC) show the CPP winning 58.1 percent of the vote, compared with 21.9 percent for its nearest rival, the Sam Rainsy Party. Hun Sen's CPP has said it captured at least 90 of the 123 parliament seats up for grabs. Funcinpec and the NRP are believed to have won only two seats each. The final NEC tally will be announced in September, ahead of the forming of a new government. International monitors have said the election was flawed and did not meet key standards, despite a more peaceful campaign and improvements in the electoral process compared to past polls here. Sam Rainsy has estimated that one million registered voters were cut from the rolls and has demanded a re-vote. Labels: CPP, Election, Prince Ranariddh
Flawed System Sullies Cambodia's Election
Flawed System Sullies Cambodia's Election By Lao Mong Hay
Column: Rule by Fear
Hong Kong, China ( UPI Asia Online) — Cambodia held a general election on Sunday, and while the National Election Committee was still gathering the election returns, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party already announced it had won 91 out of 123 seats, 18 seats more than in the last election and way ahead of its nearest rival, the Sam Rainsy Party, which had secured 26 seats. The Sam Rainsy Party and three other parties that also won seats, according to the same announcement, quickly joined forces on Monday to denounce the results, charging that they had been “manipulated and rigged” by the ruling party. They cited “illegal and fraudulent practices” relating to “deletion of countless legitimate voters' names and artificial increase” in votes for the ruling party due to “illegitimate voters.” The ruling party’s victory and the denouncement of it by the four non-ruling parties have come as no surprise. In fact this victory had been widely predicted even months before the polls. Some have cited the economic growth achieved over recent years by the ruling party and the electorate’s unity behind it in the face of Thailand’s recent encroachment on Cambodia as the main factors contributing to the win. In fact, the ruling party’s victory should be attributed to the system of government it put in place when it was a full-fledged communist party in the 1980s. To this system was added a democratic veneer in 1993 when the country theoretically embraced parliamentary democracy, but it has remained basically intact and in firm control. The ruling party has utilized this system to get itself re-elected over and over since its defeat in the U.N.-organized election in 1993. The ruling party has controlled all the state apparatus – including the National Election Committee, the judiciary, security forces, civil service and educational institutions – since the communist days. It has manned all important posts with its members, so that the state apparatus and the party apparatus are but one. Such fusion can be seen in the proximity of the offices of the party, police stations and administrative offices, whose respective buildings are located next to one another in many provinces, districts and communities. Almost all village chiefs and heads of groups in villages are also members of the ruling party. All party cadres from top to bottom enjoy high social status, impunity and material benefits gained through illicit means. Several months before the election, the ruling party was able to successfully tempt with such privileges thousands of members of the opposition parties, including some senior members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, to defect to it. The ruling party has proved very successful in enrolling members, so much so that just before this election one of its senior members claimed that his party had nearly 5 million members, and this out of just over 8 million voters in the country. Through this extensive apparatus, the ruling party has been able to maintain firm control of the population. Members of each household must be registered in a police-issued family book and a residence book, and grassroots party officials must know each household and its members’ activities. Local party cadres who are also local officials can mobilize and induce the population to support the ruling party. They can also deny rival parties and even civil society organizations access to the population without prior permission. They can prevent, using force if need be, public meetings and training seminars organized by those parties and civil society organizations. The ruling party has had a virtual monopoly and control of all the media, especially radio and television, on which the overwhelming majority of people depend for news and other information. It has been making use of this media year in year out, while its rival parties are deprived of it. Some press with limited circulation is freer, but the majority of newspapers are run by members or supporters of the ruling party, and it is rare that commercial companies dare put advertisements in newspapers known to be affiliated to any rival party. The ruling party has been able to secure overwhelming resources for elections when it is in command of state resources and has a lot of support from private companies that seek favors for their business. Thanks to all these resources it has been able to buy votes though building social projects and giving hand-outs during election campaigns, and to fund other election expenses. The ruling party has enjoyed all these privileges since there is no anti-corruption mechanism in place to take action against it. Furthermore, the National Election Committee also placed under its control has imposed no limit on donations to political parties and their expenses in elections campaigns. Nor has it verified and made transparent the accounts of all political parties. This system only favors the ruling party. Last but not least, the police and courts of law which the ruling party also controls have acted more promptly and more diligently in criminal cases in which members of the ruling party are victims and members of opposition parties are suspected offenders than vice versa. Some months prior to the election, they showed only apathy toward reported threats and intimidation of activists of non-ruling parties, destruction of their signboards, and even the killing of some of them. The system of government and social control which the ruling party has put in place and firmly controls leaves little room for free and fair competition among political parties, or for free choice among the electorate. This largely contributed to the outcome of the election, if it had not already determined it prior to the polling day. It also contributed to producing the irregularities which the four parties have used to claim that that election was manipulated and rigged by the ruling party. -- (Lao Mong Hay is a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.) Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy Party
CAMBODIA: Polls Were Fair - EU Observers
CAMBODIA: Polls Were Fair - EU Observers By Andrew Nette
PHNOM PENH, Jul 30 (IPS) - An attempt by Cambodia’s four main opposition parties to reject the result of national elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was returned in a landslide, has met with little support from local and international organisations monitoring the poll.
In a short statement released earlier this week, the four political parties called "on the public opinion and the international community not to recognise the results of the July 27, 2008 elections which were manipulated and rigged by the ruling CPP.''
Opposition parties argue the extent of CPP’s win reflects a campaign of intimidation, vote buying and dirty tricks orchestrated by the ruling party in the lead-up to the election.
They maintain CPP’s vote was further inflated on polling day by the deletion of many legitimate names from the voting list and the issuing of fraudulent ‘1018’ forms by local authorities controlled by CPP.
These forms are official documentation that voters lacking proper identification can submit to be able to vote. It is illegal under Cambodian election law for them to be handed out on polling day.
However, opposition calls of foul play have received little support from local and international election monitors, including a 130-member European Union election observation mission, in Cambodia since mid-June.
"I would say that on the basis of the provisional results published so far, CPP very clearly has a large majority and therefore any irregularities would have to be of a very large scale to invalidate the result," Martin Callanan, chief observer for the EU mission told the media in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
"While it is fair to say we have some evidence of irregularities these are not of such significant scale," he said.
Although an official seat count has yet to be released, Cambodia’s main poll monitor, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (COMFREL), has estimated CPP won approximately 57 percent in the weekend’s vote, giving it roughly 90 seats in the 123-member National Assembly.
This is broadly in sync with CPP’s own projections released to the media earlier this week.
In is also in line with the expectations of local and international commentators who were predicting the ruling party would win big in last Sunday’s election.
According to COMFREL, the next largest party, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), secured 21 percent of the vote. The Norodom Ranarridh Party, Funcinpec and the Human Rights Party hovered under five percent each.
While describing the general atmosphere in the lead-up to the poll as an improvement on previous national elections, Callanan stressed it still "fell short of a number of key international standards for democratic elections.’’
Despite improvements in transparency, he said the EU mission noted a lack of confidence in the impartiality of election administration among stakeholders, and that all aspects of the election process are dominated by the ruling CPP.
Within hours of the close of polls on Sunday, opposition parties had raised what they believed where serious concerns about the validity of the process.
Approximately 200 disgruntled voters who found themselves struck off the voter list had gathered throughout the day in the compound of the SRP headquarters in Phnom Penh.
A SRP spokesperson said these irregularities including large numbers of people being deleted from the voter list and forged 1018 forms issued to pro-ruling party voters not on the voter roll, many of whom she said were "foreigners, not Cambodian nationals.’’
Speaking to IPS on election night, SRP’s leader Sam Rainsy claimed that the names of at least 200,000 eligible voters had been deleted from the rolls in Phnom Penh alone.
SRP has since handed out fliers on the streets of the capital claiming nearly a million people across the country were disenfranchised in Sunday’s vote although no hard evidence has been proffered to support this claim.
"I am aware of the comments of the opposition parties rejecting the results but I would encourage the parties to first use the complaint process established by NEC," Callanan said Tuesday.
Officials at the National Election Committee (NEC), the body responsible for overseeing the country’s elections, have said the deadline for complaints about the voter list had long passed and no action would be taken on the matter.
It is unclear what tactics the four opposition parties will now adopt to push their cause, although SRP has called a rally in Phnom Penh Wednesday to protest the result.
"The number of names removed on the weekend was no surprise to us because this is what we found in our audit," said Puthea Hang, Executive Director of Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC).
NICFEC is one of several organisations involved in a June 2008 audit of the voter list, which found approximately 590,000 names had been incorrectly removed from list or 0.7 percent of the total electoral roll.
"Every vote is important," said Tom Andrews, a senior advisor to the National Democratic Institute, which worked with NICFEC on the audit and on training observers placed in 378 of the country’s 1,245 polling stations.
"But we need to base our conclusion on the evidence we have seen in the audit and our observers did not show what has been suggested by the opposition,’’ Andrews said. "It showed that people had been taken from the list but that the number was small and there was no clear pattern."
NGOs maintain they alerted NEC months ago about these mistaken deletions but the election body refused to restore the names.
"It is regretful that NEC did not take the opportunity to reinstate those names when they had the chance," said Callanan.
While Callanan agreed the issuing of 1018 forms on polling day was "in clear contravention of the election law," EU observers had only "found a relatively small number of examples" of these being issued.
Most groups monitoring the poll agree the elections were an improvement on the last poll in 2003.
All groups welcomed the decrease in violence compared to previous polls.
There is also general agreement that the technical aspects of the country’s electoral process, including the ballot and counting, are steadily improving.
"NEC proved its ability to organise technically good elections with the planning and execution of the recruitment and training of election staff and other important electoral activities being timely and well conducted," the EU mission said in its preliminary statement released Tuesday.
These improvements aside, monitoring groups say a long list of problems stand in the way of genuinely fair elections.
Many of these have less to do with what happens on polling day or even in the official four-week campaign, than they are the result of decades of instability and the dominant role played by CPP in the country’s political life since 1979, when neighbouring Vietnamese installed them after overthrowing the Khmer Rouge.
CPP almost completely dominates the electronic media, particularly TV, by far the most important source of information for Cambodians.
The EU statement said this situation is "to the detriment of the other parties to a degree which was not consistent with international standards of free and fair access to the media," the EU statement said.
On Jul. 10, NEC issued a warning to 13 television stations for broadcasting biased coverage of the elections. Ten of these were dominated by pro-CPP coverage, according to NEC.
"Not only do people have a right to vote but they have a right to an informed choice," said Andrews. "CPP domination of the media makes this very difficult."
The 2003 campaign also saw a widespread increase in the use of state resources by CPP during the campaign period, including the use of government vehicles and campaigning by government and military staff.
Other problems included widespread vote buying and the interference of village chiefs, the overwhelming majority of which are pro-CPP, in NEC’s voter education activities.
"I say take it as a whole, before the election and after balloting," said Andrews. "I think this (election) was a step forward on the longer road to a more vibrant and healthy democracy. But there are several steps more that need to be taken."
(END/2008)Labels: CPP, Election, Sam Rainsy Party
EU Criticises Cambodia Election
 A gardener works on the landscape in the front of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) headquarters in Phnom Penh. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen took nearly 60 percent of the vote in weekend polls, election officials said, but the opposition rejected his win and demanded a new balloting. (AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul) EU Criticises Cambodia Election Monitors from the European Union Say Cambodia's Recent General Election Fell Short of International Standards. By Guy Delauney
Tuesday, 29 July 2008 (BBC News, Phnom Penh) They said the governing party dominated the media and the National Election Committee (NEC), and tens of thousands of people were disenfranchised. But they also praised the smooth running of what was described as a "technically good" election. The EU observers were among 17,000 local and international monitors who observed the election. While their findings were a mixed bag, there was certainly more criticism than praise. The key issue was impartiality and the role of the governing Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
Large majority The EU team said the CPP had made "consistent and widespread" use of state resources for its own campaigning efforts. The party dominated media coverage to an unacceptable degree, and the presence of officials connected to the CPP on the NEC compromised that institution's independence. The monitors said the NEC had disenfranchised 50,000 registered voters by allowing their names to be removed from the electoral roll.
But the EU's chief observer, Martin Callanan, said that had not affected the result of the election. "Under the provisional results that have been published, the CPP clearly has a very large majority," he said. "Therefore any irregularities which were proved would have to be on a very large scale in order to invalidate that result.'' The opposition parties beg to differ. Four of them have rejected the provisional results, which give the CPP an overall majority. They claim that hundreds of thousands of their supporters were unable to vote and that similar numbers of ineligible people were allowed to cast ballots.Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy Party
Four Main Parties Reject 'Sham' Election
 (L-R) Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) leader Sam Rainsy, Human Rights Party leader Khem Sokha, member of royalist FUNCINPEC Prince Sisowath Sirirath and member of Norodom Ranariddh Party Muth Chantha hold hands during a news conference, as they reject election results saying it was manipulated by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CCP) at SRP headquarters in Phnom Penh July 28, 2008. CCP claimed a landslide victory on Monday in an election bestowing another five years in power on ex-Khmer Rouge guerrilla Hun Sen, prime minister for the past 23 years. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) Four Main Parties Reject 'Sham' ElectionBy Heng Reaksmey
Representatives from four non-ruling parties gathered at opposition headquarters Monday to reject Sunday's national election as "a sham," after the ruling Cambodian People's Party appeared to have won enough seats to form a single-party government.
Top officials of the Sam Rainsy, Human Rights, Norodom Ranariddh and Funcinpec parties signed a letter calling on "Cambodian public opinion and the international community not to recognize the results of the July 27, 2008, elections, which were manipulated and rigged by the ruling Cambodian People's Party."
There have not been five separate parties elected to the National Assembly since the 1993 Untac elections, and the joining together of four against one is unprecedented.
In 1998, the Sam Rainsy and Funcinpec parties joined together to protest election results in the wake of the 1997 coup.
That three-month crisis of government led to mass demonstrations in the capital and a brutal crackdown by government forces, where scores of demonstrators were disappeared and presumed killed.
In 2003, the government was deadlocked for 11 months, due to an alliance between Funcinpec and SRP that prevented a coalition government.
"We have already strengthened together to deny the results of the election, and also for the voters," opposition leader Sam Rainsy told a large crowd gathered at his headquarters Monday afternoon. "We need to revote across Cambodia."
"We appeal to the EU and the international community to deny the results, because there are so many irregularities during the election," Human Rights Party Presdient Kem Sokha told the same cheering crowd.
The parties "hope in the future will have an alliance together" and have the same goals, he said.
The main point for the alliance would be to send a message to the people "who love justice" to come to work together.
The four parties condemned "illegal and fraudulent practices" in Sunday's polls, including "deletion of countless legitimate voters' names and [an] artificial increase in the CPP voters to cast their ballots for the CPP."
The parties also condemned "the tricks and maneuvers of the National Election Committee, which is only a tool for the CPP to organize a sham election and present a façade of democracy."
"I'm not surprised about this information," NEC Chairman Im Sousdey told reporters Monday. "We always see after the election Cambodian political parties doing the same thing."
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Monday unofficial results now showed the CPP with 90 seats, followed by the Sam Rainsy Party with 26, Human Rights Party with three, Norodom Ranariddh with two, and Funcinpec with two.
Khieu Thai Sarakmony, a 57-year-old from Phnom Penh who joined the crowd at SRP headquarters Monday, said he supported the cooperation of the four parties for the people.
"But it should have been earlier," he said, "before the election."Labels: CPP, Election, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Facts and Figures on Cambodia's Parliamentary Elections
Facts and Figures on Cambodia's Parliamentary ElectionsJuly 27, 2008 (AP)
THE SYSTEM: Bicameral parliament consisting of the National Assembly, or lower house, and the Senate, the upper house. The National Assembly is elected once every five years.
The National Assembly has 123 seats. Its function is to approve laws and appoint a new government. The king, who is the head of state, signs off on all laws adopted by Parliament. He wields no executive power.
The Senate will not be affected by Sunday's ballot. It has 61 members.
ELECTORATE: 8.1 million voters above 18 years of age, more than 50 percent of whom are women, in a country of 14 million people.
King Norodom Sihamoni does not vote and cannot hold political office. Many other members of the royal family are running in the election.
POLITICAL GROUPS: Eleven political parties are running for parliamentary seats in 24 constituencies across Cambodia. There are two front-runners: Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, a former communist party which has held power for the past 29 years; and the Sam Rainsy Party of former Finance Minister Sam Rainsy. In the outgoing parliament, CPP held 73 seats to the opposition's 24. Hun Sen has been prime minister since 1985.
THE CANDIDATES: There are a total of 1,162 candidates. Parties compete rather than candidates. Total votes received by a party in a constituency are used to calculate the number of seats occupied by its candidates in the National Assembly. There are no independent candidates.
THE ISSUES: Standard election issues like the economy, rising fuel and commodities prices, government corruption, poor health care and poverty have been upstaged by a tense border dispute with neighboring Thailand. The row prompted both countries to send troops to the border two weeks before the election. Nationalist pride was expected to propel Hun Sen to re-election.
Some 35 percent of the country's 14 million people live on less than US$.50 per day. The country depends heavily on foreign financial assistance.
VOTING HOURS: 0000 GMT to 0800 GMT, July 27.
VOTING SYSTEM: Each ballot carries the names and symbols of all 23 parties running for election. Each voter is allowed to select only one party.Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Cambodian Ruling Party Heads to Poll Win
 Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen shows his ink-stained finger to the media after casting his ballot during the general election at a polling station in Takmoa town in Kandal province, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, July 27, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)Cambodian Ruling Party Heads to Poll Win By KER MUNTHIT PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodians went to the polls Sunday in an election dominated by a tense border dispute with neighboring Thailand that has fueled national sentiment, strengthening longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen. Hun Sen's reputation as a strongman who intimidates rivals has served him well, with voters rallying around the leader as Cambodian troops face off with Thai soldiers for a second week at a disputed 11th century Hindu temple on the border. Dressed in gray safari shirt and pants, Hun Sen flashed a broad smile and displayed a black-inked forefinger to waiting cameras after casting his ballot Sunday in a provincial town outside the capital, Phnom Penh. He declined comment to reporters. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy called a midday news conference, claiming some 200,000 registered voters in the capital, where the opposition is strongest, were unable to cast ballots because their names had been left off voter lists. The ruling party "is full of tricks. Scrap the election and do it again," he said. Allegations of vote fraud have plagued past Cambodian elections but never dented the ruling party's dominance. Asia's longest-serving leader, the 57-year-old Hun Sen was forecast to win the vote even before the military standoff escalated earlier this month. But patriotic passions over Preah Vihear temple and Hun Sen's firm stance against Thailand have swayed many undecided voters in his favor, analysts say. "Everybody now supports the government because this is a national issue," said Kek Galabru, a prominent Cambodian human rights activist and election monitor. "More people will vote for (Hun Sen) to give him more power to deal with Preah Vihear." Chan Sim, a 72-year-old voter in the capital, cast his ballot for Hun Sen's ruling party "because of its good leadership and ability to keep unity." A 24-year-old Buddhist monk, Chhuon Noeurn, said the standoff at Preah Vihear did not affect his choice for a leader, but added: "We Cambodians cannot afford to be divided on this issue." More than 8 million of Cambodia's 14 million people were eligible to vote in Sunday's election. Buddhist monks and ordinary people, some holding toddlers with milk bottles, crowded polling stations when they opened at 8 p.m. EDT. Unofficial party results were expected a few hours after polling stations close at 4 a.m. EDT. Official figures were expected later in the week. Eleven parties are vying for seats in the 123-seat National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, with the winner forming a new government to run the country for the next five years. Hun Sen himself has voiced little doubt that his ruling Cambodian People's Party, which held 73 Assembly's seats during the past five-year-term, will return with an overwhelming majority. Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia since 1985, when he became prime minister of a Vietnamese-installed communist government after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Internationally, he has faced criticism for alleged corruption and human rights abuses. But Hun Sen argues his tenure ushered in peace and stability after the Khmer Rouge's genocidal reign from 1975-1979, which killed an estimated 1.7 million people before being toppled by the invading Vietnamese army. A former Khmer Rouge soldier himself, Hun Sen embraced free-market policies that have made Cambodia's economy one of the fastest growing in Asia, expanding at 11 percent in each of the past three years. "The economic growth helps. And in a time of crisis, people feel they have to be united behind the power that controls the army," said Benny Widyono, an independent observer and former United Nations official during Cambodia's U.N.-brokered peace process in the early 1990s. The opposition Sam Rainsy Party, which held 24 seats in the lower house of parliament, campaigned for greater attention to human rights, the country's poor and an end to alleged corruption. But standard election issues have been upstaged by the military standoff with Thailand, a controversy revolving around 1.8 square miles of land that has been in dispute since French colonialists withdrew from Cambodia in the 1950s. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple site to Cambodia in 1962, but anger flared in Thailand last month after Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej backed Cambodia's successful bid for the temple to be listed as a U.N. World Heritage Site. Thailand sent troops to the border July 15 after Thai anti-government demonstrators assembled near the temple. Cambodia responded by sending its own troops to the border. The two countries plan to resume negotiations on the border row Monday. Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy Party
Concerns and Recommendations for Electoral Observer and Monitors for July 26 and 27
26 July 2008
Concerns and Recommendations for Electoral Observer and Monitors
for July 26 and 27The following is an updated version of a document released by the Sam Rainsy Party on 20 July 2008, detailing possible electoral fraud that international observers and monitors must pay attention to throughout election weekend.
1. Voter list manipulation
The ruling party has several methods to manipulate voter lists to their advantage. For example, they can erase the names of legitimate voters, especially non-CPP supporters. Alternatively, they can keep (or add) "ghost voters" on the list: deceased people, voters that were registered twice, and voters that have moved away permanently. The CPP can then use these ghost voters to inflate their number of votes in the following way:
They will identify people who are not eligible to vote (such as under-aged people, non-registered citizens and foreigners living in Cambodia) or people who are not interested in voting (such as migrant workers not registered as voters) and offer them money in exchange for a CPP vote. They will take these people to specific venues, where they will distribute 1018 documents (*) with the ghost voter's identity but the replacement voter's real photo. With this fake identity, they will be able to vote for the CPP.
Besides, they will wait until minutes before the end of voting hours to identify registered voters who did not show upat the polling station. They will then issue last-minute fraudulent 1018 forms with the identity of the absent registered voters to people who will vote for them.
Finally, the CPP can steal the votes of legitimate voters whom they suspect will not vote for them in the following way: they will forge 1018 documents with the identity of non-CPP supporters, and then bribe people (illegitimate voters) to vote for the CPP using this forged document. These fraudulent voters will go to the polling station as early as possible, before the real voter can show up. When the real voter does show up, they are turned down, as their name has already been used to vote.
Recommendations for Observers:
1) The 1018 form must be stamped in order to be issued. The stamp is detained by the commune clerk, assistant to the commune chief, both of which are affiliated with the CPP. Most ghost voter 1018 forms are distributed on or just before voting day, although it is illegal to issue them on Election Day. The CPP will have pre-dated these forms but they cannot pre-stamp them, as the stamp must be on the photo of the person who will vote using the ghost voter identity. Therefore, it is crucial for the stamp to be safeguarded on Election Day. The SRP has already proposed that the stamp be kept in a sealed and signed envelope, in such a way that its presence would be visible by all. We recommend that monitors support this proposal, push for its implementation, and monitor the whereabouts of the stamp on Election Day.
2) The CPP will hold gatherings to distribute the 1018 forms. The venues for the distribution will most likely be village chiefs' houses, commune chiefs' houses, or the local CPP headquarters. We recommend that monitors send delegates to these locations on Election Day and report any suspicious activity, such as unusual gathering of people. The mere presence of an international observer may be a sufficient deterrent to this practice. For the monitors staying at the polling stations, look out for ghost voters especially between the hours of 11:30-13.00 (lunchtime), and 14:30-15:00 (minutes before the closing of the polling station at 15:00). The SRP asks that a list of identified ghost voters be posted in every polling station and that voters using these fake identities be immediately identified and forbidden to vote. These lists are available and monitors should demand that they are used to eliminate voter fraud.
3) Observers must pay close attention to voters being turned down under the pretext that they have already voted. We recommend that you ask local agents and your local collaborators for more details on any voter being turned away and that you be aware of this CPP vote-stealing strategy.
2. Vote Buying
a. The Night of Barking Dogs
In previous elections, the night before Election Day has been referred to as the Night of Barking Dogs, because of the systematic door-to-door visits of CPP officials and dogs' reactions to these unannounced house calls. Tonight, they will distribute money and sarongs in exchange for votes. Observers must rely on local informants and collaborators for reports on such vote buying.
Recommendations for Observers: the sarongs and money allocated for this vote buying are stored in specific places: local CPP Headquarters, village chiefs' houses and commune chiefs' houses. Local observers and party agents will wait outside these warehouses throughout the night and follow CPP officials that come out with bribes in order to deter any illegal activity. We recommend that you take note of their reports.
b. Buying Opposition Party Agents
CPP party agents will bribe and intimidate other parties' agents (especially those of SRP) in order to ensure their silence in the face of vote-buying and ballot counting manipulation.
Recommendations for Observers: listen to party agents and be aware of these illegal practices.
c. Ten-House Groups
Early on the morning of Election Day, in each village the CPP will summon, in specific places, their supporters who are organized in communist-type cells of ten households each, which are under the supervision of the village chief. The official purpose of these ten-house groups is to facilitate voter transport to polling stations. However, during the transportation, CPP officials will pressure the voters and tell them how and who to vote for while giving them additional bribes, or making promises of additional bribes. Such coercion after the end of the official campaigning period, as well as the outright illegality of vote-buying, is a breach of electoral law. This is particularly serious as it is last-minute psychological pressure before these voters cast their ballots.
Recommendations for Observers: listen to local informants, including opposition party agents who may have infiltrated these groups, as they may serve as witnesses of this breach of electoral law. In addition, observers should follow the village chief wherever he goes.
3. Ballot Counting Process
a. Vote Announcements
The ballot number of CPP is four (4) whereas that of the SRP is nine (9). In Khmer these two numbers sound similar. Four is boun and nine is pram boun, often pronounced as p'boun.. Therefore, when spoken fast, the number nine can easily be confused as a four. As the ballot counting process is done through verbal announcement of ballot numbers, the NEC has given official instructions ordering that during the ballot counting process the party names of the CPP and SRP ballots have to be announced before the number. However, usually these types of instructions are given by the top levels of government to serve only as a façade and are not implemented at the local levels.
Recommendations for Observers: Observers must ensure that for the CPP and SRP parties, the announcers state the party name before the ballot number.
b. Null and Void Ballots
According to electoral law, any mark(s) within a single party's segment of the ballot (even outside the designated blank square) constitutes a valid ballot. However, if a mark is found in two different parties' segments, the ballot is rendered null. Throughout the voting process, CPP agents will contaminate ballots. At the voting stage they may give ballots that are pre-marked on the CPP segment (or a smaller party's segment) to people they suspect are not CPP supporters. At the ballot counting stage, CPP agents may discreetly add a second mark to another party's segment on SRP ballots, and if caught, claim this action was inadvertent. These two tactics are used to nullify votes for the SRP. If this is witnessed, SRP party agents will file complaints.
Recommendations for Observers: Ask to look at the ballots when there is an unusually large number of complaints. Ensure that the intention of the ballot be respected, because in some cases there is a clear tick or mark for a single party combined with a small mark in another party segment that was most likely not intended by the voter. Observers must also ensure that party agents' complaints are treated fairly and not systematically rejected by the NEC as was the case in previous elections.
c. 1104 Forms
1104 forms are minutes of vote counting for each polling station. These 1104 forms are essential for parallel counting. At the end of ballot counting, the 1104 forms reveal the breakdown of electoral results by polling station and thus serve as an accurate computation of the national results. Each party agent is entitled to a copy of the 1104 form from their polling station. In previous elections NEC officials invented pretexts to retain 1104 forms overnight, allowing them to manipulate the results of the votes without even touching the ballots (cheating at the reporting level). Opposition party agents can file complaints if they do not receive a 1104 form immediately after the counting. In the case of a legitimate complaint, the polling stations' ballot boxes must be reopened and the votes recounted. In 2003, virtually no recounting was allowed despite over 1,000 filed complaints. It is crucial that observers remain present during the final phase of the electoral process, even after the results are announced, to oversee the resolution of complaints.
Recommendations for Observers: Make sure that all party agents receive 1104 forms immediately after ballot counting is over. Secondly, make sure that all complaints are treated fairly.
4. Clean Finger Operation
In past elections, the CPP paid voters to vote for them but now having realized that people could accept their money and still vote for the party of their choice, they have resorted to a new strategy: paying people to abstain from voting if they are not known CPP supporters. When voters cast their ballot, their finger is dipped in ink that remains on their skin for several days, therefore a clean finger after the elections is evidence that a person has abstained from voting. The CPP will bribe voters before the election, and give an additional bribe after the election in exchange for a clean finger.
Recommendations for Observers:
We recommend that international monitors look out for this phenomenon by asking your local informants, translators, and voters for occurrences of the clean finger operation. It is important to be aware of this widespread practice and actively search for evidence, as it will not be visible in a polling station or on Election Day.
Finally, we recommend that monitors look out for CPP agents closing windows and doors of polling stations, faking electricity cuts, and detonating small explosives to create bomb scares. These are all tactics to limit transparency, and intimidate non-CPP voters to prevent them from casting their ballots. CPP voters, escorted by CPP agents, generally come at the early hours and will have already cast their votes.
SRP Members of ParliamentLabels: CPP, Election, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Cambodia Parties in Pre-Poll Push
Cambodia Parties in Pre-Poll Push Friday, 25 July 2008 ( BBC-News UK)  Political parties in Cambodia have been holding rallies in a final campaign push before Sunday's general election.
The polls, the fourth since decades of civil war ended, are widely expected to return Prime Minister Hun Sen to power.
His main challenger is former finance minister Sam Rainsy, but few believe he will oust the man who has led Cambodia for 23 years.
The polls are taking place amid heightened nationalist sentiment over a border dispute with Thailand.
Troops from the two countries are camped on territory both claim near the 11th Century temple of Preah Vihear, which earlier this month was listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.
Cambodia is due to hold talks with Thailand on the issue on Monday.
Economy key
Eleven parties are contesting the 27 July polls, but most believe the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) will secure another five-year term in power.
Under the Hun Sen-led CPP, Cambodia has achieved high growth - helped by revenue from the garment and tourist industries.
 "The voters realise we did a lot - building roads, schools, health care and especially the economy," Phnom Penh Mayor Kep Chuktema told a CPP rally in the capital.
But the country is also experiencing soaring inflation and there is growing discontent over endemic corruption - both of which could favour opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
His eponymous Sam Rainsy Party currently holds 24 seats in the 123-seat parliament. The CPP has 73 and its coalition partner, royalist party Funcinpec, has 26.
Previous polls have been hit by violence. Scores of people - mainly opposition supporters and activists - were killed or beaten in the run-up to elections in 1998.
This one appears to be passing off comparatively smoothly, but rights groups have flagged up ruling party control of the media as a problem.
Human Rights Watch has also condemned the killing earlier this month of a journalist who wrote for a newspaper linked to the Sam Rainsy Party.
Both international and domestic monitors will be on hand to monitor the polls on Sunday.
==========================
Friday, 25 July 2008 (BBC News UK)
Q&A: Cambodian electionCambodians go to the polls on 27 July for an election widely expected to return Prime Minister Hun Sen to power. The BBC looks at the parties and issues involved in the polls.
What is the current situation?
Cambodia's first general election took place in 1993, after decades of civil war. Sunday's poll will be the country's fourth.
 The Cambodian People's Party (CPP) remains firmly in control. Its leader, one-time Khmer Rouge fighter Hun Sen, has been at the head of Cambodian politics for 23 years.
When the CPP came second in polls in 1993, he was forced into a power-sharing deal with royalist party Funcinpec, but he then seized total control in a 1997 coup. The CPP went on to secure the most votes in polls in 1998 and 2003.
The Sam Rainsy Party, named after its outspoken French-educated leader, is currently the strongest opposition force. Funcinpec - which remains in the governing coalition - appears weakened after the ouster of leader Norodom Ranariddh, who lives overseas after being convicted in absentia of breach of trust.
Are we expecting any surprises?
 Not really. A total of 11 parties are contesting the polls, but the CPP looks set to win power for another five years. It has mounted a massive campaign aimed at building on its 73 seats in the 123-seat chamber - so there is a possibility it might end its coalition with Funcinpec.
The Sam Rainsy Party is popular in the capital but appears less so in rural areas.
The new Human Rights Party, led by government critic Kem Sokha, could erode some of its support. Other parties have been weakened by defections and internal fighting.
Will it be free and fair?
Polls in 1998 and, to a lesser extent, 2003 were marred by violence that mainly targeted opposition candidates and supporters. But so far campaigning for this election appears to be passing off smoothly.
However on 11 July journalist Khim Sambo, 47, and his 21-year-old son were shot and killed in Phnom Penh. Khim Sambo wrote for the Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper, which is affiliated to the Sam Rainsy Party. Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said that the killing appeared "intended to send a message not to engage in opposition politics".
The election build-up has also been marred by "intense and systematic efforts by the CPP to pressure opposition party members… to defect to the CPP", the rights group added in a statement. A number of Cambodian NGOs have also raised concerns about political intimidation of opposition candidates and activists.
As well as this, the CPP controls almost all media outlets in the country, giving it a strong campaign advantage. Media reports about candidates from ruling parties and opposition parties had been "quite imbalanced", the Asian Network for Free Elections said in a statement.
Several domestic and international monitors will observe the polls.
What are the main election issues?
Khmer Rouge rule left the Cambodian economy utterly devastated. But in the 30 years since the Maoist regime fell, things have steadily got better. In recent years investment has increased and both the tourist and garment industries have contributed to high economic growth - all of which favour the current government.
But the economy is currently facing a number of challenges. Rising food and fuel prices have pushed inflation to a new high, and there is growing unemployment. Cambodia's garment industry is also coming under increased competition from China and corruption blights many people's daily lives. That, a growing rich-poor divide and a culture of impunity for the rich and powerful have led to rumbling social discontent.
There is one other issue in the mix. A military stand-off with Thailand over the border temple of Preah Vihear - recently listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site - has generated a swell of nationalist pride, which is thought to give the CPP a pre-election boost.Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Cambodian parties make final push for votes
Cambodian Parties Make Final Push for Votes  KAMPONG CHAM, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodian politicians made a final push for votes on the last day of campaigning Friday for an election Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party is expected to dominate.Soaring nationalist sentiments have powered the campaigns, fuelled by a 10-day military standoff with neighbouring Thailand over a small patch of disputed land near the ruins of the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple. The most frenetic campaigning took place in Kampong Cham province, home to one million of the eight million people registered to cast ballots Sunday. Just after dawn Friday, thousands of opposition supporters waved flags and rode through the town of Kampong Cham on the backs of trucks and motorcycles, blaring party policies from speakers.  The day wound down with a candlelight vigil in Phnom Penh, with Sam Rainsy supporters wearing white shirts and caps bearing the party's candle logo. But few expect voters to oust the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has ruled since the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge nearly three decades ago. Hun Sen has held the top job for 23 years, and voters are widely expected to hand him another five-year term. His party loudly touts recent economic growth in Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries, which has averaged 11 percent over the last three years. Tensions over Preah Vihear only enhanced Hun Sen's standing, helping the CPP portray itself as the defender of the nation. "The voters realise we did a lot -- building roads, schools, health care, and especially the economy. Preah Vihear is the latest thing," Phnom Penh mayor Kep Chuktema told an early CPP rally in the capital. "We saved the lives of Cambodian people from the genocide. We gave people lives. From zero in 1979, Phnom Penh now has everything. From ghost city, now Phnom is a very good city," he said, with music blaring as 10,000 CPP supporters filled a riverside boulevard with a carnival atmosphere. Although the CPP is tipped to win a large majority, the party mounted a massive campaign, parading in shiny new vehicles while covering the country with posters and the airwaves with promises of further development. "The CPP campaigns are much fancier than those of other parties... The CPP outsmarts other political parties because those parties haven't achieved much at all," said Neang Sovath of the election monitoring group Comfrel. More than 13,000 domestic and international observers are set to monitor the 15,000 polling stations. The campaign has seen fewer irregularities and less violence than in the past, monitors say, partly because the nation is more stable, with garment exports and tourism helping pull Cambodia from the ashes of civil war. Hun Sen's CPP expects to expand its control over the 123-seat parliament, hoping to add eight seats to the 73 it already holds, which would cement his ruthless drive to secure his grip on power. He lost Cambodia's first elections, backed by the United Nations in 1993, but bargained his way into a power-sharing deal and then reasserted total control in a 1997 coup. Hundreds of people were killed in the run-up to elections the following year. Protests against the CPP victory were put down violently. The last national election in 2003 was less violent but plunged the kingdom into a year of political stalemate that resulted in a coalition with the royalist Funcinpec. The royalists have since imploded over internal scandals, while Sam Rainsy is expected to win few votes outside the capital. Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
The Rule of Murderers and Thieves
’’The Rule of Murderers and Thieves’’ A Cambodian opposition leader has little hope that his country's upcoming election will be free or fair. Why he's fighting hard anyway. Eric Pape Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 11:46 AM ET Jul 23, 2008 Cambodia was once the grand international project. Before the upheavals of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, the global community launched an ambitious plan to heal a ruined country through diplomacy, development and democracy. It's been an uneven road--littered with hundreds of bodies, questionable elections and billions of aid dollars.  The next milestone comes on July 27, the day Cambodians will take part in national polls to choose a prime minister for the third time since 1993, when the United Nations oversaw one of the biggest electoral projects in its history. Outside Cambodia, the world may be focusing on whether a war-crimes tribunal will finally bring some hint of justice for the 1.8 million victims of the Khmer Rouge nearly three decades after the regime fell, but inside the country voters have more pressing concerns: rising inflation, glaring corruption (including government-backed land seizures) and an ever-larger gap between the wealthy and the dirt-poor.  A dozen parties qualified to run parliamentary candidates, but two main contenders for the premiership stand out. The People's Party of incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen--a former communist and one-time low-level Khmer Rouge commander who remains an intimidating presence after more than two decades in power--holds 73 seats. The other is Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister who has long railed against corruption and was almost killed during a hit-squad attack during a 1997 protest. (A quick-moving bodyguard sacrificed his life by jumping in front of Rainsy; he was among the 13 confirmed dead.) Rainsy's party, which currently holds 24 parliamentary seats, appears likely to benefit from internal divisions in the royalist FUNCINPEC party, which currently holds 26 seats and is the junior partner in the current coalition government. But given Hun Sen's near absolute control of Cambodian television, radio, the courts and the electoral structures that validate elections, any meaningful decline in his power would amount to a stunning blow.  NEWSWEEK's Eric Pape spoke by cell phone with Cambodia's opposition leader about his third run against archrival Hun Sen, the "curse" of oil discoveries and the rise of Chinese influence. Excerpts: NEWSWEEK: As with the last three elections, rights groups are reporting political murders of government opponents during this campaign…
Sam Rainsy: [Last week] a journalist from the Khmer Conscience newspaper, Khim Sambo, and his 21-year-old son, were killed near the Olympic Market in Phnom Penh by a motorcycle hit squad. These are the sixth and seventh murders linked to politics in this campaign. But [Hun Sen allies] also threaten villagers. "And if you vote for the opposition," they are told, "there could be civil war; your homes could be destroyed." They can lose their livelihoods, even their cows. How is this campaign different from the last three?
There is less killing, less violence and more subtle tricks to disenfranchise. Many people's names are not on the voter rolls. All of the government's supporters will have the right to vote--and they have "ghost voters" to inflate those numbers--but many others will not be able to vote. What do you expect to happen on Election Day?
The [ruling People's Party] will organize something very exceptional; otherwise their result will be very bad. So they threaten and buy off party agents [party appointees who help monitor the election], so that they turn a blind eye to cheating. This leads to another problem: there are a few hundred international observers for 15,000 polling and ballot-counting stations; how can they guarantee a fair election? The final results depend on the degree of manipulation. If we can prevent, resist or overcome this, we will have more votes than last time. But in the end, if they use violence, manipulation and money to buy party agents and neutralize observers, they can proclaim any result that they want. Is your campaigning causing you trouble in Cambodian courts?
There are lawsuits accusing me of insulting the country's leaders. I publicized a report by [environmental watchdog] Global Witness that was banned in Cambodia because it describes some leaders as "thieves." So I said: "Our leaders are thieves, according to Global Witness." I mentioned it, so I may be liable to five fines of up to 10 million riels [$2,410 each]. But people who steal from the country are thieves. Hun Sen recently said that he had stopped talking to the opposition because they only insult him.
If Hun Sen doesn't talk to the opposition, I don't mind. As long as he doesn't kill the opposition. Why is Hun Sen still prime minister after a quarter century?
He is clever and very gifted. He is a survivor, but survival means there is no vision. You eliminate or weaken opponents, but he is leading the country nowhere. This can't last forever. There is growing unemployment, accelerating inflation, ongoing land grabs, continuing poverty, the using-up of natural resources. There are economic crimes and impunity for violent crimes and assassinations. It is the rule of murderers and thieves. How will the discovery of oil deposits affect Cambodia?
If things stay as they are, it will mean more problems and instability, more corruption and poverty. It will be a curse--unless there is more pressure for Cambodia to become a real democracy. Then these new resources could be used to develop the country and its human resources, to strengthen democracy. But if Hun Sen remains in power, we will go the way of Nigeria. How has the international role in Cambodia evolved?
Hun Sen needs the recognition of the West, but he no longer needs its money. China brings money to Cambodia without taking an interest in human rights or democratic conditions. And it is lucrative for China here; they enjoy the natural resources. In different forms, China is probably the largest investor in Cambodia. You can see it even in education now. There are hundreds of Chinese schools, recently built, with funds from Chinese authorities. And more and more Chinese companies come in "under the table." The West is losing its power here. And when we get oil revenues, Western countries' leverage will be even smaller. There are just a few more years now when Western countries can still press for change. After that, it will be impossible. So the will of the Cambodian people must be expressed properly now. If the West allows it to be distorted again, it is the worst service they could render to Cambodians. Is it possible to have a free election in Cambodia?
No. You have to measure the degree of unfairness. The question is: how unfair and how unfree? Can you campaign?
We don't have access to broadcast media, and we have to rely on word of mouth, and there are dangers, but we still try. You accuse the government of cheating in each election; why do you keep running for office?
If we persevere we will reach our goal in time. Despite the problems, our vote increases in each election. And even the most powerful dictators make mistakes. Who predicted the fall of the Soviet Union and its disintegration? They were much more powerful than Cambodia's leaders. There is a wave of change, in mentalities and expectations. People say: We've had nearly 30 years of Hun Sen. They say, "K'plo," "change, change, change." Hun Sen thinks he is a giant who can sit on a volcano and keep it down, but it could blow at any moment.
Labels: CPP, Election, hun sen, Sam Rainsy, Sam Rainsy Party
Towards Hun Sen's Cambodia
Towards Hun Sen's Cambodia
By Craig Guthrie
 PHNOM PENH - Even though Cambodia goes to the polls Sunday for the country's fourth general election since Vietnamese occupation ended in 1989, Prime Minister Hun Sen can comfortably escape the chaotic campaign noise in his heavily guarded, villa-studded compound in suburban Phnom Penh and light up a well-earned 555 cigarette - his smoke of choice since his soldiering days.
 The one-eyed, chain-smoking "Strongman of Cambodia" could play a casual round of golf at the private course kept groomed at the complex known to locals as the "Tiger's Lair", or maybe take a helicopter trip from the adjacent military airfield used to whisk him up and down his impoverished nation. In fact, as his foes rally and march around the capital, it probably doesn't matter much what Hun Sen does.
Outside in the streets, colorful campaign convoys are clogging Phnom Penh's frangipani-lined boulevards, with truck-mounted bullhorns and the frenetic clashing of cymbals and drums promoting their respective candidates. The scenes are colorful and vibrant, the atmosphere intense, but many say the underlying political picture is actually black and white.
By all accounts, 57-year-old Hun Sen, in power since 1985, has little to worry from the oncoming polls; in recent months he has increasingly consolidated his hold over the electorate through a masterful opera of jibes, scaremongering and gold-toothed charm.
By outfoxing an already fractured opposition, wooing billions in foreign investment and artfully placating the once-powerful labor movement and previously hostile superpowers, the master manipulator has again outmaneuvered his rivals.
Hun Sen - riding a booming economy, hard-won social stability and a vast network of patronage and blood relations [One big happy family in Cambodia, Asia Times Online, March 20, 2007] - has all but ensured that he and his formerly communist Cambodian People's Party (CPP) will head the country when the potentially boundless riches from oil deposits, found by Chevron off the southwestern coast, begin to flow.
 Hun Sen is in full grip of the nation's institutions and tightly aligned with its wealthiest tycoons. He has predicted that his CPP machine will win 81of the National Assembly's 123 seats and 73% of the vote. The margin of victory is probably immaterial, since the country, as proposed by opposition party leader Sam Rainsy, adopted a 50-plus-one seat requirement in 2004 to form a government, replacing the previous two-thirds of the vote rule. The proposal was passed to avoid a repeat of the political stalemates which destabilized the country following the 1998 and 2003 elections, and resulted in fractious coalition governments.
Even so, Hun Sen has been openly deriding his opponent's chances for months. In recent weeks he has told them they can "stay at home" on election day, and has announced that he himself will sit out the last few weeks of the campaign in order to avoid "verbal confrontations".
In another speech, the prime minister pre-picked his cabinet while comparing his management style to Manchester United's football manager Alex Ferguson. This is classic Hun Sen: a powerful orator who mixes paddy-field populism, personal potshots and home-spun humor to embolden his allies and intimidate his foes. In 2006, he laughed at a foiled government attack, saying in a speech reported by the Phnom Penh Post: "I know all. Even if you farted, I would still know. You cannot hide from me."
In the past he has said he has no intention of standing down as prime minister until he is at least 90 years old. This would be a remarkable run: he became the Vietnamese-backed premier of Cambodia in 1985, when he was 33.
As the country some call Asia's "best kept secret" heads into its Fourth Mandate - what the new government will be called - Cambodia is more than ever Hun Sen's nation. This sits poorly with his legion of critics, some of whom have labeled the CPP regime a corrupt "kleptocratic elite" with little regard for the millions of rural rice farmers living in abject poverty. Others, including diplomats, say worse.
In 2006, UN high commissioner for human rights Louis Arbour called the problems within the Cambodian judiciary "profound". Dr Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission, wrote in a June 18 editorial, ...institutions remain subject to the control inherited from pre-1993 communist days, and are utilized to serve the interests of the ruling class rather than those of the people. Although Cambodia has held periodic elections, and preparations for the forthcoming election are underway, its multi-party, liberal democracy has little substance The National Election Committee is regularly accused by the opposition of a lack of independence, and many independent election monitoring groups have alleged that state resources and media have been deployed to the ruling party's electoral advantage.
"Never assume that Cambodia is a democracy," said Chea Vannath, a political commentator. "If a democracy is when a nation is ruled by a government chosen by its people, yes, Cambodia is democratic. But in terms of governance, Cambodia is a different story. There is no check and balance on the executive branch, the judiciary or the monarchy."
In recent weeks he has also even veered away from an earlier commitment to adopt a long-awaited draft anti-corruption law, which foreign donors and civil society groups have long clamored for. And he's deployed old-fashioned scaremongering to justify the controversial move.
"Will corrupt officials agree to any confiscation of their riches? No. Then war will erupt," said Hun Sen in a speech broadcast on national radio at the end of May. "After confiscating for a while, all the rich people will all become poor - as in Khmer Rouge times - more than 3 million people will be destroyed. Don't play with that," he said.
A temple revisited
The country's millions of impoverished farmers and fishermen, for years saturated with state-controlled media looping four-hour-long Hun Sen speeches interspersed with reels of CPP officials handing over packs of instant noodles to needy villagers, are likely headed towards five more years of inequality, drudgery, and bad TV.
The premier's media-influenced popularity was recently pushed to greater heights by the listing last week of the Preah Vihear temple complex as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) national heritage site. When the decision was announced live on national channel CTN, Hun Sen's image was shown with revolving stars around it. A televised concert held to celebrate the listing was attended by hosts regularly shouting words of support for Hun Sen among other cheers of national glory.
The ensuing border tension with Thailand over the controversial listing will be a strong test of his government's ability to stand up to stronger neighbors before a watchful Cambodian public in the heat of an election season. Aside from the temple tiff, a closer look at the less-monitored countryside has revealed that the level of political killings, threats and intimidation that have marred previous elections has substantially diminished in the run-up to this weekend's polls.
But the lack of violence is probably more a testament to the CPP's successful vanquishing of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party's (SRP) grassroots machinery. The opposition's hardship has been brewing for months, due in part to some deft political maneuvers by Hun Sen and the CPP political machine. But their spectacular collapse in the lead-up to the July 27 election has still surprised many political observers. The SRP has been deflated by the defection of more than 20 high profile lawmakers and tens of thousand of grassroots members party executives claims the CPP has bought to switch sides.
"We have seen a people buying campaign ... Prime minister Hun Sen actively seeks out SRP members by using money as bait Each member receives at least US$2,000, and those with high positions in the SRP receive US$200,000," said Rainsy in a recent letter. "I am worried and feel pity for those [defectors] who get cheated. After the election they will be kicked out," he said. Hun Sen responded by saying that SRP defectors "are not goods or animals to be bought and sold".
The SRP has been left meek, and hoping for a highly unlikely post-election "people power" movement to challenge a CPP-dominated government. The SRP campaign has revolved mostly around the now globally recognized opposition stratagem of pointing to high oil and food prices as the incumbent government's failure to serve its people. But both strategies seem doomed to failure: a planned "mass rally" of SRP supporters against inflation saw a mere 300 supporters turn out, leading Hun Sen to quip that a local midget comedian usually has more people in his audience.
 The punch-drunk party has also lost one of its more meaningful friends in the trade unions movement, which has the power to mobilize hundreds of thousands of garment and factory workers in a mass protest. The leader of the largest union, Chea Mony - whose brother popular SRP-affiliated union leader Chea Vichea was gunned down in 2004 - announced earlier this year the bloc was withdrawing from politics. The decision almost immediately followed Hun Sen's announcement of a $6 monthly increase to garment workers monthly salaries - bringing them to $56.
The loss of the trade unions - the largest organized sector in Cambodia - is a double blow to Rainsy, who, along with Chea Vichea and Ou Mary, founded the labor movement in 1996.
Opposition off the rails
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