RFA
A group of local poll monitors on Friday declared Cambodia’s national elections neither free nor fair as the country’s top court threw out all opposition complaints of ballot irregularities.
The coalition of 40 civil society organizations which assessed the July 28 vote made the conclusion ahead of a mass protest Saturday by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) a day before the government-appointed National Election Committee (NEC) announces final results.
The monitors recommended an overhaul of the NEC, which manages the country’s polls, and of the Constitutional Council, which has rejected challenges against the NEC’s preliminary results that gave a win to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
They judged the administration of the polls as “not yet free and not yet fair” and having less “integrity” than those in past years despite a decrease in serious election-related violence.
“Previous elections organized by the NEC were deemed to be below the international standards of free and fair elections, but in this election key problems had not been properly addressed and affected the process and administration of the election,” their statement said.
The groups, which include the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Nicfec), also called for reforming the mechanisms for election conflict resolution and poll irregularity investigations.
Review completed
The Constitutional Council, the final arbiter of election complaints, brought its 17-day review of the hotly-contested polls to a close on Friday, ruling against all 14 of the 15 CNRP complaints it accepted.
The complaints had challenged preliminary vote counts announced last month by the NEC that support the CPP’s claims that it won 68 parliamentary seats to the CNRP’s 55. The council’s dismissal paves the way for the NEC to ratify those results on Sunday.
“The Constitutional Council has the honor to inform the public that the Council has completely examined and decided on all disputes involved with the fifth mandate election in 2013 as of the evening of Friday, Sept. 6,” a statement by the court said.
The court also rejected a complaint on irregularities in Kandal province during a hearing that CNRP representatives walked out on in frustration.
“The Constitutional Council … has failed to provide CNRP justice,” CNRP representative Eng Chhay Eang told RFA’s Khmer Service on leaving the hearing.
The CNRP claims it won at least 63 seats and has had a wider victory snatched away by widespread irregularities.
Protest preparations
CNRP supporters are set to protest against the election Saturday morning in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park in a demonstration that has been planned for weeks.
As supporters made final preparations, CNRP senior leader Mu Sochua told a press conference that the party was “ready” for the demonstration and that it expects at least 20,000 people to join.
The demonstration is scheduled to last from 7:00 a.m. to noon, but may go on longer if demonstrators choose, she said.
On Thursday, the Ministry of the Interior granted the CNRP permission to hold the demonstration on the condition that the number of protesters does not exceed 10,000 and the protesters do not march or camp out in the park.
CNRP Deputy President Kem Sokha said the party cannot limit the number of protesters or the duration of the demonstration and that it had taken measures to prevent protesters from getting out of hand or provoking any violence.
“Having a demonstration means that the public will express their views; it doesn’t mean the CNRP can order them [to join or not],” he said in an RFA interview.
The party has established a code of conduct for those taking part in the protest, he said, adding that no violence had broken out when tens of thousands of supporters thronged the city’s streets to welcome CNRP President Sam Rainsy on his return to the country from exile a week before voting day.
The government has warned that police will retaliate and demonstration leaders will be held responsible before the law if the protest turns violent or threatens security.
Travel restrictions
Kem Sokha urged authorities not to bar supporters from traveling to Phnom Penh for the demonstration.
A group of would-be demonstrators from Takeo province said Friday they have been barred from joining the demonstration.
They plan to pray for justice at local pagodas instead, they said.
The travel restrictions reported in Takeo come after Svay Rieng police on Tuesday stopped a group of about 100 villagers traveling to a religious meeting in Sihanoukville province in what members of the group suspected was part of government measures to prevent opposition supporters from traveling to Phnom Penh.
Police spurn flower offerings
A-Hunsen so scared of his ramifications now after committed serious crimes [...] and he became a lackey of Hanoi, a traitor of Khmer nation, Hunsen fears someday his son would kill him other than no one.
[This comment has been edited by RFA Editorial staff per our Terms of Use]
Sep 09, 2013 11:52 AM
As was written before by some educated individual, the NGOs and some of the observers are on payrol from the USA. this same applies to some of the media. so can we trust what we hear from the media or NGOs? Not me .Some politicians prey on the uninformed.Sam Rainsy is a tool of the Khmer rouge which killed over 2Million Khmer. Now some that do not understand the history desire to place a KR supporter into power VS Hun Sen that with the help of Vietnam forced the KR out. Sihanouk in 1993 wanted the KR to share power in the Government. This is part of the reason Cambodia has problems today.Some USA politicos receive campaign donations from
KR supporters which now favor philosphy of the KR..Just listen to SR and Khem Sokha.
Sep 07, 2013 09:37 PM
NOT seeing the truth works best for the ONE eye dictator! His justice is half-blind. The web of lies becomes his reality failing to see that everybody else knows about his habitual lies...
Sep 07, 2013 08:47 AM
The police will not accepted the rose because it's controlled by PM Hun Sane. 90% of Cambodian population are on CNRP side. 10% or on CPP which command by PM Hun Sane and corrupted government. We need to remove Hun Sane Out now!!!!!!!!~!
Sep 06, 2013 08:04 PM
The Constitutional Council is as stupid as the NEC. How could they not do anything when fraud staring them in the face? If they really wanted to correct the problem, after found out there were problems, they would recount the ballots or conduct re-election to correct this problem.
CCC and NEC are run by children. This is want children do, they move on without solving anything.
Sep 06, 2013 07:56 PM
