Negotiations between the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and ruling Cambodian People’s Party looked like they might screech to an abrupt halt yesterday, as opposition leaders visiting supporters in Tbong Khmum province said they will “cut off” talks.
Speaking to about 1,000 supporters in the province’s O’Raing Ov district yesterday, CNRP president Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha said the talks were a “useless” attempt to “dupe foreign countries” into continuing to provide aid and called for renewed demonstrations.
“First, we stop negotiations. The talks are useless, because this [CPP working] group just delays [proceedings] to dupe foreign countries,” Rainsy said. “They said that the [Cambodia] National Rescue Party and [Cambodian] People’s Party have already agreed to negotiate, so give us money.
“So we will cut off negotiations and tell foreign countries not to give the money to [Prime Minister Hun Sen] the thief,” Rainsy said.
He added that dialogue would not restart until the CPP proved itself serious about National Election Committee reform – namely, by agreeing to key CNRP demands that NEC members should require approval by two-thirds of parliament and that it should be a constitutionally mandated body.
“When the NEC [will be] changed, we will talk more,” he said. “This time, there is not any choice besides [holding another] demonstration. So please all [citizens] prepare yourselves to hold a mass demonstration . . . to have 2 million people.”
Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, yesterday called on the CNRP to continue the talks, adding that the CNRP “cannot use demonstrations as a basis to resolve the problem”.
He said the government had no plans to reform the NEC until the next mandate.
“The NEC could change in the next mandate. We will not change it now,” he said.
Despite the public announcement of an end to talks by the CNRP leadership, senior party officials in Phnom Penh yesterday could not confirm whether negotiations – which include a planned Monday meeting of a joint election reform committee – were actually being called off.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Wednesday that the CNRP will renew mass demonstrations if the ruling CPP continues to reject a proposal to make the membership of the National Election Committee (NEC) more representative.
Speaking to supporters in Thbong Khmom province, which was recently created from an eastern portion of Kompong Cham province, Mr. Rainsy issued his protest warning after Monday’s second joint-party meeting on election reform stalled over the CPP’s rejection of the CNRP’s proposal that two-thirds of National Assembly lawmakers be required to agree on the appointment of new NEC members.
The NEC’s leadership is currently handpicked by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP. The CPP has said it will not consider the opposition’s proposal, which would end its control over the composition of the election organizing body.
Mr. Rainsy also said that his party will not attend next Monday’s meeting with the CPP if the proposal to reform the NEC is not accepted.
“First, we stop negotiations,” Mr. Rainsy said in a video of the event that was posted to his Facebook page.
“They [the CPP] just wants to waste our time cheating foreigners—not Cambodians, as Cambodians know this well.”
“They make [foreigners] confused that we are getting along and are in the process of negotiations, [so they can ask] ‘please give us [aid] money,’” he said.
“So we stop negotiations and tell foreigners not to give money to these thieves. If they don’t agree to change the NEC, it means that they want to steal votes so there can be no talk. When they change the NEC, we will talk.”
Demonstrations will be the only alternative, Mr. Rainsy added.
Dear Mr. Baird; Thank you very much for taking time to respond to us concerning the Election Irregularities and the latest political development in Cambodia. Many Cambodians and their diasporas in North America have relentlessly advocated for free, fair and just election in Cambodia. They have petitioned to the United Nations particularly the co-signatory countries of Paris Peace Agreement in 23 October 1991 to help enforce the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to abide by the national constitution and the international laws.
Recently, the government-led party used national security arm-force to beat and shoot those worker protesters from various garment factories who demanded the increase of decent wage of $160US per month.
There are remaining huge challenges of impunity in this country. There have been continual of extra-judicial killing, arresting and jailing in this country. As the result from the protesting disperse with arm-force, the government is still jailing 21 workers and unionists, and ban the freedom of assembly in which more than 9 people grouping together is prohibited.
We, the Cambodian-Canadians are desperate to seeing the continual violation of human rights in Cambodia.
We would like to submit our gratitude to the Canadian Government that has renewed support of political institution development, the rule of laws, and the ongoing peaceful negotiation between CNRP and CPP to tackle the problem of election flaws in order to conduct in-dept reform of this electoral institution to be acceptable from all stakeholders.
At the moment, the Cambodian diaporas worldwide have also been collecting the petition from our bothers and sisters to demand the right to vote in Cambodia national election so that we can participate with social, economic and political development in Cambodia.
Thank you for your correspondence of August 16, 2013, expressing your concerns regarding the elections in the Kingdom of Cambodia. I regret the delay in replying to you.
The Government of Canada closely followed events in Cambodia. Canada encourages all sides to seek a peaceful and transparent resolution to the disputes pertaining to the election results.
The Government of Canada has been involved in several projects in Cambodia, including programs aimed at developing democratic institutions by improving the capacity of the National Assembly, the Senate and electoral institutions.
Canada will continue to encourage democracy and the rule of law in Cambodia. Canadian officials will continue to monitor developments in Cambodia and raise specific concerns with Cambodian authorities.
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns.
The bipartisan Election Reform Commission, which has met twice since its creation last month and produced few results, appears to now have broken down entirely, with the ruling CPP saying it will refuse to even consider a provision that the opposition says is fundamental for any further meetings.
The two parties on Tuesday hunkered down in their positions over a proposal that the CNRP raised to require two-thirds of the country’s lawmakers to appoint new members to the National Election Committee (NEC) as a way to ensure the political neutrality of the much-criticized body.
The issue led to the parties failing to produce a joint statement after Monday’s meeting.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy also said Monday that CNRP members would not attend next Monday’s commission meeting if the proposal for a neutral NEC was not accepted, describing it as “fundamental” to electoral reform and a test of the CPP’s seriousness.
In a statement received Tuesday, the CPP said it could not agree to such a proposal, which would end its tight control over the composition of the NEC.
“The Cambodian People’s Party regrets that the Cambodia National Rescue Party keeps using this as a condition, which may cause a stall in the reform of future elections,” the statement says.
Sik Bunhok, one of the CPP’s six delegates on the commission, said that the ruling party could not reasonably be expected to accept the proposal.
“We are willing to undertake electoral reform but the proposal raised by the CNRP to have two-thirds majority of the National Assembly to appoint members to the NEC will cause a lot of problems,” he said.
