Kem Sokha: The Cambodian People’s Party Began Political Disturbances

Mr. Kem Sokha, during a meeting with his supporters in the provinces.

24th March 2008
By San Suwit
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

President of the Human Right Party (HRP) has said that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has returned to the old tricks of disturbances to political activities of various political parties that it had practised in the past.

Mr Kem Sokha, who had a meeting with his party members at Baek Chan village, Ampil Teuk commune in Kampong Trolach district, Kampong Chhnang province on Sunday yesterday, has told Radio Free Asia that his meeting has a legal permission and including a request for an intervention made to provincial officials, yet there are still disturbances from a group of people from the Cambodian People’s Party without any order from the top for them to stop.

Mr Kem Sokha said: “The local authority is still using the same old kinds of disturbances to the political activities of other political parties, such as the Human Right Party which is having a meeting with the people and they played loud music with amplified speakers about 100 metres from the meeting. The top leadership, such as the prime minister, has appealed for a free and fair election, free of disturbances and free of intimidations, but the local authorities are still continuing (to practise these kinds of things), so we don’t know whether what they did was trying to make their leaders lose face or whether they did these things because their leaders said one thing and asked them to do another thing. And we have contacted the provincial authority, the secretary of the Kampong Cham Municipality laughed at Mr Keo Remy who made a phone call to him. He said that he cannot do anything as today is Sunday. He just said nonsense like that, as if the top leadership asked them to organise these sorts of disturbances. So, it’s like the top leadership said one thing and the local authority is doing another different thing.”

Despite many people came to his political meeting, Mr Kem Sokha has said that, according to his reports from his party members at Ampil Teuk commune, the CPP-biased local authority has forbidden many other people from joining the meeting on Sunday yesterday.

Please be reminded that in the past few consecutive months at the beginning of 2008, Prime Minister Hun Sen made speeches to the people in almost every province which have been broadcast on state-owned and private media to the people throughout the country.

In his speeches, other than indirect attacks on the leaders of other political parties, the prime minister has also declared about his stance in relation to the election results, including his appeals for a free, fair and acceptable election.

The prime minister said: “I will go to transfer power at the new Office of the Council of Ministers to a new power-holder (election winner) in order to preserve the political stability and after that I am free to travel. No problem, I can play golf. There won’t be any problem. But I don’t think the situation will be that bad. But it will depend on the will of the people. We will leave it to the people to decide, but don’t say that I am campaigning for the election. But I wanted to take this opportunity to appeal for a free, fair, transparent, violence-free and acceptable election. And any action that was hatched out of violence and intimidation is an action that destroys the good reputation of the royal Cambodian government and the people of Cambodia, as well as destroying the hard-earned achievements of the royal government.” //