Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua to visit Brussels next week

SAM RAINSY AND MU SOCHUA TO VISIT BRUSSELS IN ORDER TO ASK THE EUROPEAN UNION TO HELP ENSURE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Member of Parliament Mu Sochua will be in Brussels on March 18. Accompanied by a number of Cambodians living in Europe they will meet with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and officials of the European Commission (EC). As the July 28 national elections are approaching, they will ask the two institutions representing the European Union (E.U.) to convince the Cambodian government to implement the election recommendations issued by the United Nations in July 2012. These recommendations are intended to ensure democratic elections in line with the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia signed by the following European countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.

Because the Cambodian government continues to adamantly reject the U.N. recommendations, the European Union should send a clear message to Cambodia’s strongman, Prime Minister Hun Sen, telling him that

1- The E.U. will not send again election observers to monitor the July 2013 elections so as not to have recommendations from European observers, like those issued following the previous national elections in July 2008, rejected again because the Cambodian government shows no will to implement any reform.

2- The E.U. will not recognize the legitimacy of the July 2013 elections which -- given the countless and serious irregularities in their preparation including the manipulation of the electoral roll -- will not meet minimum standards for democratic elections as recommended by the United Nations and will only lead to an unacceptable distortion of the will of the Cambodian people.

  

3- The E.U. will not recognize the legitimacy of any government stemming from such illegitimate elections.

The united democratic opposition represented by the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) believes that only such an appropriate and timely warning from the European Union, which is Cambodia's largest donor institution, could convince the Cambodian government to accept a compromise leading to more democratic and acceptable elections, a sine qua non for the country’s stability and prosperity.

The two essential points in the U.N. recommendations are related to a reform of the electoral commission and the full participation of opposition leader Sam Rainsy in the electoral contest.

CNRP Secretariat