Australia's ABC TV
Cambodia's upcoming elections have been dubbed the
"Cambodian Spring", with an unprecedented number of young activists
taking to the streets and social media, demanding a change.
More
than a third of registered voters are aged between 18 and 30, and the
Opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) has the young voters
firmly in their sights.
"We are talking about youth who are totally dispirited by the government," senior CNRP candidate Mu Sochua says.
"It
is so corrupt that the money for education, for employment, for
vocational training for the youth has disappeared. It has gone into the
hands of the families of the rich."
A merger with other opposition
parties has given the CNRP its best chance at winning the election and
toppling Prime Minister Hun Sen's 28-year-rule.
It's campaigning with promises to stamp out corruption, and improve wages and job opportunities.
"What is the future of the youth in Cambodia so far? No jobs," senior CNRP candidate Mu Sochua says.
"Even if there are jobs, the wages are so low it's not living wage. It's almost exploitation."
Social media activism
Cambodia's election roll:
| Age 18-30 | 3,534,673 |
|---|---|
| Age 31-45 | 3,337,574 |
| Age 46+ | 2,803,206 |
| Male | 4,593,610 |
| Female | 5,081,843 |
| Total voters | 9,675,453 |
Source: Cambodia National Election Committee
Crucial to the Opposition's campaign are young voters
like Kimsour Lim, a 24-year-old university student with a love for
social media.
"I use Facebook to coordinate with the youth to inform them when we are marching for the National Rescue Party," she says.
"Initially
the youth, including myself, didn't understand and were not interested
in Facebook or politics, but later, I began to understand many problems
in our society.
"I always send my friends information through Facebook, because none of the 14 government TV channels support the CNRP."
The
ruling Cambodia People's Party is still favoured to win this election
because of continuing popularity with the poorer and rural communities.
It's
also targeting the growing youth vote, enlisting its own under-30s as
part of the CPP Youth movement, to take to Cambodia's streets.
The
group has been occupying the corners of Samdech Preash Suramarit
Boulevard and Sothear Ros Boulevard in Phnom Penh to distribute campaign
material.
"I feel the same as the other youths of CPP," says activist Sreypov.
"Cambodia is now peaceful...we have political stability...we are developing all types of industries.
"Who is responsible? The CPP."
Another activist, Boros, has been helping out on the social media front.
"All youths, including my CPP members, friends and I are expressing their support through Facebook," he says.
"I think that today the youth have a higher education from universities, through much studying.
"Therefore
they know very clearly that voting for the country and for the position
of prime minister is very important for them."
Fairness fears
The
Executive Director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections
(COMFREL) in Cambodia is impressed at the level of youth activism in
this year's election.
"We are so happy and proud about the participation of young people in the election," Koul Panha says.
"Through social media, they get a lot of information about the election, about politics.
"They share among themselves through social media, and that's very positive."
COMFREL says despite the optimism, the campaign is not free and fair.
It accuses the traditional media of supporting the ruling CPP, and says the National Election Committee lacks transparency.
Another NGO, the National Democratic Institute, says 10 per cent of names on the electoral roll are bogus.
"Fairness
of campaign has not improved, but the environment of freeness of the
election has improved because it is less violent than previous
elections," Mr Panha says.
Members of the United States Congress have threatened to withdraw aid to Cambodia should the elections be deemed undemocratic.
The government has reacted angrily to the threat.
"A
number of policy makers, law makers from the United States, they [have
threatened our] independence and sovereignty, and a threat to hijack the
will of the people," spokesperson Phay Siphan says.
COMFREL has
10,000 election observers, 70 per cent of whom are young people, but
with 19,000 polling stations across the country, the organisation admits
it simply doesn't have the power to ensure fairness.
The government says every party has the right to monitor electoral stations and vote counting.
1 comment:
Only CNRP can save us from the path of destruction. Vote for CNRP to save our motherland from become part of the New Vietnam in 20 years. Hun Sen and the CPP do not care about Cambodia, that is why they gave thousands and thousands of prestige land to Vietnam, their puppet master. These lands will be occupied by Vietnam in the next 99 years and it would be part of Vietnam sooner than since Cambodia government has no control of that land.
VOTE CNRP (7)
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