In the wake of an announcement by the National Election Committee (NEC) that it has completed
its investigation into election irregularities, the U.S. and Australian
embassies in Phnom Penh on Monday continued to call for an independent
and transparent inquiry into the results of the July 28 election.
“We still say that an investigation into irregularities needs to
happen. The outcome of these electoral disputes needs to be something
that Cambodian people as a whole will be happy with,” said Sean
McIntosh, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy.
The Australian Embassy
in Phnom Penh also said that it supports further investigations into
irregularities alleged to have taken place during the national election.
“The Embassy calls on all concerned parties in Cambodia to assist in
ensuring a transparent investigation of reported irregularities,” a
spokesperson for the Australian Embassy said in an email.
Jean-Francois Cautain, the European Union’s
(E.U.) ambassador to Cambodia, declined to comment Monday on whether
the E.U. supported further investigation into irregularities.
However, in a statement sent to opposition leader Sam Rainsy last
week, E.U. High Commissioner Catherine Ashton said that “alleged
irregularities will have to be dealt with before the final result can be
announced.”
“To this end, I strongly encourage your party to swiftly come to an
agreement with all stakeholders involved on an adequate mechanism to deal with those issues,” she added.
Election monitors have said the NEC has now completely removed itself
from the political conflict between the CPP and CNRP without making any
significant effort to fulfill its role as mediator of electoral
disputes.
But the statements from international donors
calling for a credible investigation are unlikely to influence the
government unless they are backed up by cuts to foreign aid, analysts
say.
According to John Ciorciari, a Cambodia expert at the University of
Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, international donors
would be unlikely to risk their relations with Cambodia over the
government’s failure to cooperate in an election investigation.
“Beyond public and private
exhortation, the main levers for immediate U.S. and E.U. influence are
cuts to foreign aid. That is a card neither the U.S. nor E.U. is keen to
play unless they believe the cuts will precipitate a serious inquiry
and possibly lead to significant CPP concessions or even a re-vote
leading to a possible change in power,” Mr. Ciorciari said.
“If [donors] expect cuts would simply drive the existing leadership
away and would not generate meaningful concessions, they are less likely
to find that strategy appealing. International pressure may be
necessary to bring about an investigation, but it isn’t likely to be
sufficient,” he added.
Although ignoring external criticism has become a post-election
ritual for the CPP, the relatively narrow margin of victory this year,
along with the scale of reported irregularities, has the potential to
change typical power dynamics, said Carlyle Thayer, a Southeast Asia expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy.
“Calling for investigation by outside bodies happens after every
election, but to my knowledge the NEC has perfunctorily rejected these
complaints and not changed a single result. This year is different,” he
said, adding that the burden of proof was now on the CNRP to present a
compelling case that they would have won the election if not for
irregularities engineered by the CPP.
“If it looks like the regime is stonewalling and will not do a major
investigation into massive electoral fraud, then outside powers have the
leverage of cutting aid or being punitive if that is going to change
anything,” said Mr. Thayer.
“But [the CPP] are masters of using all levers of their incumbency in
power to prevent these election results from being overturned. They
will do it with just enough veneer of legality that makes it difficult
for outside countries [to take punitive measures],” he added.
Despite the calls for a credible investigation, NEC Secretary-General
Tep Nytha said that the electoral commission had done its part in
“settling” 17 complaints over the election results submitted by the
opposition CNRP, all of which were ultimately rejected.
“The NEC has fulfilled its obligation and we have resolved the
complaints properly and correctly. We conducted the investigation
properly in order to clarify the ballot count,” Mr. Nytha said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen struck a conciliatory tone in his first
remarks following the election, saying that the CPP was willing to
cooperate with the CNRP in forming a joint committee to investigate the
election. But negotiations between the two parties have stalled since
then.
In an initial round of negotiations between the CPP and CNRP on
August 9, the two parties agreed in principle to the formation of an ad
hoc committee to investigate election irregularities. However, the two
sides remain at odds over who would head the investigation.
The CPP insists that it will only participate if the process is led
by the NEC, while the CNRP is demanding that the investigation be
conducted by an independent body, as it alleges that the CPP and NEC
collaborated in committing electoral manipulation and voter fraud.
Independent political analyst Lao Mong Hay said neither the NEC nor
CPP have indicated that they are willing to delay a timetable that would
see a new government formed by the end of September.
“It seems that the ruling party is determined to push ahead and force
its way into the opening of the National Assembly and the formation of a
new government as soon as possible,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Kuch Naren)
4 comments:
Hun Sen Vietminh/Vietcong GO HOME!
let's help rainsy, sokha, you must creat right mechanism, kick all troubles maker naive parasites out and please do not expect any fund raising from them, and then shout your mouth be a bosses, let your smart talented team do the deals. remember most of those naive parasites was ex khmer rough that usa. European brought themes from boder camp. wasn't they, ?. mike
The whole world knows Hun sen is a dictator because these people ask him to step down. Hun sen's day is numbered!
why call? they already know CPP cheat and lied. Duh, just go snipe ah hun sen. case close. no one dies but ah hun sen and bring his damn family to justice.
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