Cases of Voting Irregularities Show Election is Problematic [An international observer sees Cambodian election as problematic]

By The Cambodia Daily 

August 1, 2013

By Michael Liu

I am an international lawyer from China. I have been working in Cambodia on and off for two years now.

I became aware that China sent an official delegation to observe the general election, “China and Hungary Call National Election ‘Free and Fair”’ (Wednesday, page 19). As you correctly pointed out, there is no general election in China, meaning I was never eligible to vote in a fashion like my fellow Cambodians.

While I remain grateful to the Cambodian state and its people for giving me the opportunity to be an international observer de­spite my lack of experience in elections, I’d beg to differ from the view to generally categorize this election as “problemless.”

I, for one, without any soliciting, witnessed at least two incidents of voting irregularities on the polling day and was informed of many more from other sources.

Because of my personal experience, I do see some merit of taking a cautious approach when evaluating this election.

Michael Liu, Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia international observer/Chinese Initiative on International Criminal Justice