July
28, 2012
APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN UNION
FOR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN CAMBODIA
We are making this appeal to the European Union as leaders of Cambodia’s
democratic opposition, which has recently united to create the
Democratic Movement for National Rescue (DMNR). We are preparing for the
next legislative elections, scheduled for July 28, 2013.
One year exactly before the elections, we wish to warn the European
Union to exercise the greatest vigilance with regard to the poll, which
it must not accept as being legitimate and reflecting the popular will
unless two fundamental conditions are met in advance.
The first condition is thorough reform of the body that administers
elections in Cambodia, the National Election Committee (NEC). This
organization should be non-partisan, but is in fact under the control of
the ruling party, the CPP. As long as the NEC remains in its current
form, there can be no fair elections.
The NEC must be reformed in line with recommendations from the largest
international observer group monitoring the last national elections in
2008. The Election Observation Mission from the European Union (EOM-EU)
said that the elections fell short of international standards. It made
the "essential recommendation" that the NEC should operate as a fully
independent institution to enhance its credibility among the electorate.
For that, the EOM-EU recommended an overhaul of the NEC’s leadership
and composition so as to secure participation and support from all
parties represented in the National Assembly. Similar recommendations
have been made by independent human rights organizations, but ignored by
the government.
The second condition is that opposition leader Sam Rainsy, living abroad
under threat of prison since 2009, must be allowed to return to contest
the elections. Sam Rainsy, as president of the DMNR, is the only
credible rival to CPP-affiliated prime minister Hun Sen, who will run
for a fifth 5-year term since the United Nations intervention in
Cambodia in 1991-1993. There can be no real election unless Sam Rainsy
is allowed to take part. Without his participation it would be like a
boxing match with one fighter. Why is Hun Sen scared of a fair fight?
Why does he want to box alone?
The European Parliament, in its "Resolution on Cambodia, in particular
the case of Sam Rainsy" adopted on October 21, 2010, condemned "all
politically motivated sentences against representatives of the
opposition and NGOs." The resolution stated that "the strategy of
Cambodia's ruling party is to use a politically subservient judiciary to
crack down on all government critics."
Concerning Sam Rainsy’s expulsion from parliament and the stripping of
his civil and political rights to stop him from running, the
Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) declared in January 2011
that it has ''become urgent to review Mr. Sam Rainsy's case'' and called
on the authorities to take action ''without delay so as to enable Mr.
Sam Rainsy to resume his rightful place as a member of the National
Assembly." In October 2011, the IPU called again on the Cambodian
government to ensure "the opposition leader’s rehabilitation so as to
enable him to stand as a candidate in the next parliamentary elections."
Elections meeting these conditions would go some way toward fulfilling
the 1991 Paris peace accords on Cambodia, of which five European Union
countries are signatories: France, the UK, Germany, Poland and the
Netherlands. The agreements guarantee "a system of liberal democracy, on
the basis of pluralism" for Cambodia. It is clear that these have yet
to be delivered, but it's never too late to try.
Hun Sen is the only Cold War communist leader to survive in power today.
He will only respond to threats that have direct consequences for
himself and the group around him. The European Union, as Cambodia’s
largest donor institution, must immediately make Hun Sen understand that
it will not recognize the result of illegitimate elections, or any
government that stems from them. All European countries and the European
Parliament must make it clear that they will not send observers to
monitor fixed elections where the result is known in advance.
Progress has been made in Myanmar where the opposition led by Aung San
Suu Kyi is now allowed to contest elections. Yet Sam Rainsy, as leader
of Cambodia’s united opposition and candidate for prime minister, is
still denied freedom of movement and the right to oppose the government.
It makes no sense, while dealing with two neighboring countries which
are both ASEAN members, to applaud progress in Myanmar while endorsing
totalitarian drift in Cambodia. Sam Rainsy must be allowed into the
country as a matter of urgency. He must be able to return freely and
safely to Cambodia at least several months before voting day in order to
take part in the election process. Every day that Sam Rainsy is denied
entry into Cambodia makes it harder for legitimate elections to take
place.
Failure to achieve genuine elections would mean that the often-deceived
Cambodian people would lose all faith in the show of democracy. The
invalid democratic process would lose its capacity to serve as a channel
for their grievances, leading to an increased risk of instability and
violence.
History shows that totalitarianism is overthrown when the forces of
democracy come together. Unification of previously fragmented democratic
forces in the Yugoslav elections of 2000 led to the fall of President
Slobodan Milosevic, who was indicted for war crimes by the International
Criminal Court. Likewise, in Georgia and in Ukraine, united opposition
prevented ruling elites from high-jacking elections. Protestors gave
roses to soldiers in Georgia's Rose Revolution of 2003. Ukraine's 2004
revolution was symbolized by the wearing of orange ribbons.
Imagine the frustration of the united democrats of Yugoslavia/Serbia,
Georgia and Ukraine if those dictatorships had been able to maintain
themselves in power through falsified elections. Imagine if they had
done so by forcing the leader of the opposition into foreign exile.
There would certainly have been more violence in each country. The
development of democracy in the world would have been derailed, with
consequences that we shall never know.
Hun Sen's strategy of seeking to divide and rule has run its course. A
united Cambodian opposition has now been achieved. The democratic
movement has reached a critical threshold and its momentum will be
impossible to halt.
During the Cold War, states in Eastern Europe and Asia fell to communism
like dominoes. But a domino can fall in either direction. The free
world must seize the opportunity presented by Cambodia's national
elections. Forcing Hun Sen to play by democratic rules would not only
empower the Cambodian people to determine their own future. It would
also give an impetus to democracy and human rights in countries such as
Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, China and North Korea. The domino effect could
be played out in reverse. This is the opportunity, and responsibility,
that the world’s democratic leaders face today.
Sam Rainsy
SRP President
DMNR President
Kem Sokha
HRP President
DMNR Vice-President
__________________________________
CAMBODIA AND THE ARAB SPRING
Sam Rainsy was cited by Carl Gershman, president of the Washington-based
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in his lecture "Democracy’s New
Moment: A Forward Strategy for Advancing Freedom in the World" given at
New York University on March 1, 2011.
"The events in the Middle East are still unfolding, and it will probably
be many years before we know if the transformation that has now begun
will lead to a region and a world that is more democratic, more modern,
and more peaceful. The transitions will encounter many obstacles and
setbacks ….
"Still, these revolutions have been historic, and their impact has
already been felt far beyond the Middle East. This became clear to me
last Friday when I was visited by Sam Rainsy, an exiled democratic
dissident from Cambodia. He looked at me with a glow in his eye and
said: 'They showed that it can be done. Now people have the idea that
change is possible, and that’s the most important thing of all.' "
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