They form a formidable consortium with immense human capital and
never-run-dried financial resources to dictate their will on institution
and government, on the basis of human rights for individual freedom,
with a total absence of individual responsibility. The consortium is
composed of clustered elements, each one feeds the others and draws
lifeline from the others, but often times mutated to form close cycle of
unbreakable chain links. They are Mr. Surya Subedi, the National
Democratic Institute of Cambodia (NDI Cambodia), the Committee for Free
and Fair Election in Cambodia (COMFREL), some other NGOs, Sam Rainsy,
and the opposition parties. Sometimes it had to add The Cambodia Daily
and Radio Free Asia when their news reporting or analyses were
subjective and pro-opposition. Unmistakably, they also earned praise for
their objectivity and fairness.
For season 2012-2013 their focus is on the National Election Committee
(NEC). It started with Mr. Surya Subedi’s allegation that there are
“major flaws in the administration of election in Cambodia and urgent
and longer-term reforms are needed to give Cambodians confidence in the
electoral process and in the workings of the National Election
Committee,” 16 July 2012 UN/GA report. Characteristically of their
dependency to one another and to their association in their effort to
put the blame on and to dismantle the NEC, Mr. Subedi report utilized
previous studies conducted by (NGOs) NDI-Cambodia, COMFRL, NICFEC and
others, combined with one-sided and selective face to face conversations
with selected “professional” protesters during his “UN missions” to
Cambodia to discover “the flaws” and to formulate recommendations, some
of them are inappropriate and politically motivated. For example,
Paragraph 80 is an assault against the Constitution of the Kingdom of
Cambodia, and paragraph 82 is politically motivated with a clear attempt
to polarize and divide the Cambodian people.
Mr. Subedi’s accusations against the NEC has caught the kind of fast
and furious brush fire that caused the other links inside the close
chain to come up with study to reinforce those lengthy accusations. At
least two studies were conducted in their attempts to prove the NEC’s
flaws.
The Committee for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia (COMFREL) ’s March
2013 Final Report on the Survey of Voter List and Voter Registration,
in its major findings found that “ 97.7% of eligible voters registered
to vote,” p. 16. On the other hand, the combined 21 March 2013 report by
the National Democratic Institute, Cambodia (NDI-Cambodia), the Neutral
and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections (NICFEC) and the
Center for Advanced Study (CAS) on Cambodia Voter Registry Report
revealed that “ 82.9% of eligible citizens are registered,” p. 31. If
“eligible voters” and “eligible citizens” are the same, it would imply
that another survey and audit by another well-funded and well-staffed
organization will come up with a different rate. However, the two
reports did not fail to point to the “NEC’s statistical discrepancies,”
to have “registered voters at a rate of 101.74%,” said COMFREL, and
“that the number of registered voters is at 101.7% of the eligible
population,” said NDI, NICFEC and CAS. In view of the huge difference in
their major findings, the question of reliability and credibility of
their separate study cannot be overlooked. It raises more doubts as to
the integrity of the study as well as the intentions of the
organizations that conducted the study. What is particularly damaging is
that bad breed politicians cannot use these findings to attack the NEC
and the CPP-led government with calm and certainty. Occasionally, Sam
Rainsy appears on the radar screen, either calling oversea Cambodians to
exert pressure on foreign governments to support his unreasonable claim
of violations and abuse of his human rights, or urging foreign
politicians to take actions against the popular elected government of
Cambodia. Lately, as reported by AFP on 12 March 2013, he boasted about
starting a strong movement to topple any government formed by the
election, and as recently as of last Wednesday he will purge as many as
high ranking officials of the Royal Government of Cambodia, if the
opposition wins the July election. Actually he created anti-Cambodian
government information to be used as reference by Mr. Subedi and the
others.
Standing alone and without the other, each study opens wide to the
interpretation by politicians, especially those of the opposition
parties who will forcefully pitch in favor of the accusation made by Mr.
Subedi. In addition, it would be further utilized by Mr. Subedi to push
his offensive against the NEC, and probably against the CPP-led
government. It seemed that the opportunity no longer exists because, at
least two studies have been conducted and those two studies revealed two
humongous differences: “97.7% of eligible voters registered to vote,”
as per COMFREL and “82.9% of eligible citizens are registered,” as per
NDI, NICFEC and CAS. Yet, in my opinion, the two studies are useful
academically for other studies.
It is a total absurdity for the opposition parties to lead the people
in support of Mr. Subedi recommendations, and to support the findings of
the studies by COMFREL, NDI, NICFEC and CAS, and some other NGOs, with
the knowledge that the studies lack reliability and credibility and
consequently Mr. Subedi recommendations are based on shaky ground, and
on fabricated results of partial organizations. If and when Mr. Subedi,
COMFREL, NDI, NICFEC, CAS and some other NGOs devoted their huge
resources to drive the Cambodian people to register to vote, democracy
would have been further enhanced and the harmony among the Cambodian
people would have been greatly insured.
23 April 2013
Professor Pen Ngoeun,
Advisor, University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh , Cambodia
pngoeun@puthisastra.edu.kh