Call to cut funding for Cambodian election

BANGKOK: Rights groups yesterday urged the EU and Japan to consider halting their funding for the election panel in Cambodia if the ruling party succeeds in a bid to dissolve the main opposition party ahead of next year’s general election.

The ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) has launched a crackdown on its critics, including politicians, independent media and non-government bodies.

Nearly half of the opposition members of parliament have fled abroad since last month.

In a session boycotted by the opposition, Cambodia’s parliament voted on Monday to change party laws to re-distribute seats if a party is dissolved.

The measure came after the government filed a lawsuit this month seeking to dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

“If the government’s position to dissolve the CNRP succeeds, next year’s election will be a joke,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“At that point, both the EU and Japan should face reality and terminate their financial and technical assistance to avoid lending credibility to what will be a charade of democracy,” he added, speaking after a news conference in Bangkok.

Japan and the EU are the two biggest foreign funders of the 2018 vote.

China and the US have also contributed, with the US providing trucks and technical support, while Japan has given computers.

Japan’s embassy and the EU office in Phnom Penh did not reply to a request for comment.

The CPP has used “dirty tricks” to jail opposition leaders and force others into exile, Robertson added.

CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested on September 3 and charged with treason after the government said he had conspired with foreign advisers to topple it.

Cambodia is relying on a partisan judiciary to silence critics and “dismantle democracy”, the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said in a report yesterday.