EU takes stand over Cambodia’s election

PHNOM PENH: The EU said yesterday it had suspended assistance to Cambodia’s election commission following last month’s dissolution of the country’s main opposition party, and warned July’s general election would not be legitimate if the opposition was not allowed to participate.

The Supreme Court on November 16 ordered the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the only opposition group with seats in parliament, to be dissolved, in the latest move by authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to remove threats to his power before the vote.

July’s election will be the first national polls since 2013, when Hun Sen narrowly retained office after the opposition made unexpectedly strong gains.

The government has accused the party of involvement in a plot to topple it. The opposition staunchly denies the allegations – a position backed by international rights groups and independent analysts, who say no credible evidence has emerged to back the claims.

The EU said it had provided assistance to the National Election Committee for local elections in June that were viewed as reflecting the will of the people, but that a series of actions taken by authorities since then, including the reallocation of the opposition party’s seats to other parties, denied voters their choice. It noted that the CNRP won 43.8% of the vote in the local elections.

“The dissolution of the CNRP also means it will not be able to run in the National Assembly election in 2018,” it said. “An electoral process from which the main opposition party has been arbitrarily excluded cannot be seen as legitimate.”

Last Thursday, the military filed a lawsuit against former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a day after Hun Sen said he should be charged with treason over a social media post.

Sam Rainsy was charged with inciting the military to disobey orders and with insulting military leaders, because of a Facebook post in which he called on soldiers not to obey any “dictators” if they were ordered to shoot innocent people.

He also mentioned that Egypt’s former leader was removed from power by the armed forces. – AP