The European Commission (EC) has announced a special 90-member Election Observation
Mission (EOM) to observe the February 2002 commune elections. Several foreign nationals
living in Cambodia and other Asian countries have also volunteered to act as observers.
The announcements come in the wake of reports of intimidation, threats and killings
of commune council candidates from both Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). The
SRP said Sok Kry, a candidate for the Sou Sdei commune in Svey Rieng province, was
kicked and punched unconscious by local police when he tried to intervene in a fight
involving his nephew. The party claimed it was yet another political attack in a
long-running vendetta to intimidate its candidates.
Electoral bodies including the National Election Committee are fearful
that the number of cases will escalate during campaigning which starts January 18.
In a statement issued mid-November the NEC regretted that only 33 foreign observers
had registered at that time. It called for greater foreign participation "to
ensure transparency and instill confidence in the process".
The EC's decision was announced in Brussels November 27 and marks a departure from
its normal rule only to provide observers for national elections. The same day the
EC said it would commit 1.25 million euros ($1.1 million) to fund the mission headed
by Carlos Costa Neves Mep, deputy chairman of the European Parliament's delegation
for relations with South East Asia. The EU has also provided technical assistance
to the NEC.
The EC said it hoped the observation mission would diffuse tension and deter possible
election-related malpractice and violence.
"The purpose is to increase transparency of, and confidence in, the election
process through the presence and reporting of international observers," said
Commissioner Chris Patten.
The EOM includes a core team of experts in areas including media monitoring and statistical
analysis. It will have 30 long-term observers who will concentrate on the entire
gamut of electoral activities including the election campaign, administrative preparations
at the commune level, and all post-election activities. The 60 remaining members
of the team will act as short-term observers for various electoral activities.
"Local level democracy is important. When it comes to promoting sustainable
development, grassroots participation matters," said an EU spokesperson. "A
farmer in a Cambodian village may well have stronger views on the man or woman making
local decisions on his behalf than he does [about] a politician in distant Phnom
Penh."
The EC said it expected the local elections to be "an important landmark in
Cambodia's commitment to the political and democratic development, as commune councils
will be directly elected for the first time since the 1980s."
Meanwhile, local election NGO NICFAC will enroll 50 foreign volunteers to join the
pool of foreign observers.
"The Asia Foundation has offered to provide funding for a foreign consultant,
while several foreign nationals living in Cambodia and keen to become a part of this
democratic process have volunteered to act as observers in different provinces,"
director Heng Puthea told the Post December 6.
Another NGO, Comfrel, said the Japanese Cambodian Forum and the Thailand-based Asian
Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) were in regular touch and had offered to send
more observers to strengthen both long and short term observation of the electoral
process including campaigning, polling and counting.
"A delegation [from Anfrel] is arriving in Cambodia on December 20 to finalize
the details [on its participation]," said director Panha Koul.
All the election monitoring NGOs plan to gather foreign volunteers in Phnom Penh
to train them in the techniques and methods of election observation and reporting
before they are dispatched to the provinces. A total of 19,663 local observers have
also registered with the NEC.
Contact PhnomPenh Post for full article
Post Media Co LtdThe Elements Condominium, Level 7
Hun Sen Boulevard
Phum Tuol Roka III
Sangkat Chak Angre Krom, Khan Meanchey
12353 Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Telegram: 092 555 741
Email: [email protected]