Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Former local CNRP officials who defected to CPP met with distrust

Former local CNRP officials who defected to CPP met with distrust

Chen Choy, 65, the CNRP’s first deputy commune chief for Champei commune in Takeo province, defected to the CPP in October.
Chen Choy, 65, the CNRP’s first deputy commune chief for Champei commune in Takeo province, defected to the CPP in October. Sun Narin/VOA

Former local CNRP officials who defected to CPP met with distrust

Kry Lay lined up in early June to vote for the party he wanted to run Kampong Cham province’s Srak commune in the eastern part of the country. A former Sam Rainsy Party commune, the locale’s electorate delivered what Lay, a local farmer, wanted – a Cambodia National Rescue Party-controlled commune council he could “trust”.

But on October 28, Commune Councillor Ul Pov heeded a call put out by Prime Minister Hun Sen asking opposition elected officials to join the ruling Cambodian People’s Party before the potential, and maybe imminent, dissolution of the CNRP later this month. Lay was not happy with Pov’s “betrayal of the voter’s will”.

“We voted for them to serve us, but if they go serve another party for benefits we do not know what to do,” he said.

Since the premier made his offer in late October, around 60 CNRP officials, including one lawmaker, have jumped ship to the CPP, with each defection quickly broadcast and tallied by government mouthpiece Fresh News. CPP spokesman Sok Eysan claimed the defections had jumped to over a hundred as of yesterday.

In interviews yesterday, defectors all cited party President Kem Sokha’s “treason” charges – widely seen as politically motivated – as the reason for their shift in party allegiance, but they also acknowledged facing backlash from their constituents.

For his part, Pov said the treason charges against Sokha – which stem from a video in which he tells supporters he’d received political advice from the United States – must be true because the ruling party would not jail an innocent person.

“They are not cruel. They won’t arrest and put you in jail unless you are wrong,” he said. “So I made my own decision to join the CPP and we can still serve the people as usual.”

Pov claimed villagers in the commune had not reacted to his defection but Lay, CNRP Commune Chief Sreng Sokhoeun and fellow opposition Councillor Sem Kosal disagreed, saying they and other locals were now distrustful of the newly inducted CPP member.

“Before we were friends, but now he is my competitor,” said Kosal. “I am not happy with Pov.”

Sreng Sokhoeun, CNRP commune chief for Srak commune remains suspicious of her party defections in Kampong Cham province.
Sreng Sokhoeun, CNRP commune chief for Srak commune remains suspicious of her party defections in Kampong Cham province. Erin Handley

In Takeo province, defector Chen Choy, 65, the first deputy commune chief for Champei, is hesitant to speak about the ill will he has generated in the area, but admits that people had expressed disappointment at his decision, stopped talking to him and even turned their backs on him.

“But it is fine for me. I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he said, before parroting the same Sokha treason narrative peddled by the government over the past two months.

A few provinces north, in Kampong Thom’s Damrei Choankhla commune, it’s a similar situation. Here the CNRP has taken a bigger blow – the commune chief, deputy chief and a councillor have moved to the CPP.

Chheng Chantha, the first deputy for the commune, said around half the people he met since his October 26 defection were ambivalent to his party switch, but the other half have doled out more than their share of criticism for what they consider his decision to sell out.

“After I joined the CPP, the villagers and other people criticised me. They criticised, [saying] why did I sell myself,” he said.

To make matters worse, Chantha’s defection letter was one of the few featured on local television the day of his defection, fetching him more adversaries.

“Even people from outside the community now question me and others stay away from me,” he added.

Sun Chanthy, head of the CNRP’s executive committee in Kampong Thom, said there was no need to discriminate against defecting members, but the party’s doors were now closed to them.

“Those people will be eliminated from the party list in the future,” he said, sounding an optimistic note.

“And when the party is not dissolved they will all be jobless.”

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Siem Reap airport to close after new one opens

    After the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opens in October, the existing complex serving the northwestern province will be “completely closed”, according to State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha. SAI developer Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd (AIAI) last month

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on