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The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 574

“The president of the Human Rights Party said that a request will not be made to the King to delay the meeting for the new National Assembly swearing-in ceremony, thinking that such a request would not be successful. The president of the Human Rights Party, Mr. Kem Sokha, reported to Radio Free Asia, broadcast on Thursday night, that, considering the situation realistically, asking for help from the King hardly could get results.

“The president of the Human Rights Party, an ally of the Sam Rainsy Party, together rejecting the election results on 27 July 2008, said, ‘We will not make a request disturbing the King, because we know that previously, although we had made requests to him many times, he has no possibility to help us much, since everything depends on decisions by the government.’ In the meantime, the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party still retain the position to boycott the first session of the parliament, where the swearing-in of the parliamentarians should happen in late September 2008, if there is no proper solution for the complaints lodged by both parties. At present, the complaints of the Sam Rainsy Party are in the hands of the Constitutional Council, which is known as a tool of the ruling party, like the National Election Committee [NEC].

“Mr. Sam Rainsy, a well-known opposition party president in Cambodia, said that so far, both allied parties considered not to attend the meeting of the fourth term parliamentary swearing-in ceremony, and are seeking solutions for the complaints about the irregularities of the elections. He added that the opposition party is waiting for permission from the King to meet him and to report to him the problems that happened during the previous elections.

“Mr. Sam Rainsy said also, ‘We wrote to the King to ask for permission to meet him, but there is no response from the Royal Palace yet; however, we will directly report to him when we have the opportunity to meet him.’ Regarding to this problem, a source close to the King said that the King will, sooner or later, agree with the request of the opposition party to meet him. As for the word ‘sooner or later,’ it is not known in how many days, while the NEC plans to announce the official results of the fourth term elections on 7 September 2008.

“According to the temporary results announced by the NEC on 9 August 2008, the Cambodian People’s Party will receive 90 seats, the Sam Rainsy Party will receive 26 seats, the Human Rights Party 3 seats, the Norodom Ranariddh Party 2 seats, and Funcinpec also 2 seats. Early in August, Prime Minister Hun Sen, the vice-president of the Cambodian People’s Party, had warned Mr. Sam Rainsy, the opposition party president, that the opposition party cannot prevent the meeting to form a new National Assembly by boycotting it, and that if it dares to boycott, this will result in invalidating its parliamentary seats gained. This warning caused Mr. Sam Rainsy to react immediately, because they first stole the ballots, and then they want to grab the seats of the Sam Rainsy Party in the National Assembly without any feeling of shame.

“However, legal experts said that, according to Article 76 of the Constitution, the supreme law of the nation, a new National Assembly cannot hold its inaugural meeting, unless there are at least120 parliamentarians attending, otherwise that new National Assembly cannot function, and a new government cannot be formed. Therefore, if the Cambodian People’s Party of Hun Sen’s group dares to hold a session of he new National Assembly, claiming that it won the majority of votes in the National Assembly, it is against Article 76 of the Constitution – it would mean that the Cambodian People’s Party unreasonably violates the supreme law of the nation.

“Relating to the plan by the NEC to announce the official results of the elections on 7 September 2008, legal experts commented to the NEC that it should finish solving the many complaints of the opposition parties about irregularities during the election day and days before the elections. To finish solving complaints lodged by the opposition parties before the announcement of the fourth term national election result is to disregard criticism from national and international observers. Obviously, national and international observers had clearly criticized that the elections on 27 July 2008 did not reach international standards and were not fair and just, clearly shaming the NEC, which is using every means to hide its bad face.

“According to high ranking officials of the NEC, they said that although there are complaints to the NEC or to the Constitutional Council, the announcement of the fourth term parliamentary election results will be made officially as planed on 7 September 2008 at the latest, and all complaints will have been solved before the day when the election results will be announced. However, officials of civil society organizations said that the official results of the elections cannot be announced, unless the Constitutional Council has solved all complaints by political parties; if all complaints have not been solved, the election results cannot be announced on the date set by the NEC.

“The Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party had announced to boycott attending the first meeting of the National Assembly on 24 September 2008, demanding a new vote, in order to provide justice to more than one million Khmer citizens who had lost their right to vote. Moreover, the presidents of both parties have collected many documents as proof regarding the irregularities of the elections to be sent to the United Nations and the European Community, to help to seek justice for Khmer citizens. Because the fact that one million of Khmer citizens lost the right to vote is a serious irregularity. If the results are to be announced by the NEC on 7 September 2008, it is not in line with the will of the Khmer citizens.” Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3556, 23.8.2008

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 23 August 2008

Chakraval, Vol.16, #2804, 23.8.2008

• Building for Neuro Surgery and Building for the Treatment of Heart Diseases of Infants Inaugurated at Calmette Hospital

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1727, 23.8.2008

• Illegal Vietnamese Fishing Boats Still Invade Khmer Seas [Kep]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.2, #228, 23.8.2008

• Cambodian Watchdog Council Opposes Hun Sen Government’s Plan to Withdraw Complaint from the UN Security Council [over Preah Vihear Temple]
• Hun Sen Doesn’t Dare to Visit Ta Moan Thom Temple Like [Thai Prime Minister] Samak Did, for Fear the Siamese [Thai] Black-Clad Soldiers [the special border protection unit] Might Stamp His Hand with an Admission Stamp [as they did with other Cambodian visitors, before they were allowed to enter the temple]
• The Old Father of Monk Tim Sakhan [who has been defrocked on the accusation of having perpetrated an offense against the Buddhist law, because he was accused to have destroyed the harmony between Vietnam and Cambodia] Begs King to Intervene [so that he can meet his son in Cambodia]
• Khmer Rouge Tribunal Won’t Be Able to Reach Its Goal as Former Leaders of the Killing Fields Regime Are Growing Old

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #80, 23.8.2008

• Thai Troops Continue Invading Khmer Land at Ta Moan Thom Temple; Situation Is Still Tense; Thai Troops Move Border Marker into Khmer Land

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6431, 23-24.8.2008

• Message of Prime Minister [Hun Sen]: Cambodia Maintains Stance of Stabilizing the Situation and Pushing Siam [Thailand] to Withdraw Troops [area not clearly specified in relation to the Cambodian map presented with the Joint Communique of 18 June 2008]
• A Man Got Angry with Children Who Cried at Night, Argued with His Wife, Stabbed His Two-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old Daughters, then Hanged Himself; His Wife Escaped [Siem Reap]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3546, 23-24.8.2008

• Opposition Party Asks to Meet the King to Report about Irregularities during the Elections
• What the US Ambassador Said Is Right! [he said only a few Cambodian politicians are committed to help the Cambodian people]
• Co-Lawyers of Khiev Samphan Still Demand that the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Translate Tens of Thousands of Pages of Documents into French

Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.15, #3391, 23.8.2008

• [Unnamed source claims about some important SRP officials of the] Sam Rainsy Party Bargain for Positions at Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Economy, and Phnom Municipality

Click here to have a look at the last editorial – apprehension while waiting for the results of challenging alleged election fraud, the final official election results, and the forming of a new government

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