yash ghai

Wednesday, 19.12.2007: More Than 660,000 Ghost Names Deleted; More Than 50 Political Parties Have Registered, but Only 10 Political Parties Have Activities

Norbert Klein Leave a comment

The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 539

“Phnom Penh: Mr. Tep Nitha, the secretary-general of the National Election Committee [NEC], said on 18 December 2007 that 669,365 names of citizens have been deleted from the voter lists of the 2007 election, and most of those names are known to be of those who have moved away or have died… Mr. Tep Nitha said this at a press conference on the first review of the new draft voters’ lists, comparing them with the first voters’ list in 2007 at the NEC office.

“Mr. Mao Sophearith, a member of the NEC, said that the NEC has checked and corrected the name lists sent from communes and subdistricts to the NEC, and after the review by the NEC, the name lists have been sent back to the communes and subdistricts of 17 provinces and towns so far. However, during the third term election, the NEC affirmed that approximately 100 communes and subdistricts changed the voters’ lists.

“Mr. Tep Nitha said, ‘The NEC has the task to create voters’ lists appropriately, based on documents where we registered the voters’ names at the places where they live, including their age and date of birth, so that we have properly corrected lists, so that officials who administer the elections can use these lists appropriately.’ He continued to explain that the sending back of the documents to the communes and subdistricts is to have the writing checked, not for checking the legal status of the documents [which has already been done by the NEC]..

“The NEC had instructed commune and subdistrict clerks to review the draft lists sent with the previous voters’ list carefully at important points, such as checking of code numbers and the sites of polling offices, and to review the number of voters in each polling office. If the lists sent by the NEC had too many voters, the names which had to be deleted had to be crossed with a line; if names were missing, the names had to be written on the lower section of the lists..

“Mr. Tep Nitha continued that there are approximately 1,500 polling offices for the 2008 election, and there are 8,132,063 citizens who have registered in the lists for the 2008 election. He continued that there are more than 50 parties which have officially registered in the lists at the Ministry of Interior; however, only 10 parties [names not mentioned] often attend meetings with the NEC.” Koh Santepheap, Vol.40, #6222, 19.12.2007

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1522, 19.12.2007

  • US Embassy in Cambodia Announces Increase of Visa Prices
  • National Assembly Discusses and Adopts Law on Suppression on Human Trafficking and Sex Exploitation
  • Two Men Who Used Deputy Prime Minister Sok An’s Name to Embezzle $250,000 Are Arrested
  • Telecom Cambodia Reviews Its Business in 2007 and Sets Goals for 2008


Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.1, #75, 19.12.2007

  • Opposition Leader Calls on Authorities to Reveal Perpetrator Who Shot Mrs. Kan Siem to Death [member of Sam Rainsy Party – Prasat Balangk, Kompong Thom]
  • Mr. Son Chhay [SRP parliamentarian, Phnom Penh]: Tens of Thousands of Square Kilometers of Khmer Land Will Continue to Be Lost If Border Demarcation Is Not Inspected by Technical Group
  • Yash Ghai [UN human rights representative] Prepares to Come Again to Meet Government Officials and Hun Sen


Koh Santepheap, Vol.40, #6222, 19.12.2007

  • More Than 660,000 Ghost Names Deleted; More Than 50 Political Parties Have Registered but Only 10 Political Parties Have Activities
  • Pragya Company Imports Out-of-Date Medicines to Be Labeled with New Dates and Sold in a Number of Pharmacies [an Indian man who represents the company is arrested – Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh]
  • [Cuban] American Woman [Eunice Lopez] Secretly and Quietly Married Ten Men between 2002 and 2006 [she is charged with bigamy – Miami, USA]


Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3341, 19.12.2007

  • Human Rights Observers Call on Government to Respect UN Institutions [over action against Yash Ghai]


Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4466, 19.12.2007

  • Samdech Prime Minister Agrees to Allow Sand Dredging Again in Some Areas
  • Civil Society Organizations Condemn Suppression of [Kampuchea Krom Khmer] Monks [who protested opposite Vietnamese Embassy on 17 December] by Police in Phnom Penh

Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #3211, 19.12.2007

  • Yash Ghai Politely Responds that He Represents UN in Cambodia, He Does Not Represent Kenya [his native country]

Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #579, 19.12.2007

  • Prince Ranariddh Agrees with Hun Sen to Stop Criticizing the Cambodian People’s Party in Exchange for Returning to the Country; Samdech Krom Preah Acknowledges 18 October 2006 Event [when he was made Historical President of Funcinpec], but He Asks Hun Sen to Expel Nhek Bun Chhay [Funcinpec Secretary-General] from Funcinpec

Go to last week’s editorial

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