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A Parliamentarian from the Cambodian People's Party Rejected the Reports of COMFREL and of the Inter-Parliamentary Union – Friday, 12.2.2010

Norbert Klein Leave a comment

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 651

“Phnom Penh: A parliamentarian and high ranking official of the Cambodian People’s Party voiced his strong reaction by totally rejecting a report of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (COMFREL) on Thursday 11 February 2010, and of an announcement by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) over the suspension of the immunity of Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarians.

“The parliamentarian from Prey Veng and chairperson of the Commission on Economy, Banking, and Audits of the National Assembly, Mr. Cheam Yeap, said that the Cambodian People’s Party won the through the [2008] elections as many as 90 seats, more than two thirds of the total of 123 seats. Under this situation, leaders of the Cambodian People’s Party do not commit any wrongdoings, because it could affect the confidence of citizens who are voters or party members.

“Mr. Cheam Yeap added that he would like to announce, instead, what the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly did, saying, ‘As a parliamentarian, what we did (suspended the immunity of Sam Rainsy Party’s parliamentarians) was based on the law. The suspension or the withdrawal of the immunity is not an important matter. We just put off their raincoats (the immunity) to let them get soaked like others, and to let the court question and work on them. The National Assembly has the obligation to obey the law. Though the immunity of parliamentarians from the Sam Rainsy Party was suspended, they can attend meetings and retain the necessary rights to vote on laws and to receive their salary like the other parliamentarians.’

“He went on to say that the reports of COMFREL and of the IPU, which criticized that the National Assembly’s records in this term are worse than in the previous terms, and that the suspension of the immunity of the Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarians was not done based on the law… claim unnecessary concerns which contrasts the reality. ‘As the National Assembly, we adhere to and implement the laws of Cambodia.’

“Mr. Cheam Yeap stressed that both the government and the National Assembly are not worried, because what they have done complied with the Cambodian law.

“The reaction of the parliamentarian from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party was made a day after COMFREL had issued a report on 10 February 2010 which says that democracy in Cambodia is being affected, because the Cambodian People’s Party caused the freedom of expression and the discussions in the National Assembly to diminish. Also, criticism of the suspension of the immunity of the Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarians in three cases – of Mr. Sam Rainsy, of Ms. Mu Sochua, and of Mr. Ho Van – was easily made but was not based on the law.

“Meanwhile, the IPU criticized, on 10 February 2010, that the suspension of the immunity of the three Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarians did not go through careful discussions and reviews beforehand. The IPU added that it will put this issue on the agenda of the 122nd meeting in April and May 2010.

“Regarding the suspension of the immunity, [the Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian] Mr Ho Van appealed to the president of the National Assembly to give him back his immunity, because the judgment of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dated 2 February 2010 decided to lift the accusation against him, over his assumed defamation against 22 senior military officials, and it has been sent to the president of the National Assembly.

“Mr. Cheam Yeap said that the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly led by Samdech Heng Samrin will organize a meeting very soon to install the immunity back to Mr. Ho Van, after the National Assembly had received information about the judgment and his request earlier this week.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.18, #5124, 12.2.2010

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 12 February 2010

Deum Ampil, Vol.4, #412, 12-18.2.2010

  • A Son of General Chea Man [Region 4 military commander] Continues Wood Trading though the Prime Minister Had Warned Against It
  • 5,000 Grilled Pigs Are Needed during the Traditional Chinese New Year Festival [on 14 February 2010 in Cambodia]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.9, #2175, 12.2.2010

  • Cambodia Rejected a Siamese [Thai] Declaration that the Listing of the Preah Vihear Temple [as a world heritage site] Is Not Yet Finished [as Cambodia has not fully met the management plan for the temple as required by UNESCO]
  • Forty Three People Were Injured when a Car Overturned Driving Downhill [Sihanoukville]

Note:

The claim that the Cambodian government has fully met the requirements of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is surprising for the interested public, as it has only been reported that a Cambodian report was submitted before 1 February 2010 to the World Heritage Committee, while there is no report how the following requirements, from the UNESCO minutes, have been fulfilled – and the Thai government publicly claims that they do not know the Cambodian report – though the Thai government should have been involved – according to the UNESCO minutes.

Of special interest are the following points of the UNESCO minutes:

  • “14. Requests the State Party of Cambodia, in collaboration with UNESCO, to convene an international coordinating committee for the safeguarding and development of the property no later than February 2009, inviting the participation of the Government of Thailand and not more than seven other appropriate international partners, to examine general policy matters relating to the safeguarding of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property in conformity with international conservation standards;
  • “15. Requests the State Party of Cambodia to submit to the World Heritage Center, by 1 February 2009, the following documents:

    a) a provisional map providing additional details of the inscribed property and a map delineating the buffer zone identified in the RGPP;

    b) updated Nomination dossier to reflect the changes made to the perimeter of the property;

    c) confirmation that the management zone for the property will include the inscribed property and buffer zone identified in the RGPP;

    d) progress report on the preparation of the Management Plan;
  • “16. Further requests the State Party of Cambodia to submit to the World Heritage Center by February 2010, for submission to the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010 a full Management Plan for the inscribed property, including a finalized map.”

These points touch on matters where “the participation of the Government of Thailand” seems to be required, according to the UNESCO minutes, as the border demarcation between Cambodia and Thailand has not yet been accomplished.

Further details are in the lower section of The Mirror of 7 February 2010.

Khmer Amatak, Vol.11, #734, 12.2.2010

  • Kratie Military Police Threatened to Shoot the Representatives of the Authorities Who Intercepted Trucks Loaded with Illegally Cut Wood [heading to Vietnam; finally, with a further intervention from the provincial authorities, forestry administration officials could seize those trucks, but the military police officials who threatened them were not punished]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.4, #604, 12.2.2010

  • Google Told Cambodia to Send Mapping Document to the Tele Atlas Company to Change the Khmer-Siamese Border Data
  • The Amount of [garment and textile] Exports Is US$2.8 Billion and the Amount of Salaries Paid to [more than 300,000 textile and garment] Workers Is Only US$27 Million per Year [according to an official of the Ministry of Labor, a worker gets about US$60 per month, and if they work additional hours, they get US$100 to US$120 per month]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.43, #6882, 12.2.2010

  • China Wants to Invest to Plant Rubber Trees on 60,000 Hectares of Land in Cambodia [according to a meeting between the Minister of the Council of Ministers, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, and the Chinese Ambassador]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.17, #3810, 12-17.2.2010

  • The Freedom of Expression Became Restricted and the Not-Independent Courts Become Tools Used for Mistreating Opposition Party Activists [according to the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur, Mr. Surya Subedi – it is said that after his visit to Cambodia from 18 to 30 January 2010, he brought the bad human rights condition in Cambodia to the attention of the UN secretary general.]

Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #110, 12.2.2010

  • Thai Troops Are Conducting War Exercises, while Cambodian Troops Are on Alert [at the border]
  • [The former Khmer Rouge leader] Ieng Sary Asked to be transferred to House Arrest Rather Than to Be Jailed in Prison

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.18, #5124, 12.2.2010

  • A Parliamentarian from the Cambodian People’s Party Rejected Reports of COMFREL and the Inter-Parliamentary Union
  • Traffic Accidents Killed 138 People in January 2010 [countrywide; the number of deaths increased by 34 compared to the corresponding period in 2009]
  • About US$4 Million [from development partners and USAID] Is Planned to Be Spent for A/H1N1 Vaccine Campaign [such as on training, transportation, and project planning]

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
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