APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN UNION TO HELP ENSURE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN CAMBODIA
As the July 28, 2013 national elections approach, Cambodian democrats
worldwide are asking the European Union to convince the Cambodian
government to implement the election recommendations issued by the
United Nations in July 2012. These recommendations are intended to
ensure democratic and “genuine” elections, as stated in the 1991 Paris
Agreements on Cambodia signed by five major European countries: France,
Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.
Because the Cambodian government continues to adamantly reject the U.N.
recommendations, the European Union (E.U.) should send a clear message
to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, telling him that
1- The
EU will not send observers to monitor the July 2013 elections. To do so
would be simply to repeat the experience of the last elections in July
2008, following which their recommendations were rejected. Since the
vote, which European observers denounced as having "fallen short of key
international standards for democratic elections," the Cambodian
government has demonstrated its unwillingness to implement any reform.
The current election system remains unacceptably biased in favour of Hun
Sen’s ruling party, which uses various tricks, such as manipulation of
the electoral roll, to secure a victory even before Voting Day.
2- The E.U. will not recognize the legitimacy of the July 2013
elections which, given the countless and serious irregularities in their
preparation, will not meet minimum standards for democratic elections
as recommended by the United Nations and will only lead to an
unacceptable distortion of the will of the Cambodian people.
3-
The E.U. and its member countries will not recognize the legitimacy of
any government stemming from such illegitimate elections.
The
united democratic opposition represented by the Cambodia National Rescue
Party (CNRP) believes that only such an appropriate and timely warning
from the European Union, which is Cambodia's largest donor institution,
could convince the Cambodian authorities to accept a compromise leading
to more democratic and acceptable elections, a sine qua non for the
country’s stability and prosperity.
The two essential points in
the U.N. recommendations are related to an overhaul of the National
Election Committee (NEC) and the full participation of CNRP president
and opposition leader Sam Rainsy in the electoral contest.
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