Government
Elections
NEC shrugs off database hack
Officials and foreign donors yesterday sought to play down concerns over the security of the National Election Committee’s voter list, after anonymous leaker “Thleay” released a video appearing to show manipulation of the database and the NEC confirmed it had been hacked. ...
Ananth Baliga, Mech Dara and Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/nec-shrugs-database-hack
Opposition fears voter card chance for lobbying
The opposition CNRP has cried foul over the delivery of election cards to voters, arguing that many government-aligned officials will be able to lobby for the CPP while handing out the cards. ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37565/opposition-fears-voter-card-chance-for-lobbying/
Hacker warns ‘serious vulnerability’ plaguing online voter lists
A hacker behind a series of leaks smearing senior government officials and their relatives on Thursday warned that the government’s online list of registered voters for the June 4 commune elections was vulnerable to hacking and urged experts to make the site more secure. ...
Van Roeun and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hacker-warns-serious-vulnerability-plaguing-online-voter-lists-128028/
Village politician changes sides
After six years with the opposition, deputy commune chief Yoeun Yong has decided to jump ship and join the ruling CPP for the upcoming commune elections.Mr. Yong’s name was the seventh to appear on the CNRP ballot paper for the Koh Anlong Chin commune in ...
Ven Rathavong And Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37522/village-politician-changes-sides/
Thousands of election body workers missing weeks of wages
Tens of thousands of workers contracted by the government to prepare Cambodia for the June 4 commune elections, many of whom are still waiting to be paid for work in February, will have to wait for their March and April salaries until after Khmer New ...
Phan Soumy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thousands-of-election-body-workers-missing-weeks-of-wages-127966/
Date set to decide fate of the CNRP deputies
The opposition CNRP will meet on Monday to discuss the validity of their three vice-presidents after the Interior Ministry insisted the appointments were invalid.“Our president Kem Sokha is abroad, but we will invite him to a video conference for the meeting,” Pol Ham, one of ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37521/date-set-to-decide-fate-of-the-cnrp-deputies/
Sokha says most Cambodians looking for ‘positive change’
Opposition leader Kem Sokha on Wednesday maintained that a majority of Cambodians are yearning for political change, a claim a ruling party spokesman branded a lie.In a three-minute video uploaded to his Facebook page ahead of Khmer New Year, Mr. Sokha said he believed the ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sokha-says-most-cambodians-looking-for-positive-change-127960/
Audit gives thumbs-up to voter list; doubts linger
Rectifying one of the greatest sources of outrage and discontent surrounding previous elections, the voter list compiled for upcoming commune elections has passed an audit with flying colors, though commentators remain skeptical as to whether the country will actually witness free and fair elections on ...
Hannah Hawkins and Van Roeun
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/audit-gives-thumbs-up-to-voter-list-doubts-linger-127920/
White Building residents asked to help CPP
Land Management Minister Chea Sophara on Friday reminded more than 200 residents and soon-to-be evictees of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building to “help us back” by voting in upcoming elections in return for the government negotiating compensation for their properties. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/white-building-residents-asked-to-help-cpp-127793/
New campaign to educate Cambodians about June elections
The National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday launched a radio campaign to educate Cambodians about upcoming commune elections and to counter misinformation about the June 4 poll. ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-campaign-educate-cambodians-about-june-elections
Sokha: CNRP will win elections
Kem Sokha has claimed official and unofficial opinion polls show the opposition CNRP is on track to win a majority at the commune elections in June.Addressing supporters at a fundraising drive in Auckland, New Zealand last week, the opposition leader said his party was making ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37388/sokha--cnrp-will-win-elections/
White Building dwellers told to vote CPP for speedy eviction deal
A day before Land Management Minister Chea Sophara was scheduled to meet residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building, the locale’s village chiefs promised to find a quick solution to the residents’ impending eviction – if the ruling Cambodian People’s Party fared well in the ...
Sen David and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/white-building-dwellers-told-vote-cpp-speedy-eviction-deal
US gives $1.8m funding for electoral group
The US government has agreed to provide global electoral NGO International Foundation for Electoral Systems a $1.8 million grant to ensure the National Election Committee conducts free and fair elections. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37337/us-gives--1-8m-funding-for-electoral-group/
Voter rolls accurate: Comfrel
Two election monitoring groups have conducted an audit of National Election Committe-issued NEC voter lists in 252 communes and found them to be 98 percent accurate, potentially quelling, at least in part, past anxieties over the quality and veracity of these lists. ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/voter-rolls-accurate-comfrel
Election day coming, many voters unsure when
With just two months to go until Cambodia’s commune elections, more than half of respondents to a new survey could not identify Election Day. The finding was detailed in a report released on Wednesday by the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) ...
Ben Sokhean and Hannah Hawkins
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/election-day-coming-many-voters-unsure-when-127619/
Election campaigners told to watch tongues
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng has urged political parties, politicians and activists to refrain from making controversial comments in the run-up to the commune elections. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37237/election-campaigners-told-to-watch-tongues/
Opinion polls to be banned ahead of election
Cambodia’s top election body will take legal action against groups that conduct or publish opinion polls in the two weeks leading up to June 4 commune elections, its spokesman said on Sunday, warning that the surveys could lead to “social instability.” ...
Ben Sokhean and Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/opinion-polls-to-be-banned-ahead-of-election-127426/
CNRP drops contentious slogan
After claiming for weeks that a controversial party slogan was not actually official, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party decided to remove the phrase from its official party platform yesterday in an attempt at “reconciliation”. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-drops-contentious-slogan
CNRP vexed as CPP continues to call Sokha’s presidency illegitimate
Opposition lawmakers yesterday left a meeting at the Interior Ministry exasperated, as officials from the latter continued to deem the presidency of their leader, Kem Sokha, and the vice presidency of three senior lawmakers, illegitimate, but offered no clear path to a resolution. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-vexed-cpp-continues-call-sokhas-presidency-illegitimate
Elections coalition has $170K shortfall
About $170,000 remains to be found for a coalition of watchdogs and civil society observers known as the “situation room” to successfully monitor all of Cambodia’s 2017 commune elections for irregularities. ...
Martin de Bourmont
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/elections-coalition-has-170k-shortfall
NGOs lay out plans for election
A coalition of watchdogs and other civil society groups yesterday announced their intention to form a “situation room” for the 2017 commune elections in order to monitor the voting process for irregularities. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-lay-out-plans-election
Civil society groups to watch poll
Thirty-eight civil society groups have formed a situation room to monitor the upcoming commune elections in a bid to ensure a free and fair electoral process. During a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday, members of the situation room explained that despite having insufficient observers ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37000/civil-society-groups-to-watch-poll/
NEC says it will recognize CNRP commune election candidates
The National Election Committee (NEC) won’t stop CNRP candidates from running in June’s commune elections, even if the Interior Ministry invalidates the party’s recent change in leadership, a spokesman said on Monday amid speculation from analysts that the government was seeking to bar the opposition ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-says-it-will-recognize-cnrp-commune-election-candidates-127140/
PM tells politicians to play nice
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on political parties to avoid insulting and degrading one another as campaigning intensifies ahead of commune elections in June. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36953/pm-tells-politicians-to-play-nice/