Slow start for joint electoral reform commission

The ruling CPP agreed in principle to two of seven proposals put forth by the opposition CNRP on Monday during the first meeting of a joint electoral reform commission. Emerging from a four-and-a-half hour meeting at the Senate, leaders of the CPP and CNRP working groups told reporters that they had agreed on the need to reform voter registration and create a new law on political financing. A joint statement released following the meeting says the parties agreed to “organize voter registration and voter lists to guarantee and to protect people’s right to vote” and “organize the creation of a law on financing of political parties.” … Those points included reforming the composition of the National Election Committee and its local bodies, giving parties equal access to broadcast media, the creation of an independent body to settle electoral disputes, and measures to ensure the political independence of the military and civil service. … The CNRP has refused to take its 55 seats in the National Assembly, demanding that the CPP agree to either a mid-term election or an investigation into July’s ballot, which they say was beset with irregularities that benefitted the ruling party. In January, the CPP announced that it would create a one-party electoral reform commission headed by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, but in February altered its plans and agreed to form a joint commission with the CNRP. Although Mr. Hun Sen and his deputies have repeatedly said that the CPP government and its one-party National Assembly are unaffected by the CNRP’s ongoing boycott, independent analyst Chea Vannath said Monday that the CPP’s participation in electoral reform talks was strictly a matter of legitimacy. …

 Mech Dara and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/slow-start-for-joint-electoral-reform-commission-53427/