News
Fresh Faces on CPP’s Shortened List of Lawmakers
When the ruling CPP takes its seats in the new National Assembly, its members of Parliament will include a few new faces, and significantly less old ones, according to ratified election results announced by the National Election Committee (NEC) on Sunday. The CPP’s poor showing in ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/fresh-faces-on-cpps-shortened-list-of-lawmakers-41902/
Cambodian court grants bail to 4 suspects arrested for inciting violence
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday decided to grant bail to four people who were arrested last week on the charge of inciting armed forces to topple the government, a court official said. “The court decided to release them on bail,” Meas Chanpisith, deputy prosecutor ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/20/c_132646862.htm
Opposition Voters in Preah Vihear Claim Threat of Eviction
Locals and rights groups on Wednesday said dozens of farmers in a village in Preah Vihear province have been singled out for eviction after supporting the opposition CNRP in last month’s vote, a claim their village chief denied. Residents of Choam Ksan district’s Kom Prak village ...
Government Downplays Cuts to US Military Aid
The government on Wednesday insisted that its decision to postpone U.S.-backed military assistance programs following the July 28 election would not have a negative impact on relations between the two countries. Marie Harf, the spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, also said on Tuesday that ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-downplays-cuts-to-us-military-aid-39568/
Cambodia Delays US Military Aid
Cambodia postponed U.S.-backed military assistance programs immediately after the July 28 national election, officials of both countries confirmed Tuesday, in a move that analysts said reflects a strain in relations after years of strengthening military ties. The U.S. has in recent years expanded training and other ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-delays-us-military-assistance-39509/
Hun Sen welcomes international investigation
Prime Minister Hun Sen said this afternoon he would “welcome” an international investigation into the contested results of Sunday’s election. “For the sake of free and fair elections, I welcome the international community, all political parties and the NEC to investigate this,” he told reporters, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-welcomes-international-election-investigation
Opposition Party Rejects Election Results, Wants Investigation
The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) on Monday rejected the results of the national election, calling for a joint committee to be established to investigate what the opposition party said were vast irregularities in Sunday’s polls. “The Cambodia National Rescue Party demands for the establishment ...
Cambodian oppn rejects election result
CAMBODIA’S opposition has rejected the claim of victory by the ruling party of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen in weekend elections, alleging widespread irregularities. “The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) cannot accept the results of the fifth parliamentary election because the CNRP has found a ...
Big opposition gains
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party saw its ironclad grip on the National Assembly weaken dramatically, dropping 22 seats in winning 68 of 123, with the opposition the beneficiary and the CPP’s royalist coalition partners winning none at all in an election rife with alleged irregularities. Though ...
Going home to vote? Expect a hike in travel prices
Voters who travel to cast ballots in the upcoming poll Sunday could face higher transportation fees as drivers and companies try to capitalise on heavier passenger volume. Phan Na, general manager at Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation, which sells bus tickets to several provinces, said fees could ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/going-home-vote-expect-hike-travel-prices
Villagers claim CPP arm-twisting
About 40 families of ex-Khmer Rouge and government soldiers in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district complained to rights group Adhoc yesterday, accusing officials of forcing them to thumbprint a contract saying they would vote CPP so the party could resolve an ongoing land dispute, an ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-claim-cpp-arm-twisting
Cambodian opposition chief arrives home after 4 years in exile
Cambodia’s charismatic opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived in his home country on Friday morning after spending nearly four years abroad in self-imposed exile to avoid an 11-year prison sentence on charges of disinformation and destruction of public property. Hun Sen said his request to the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-07/19/c_132555198.htm
Congressional Hearing in US Pushes Cut to Cambodian Aid
At a congressional hearing in Washington on Tuesday that scathingly rebuked Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling CPP, a U.S. lawmaker called for legislation to cut American aid to Cambodia following the national election on July 28. Representative Steve Chabot, who chaired the House Subcommittee ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/congressional-hearing-in-us-pushes-cut-to-cambodian-aid-34389/
EU Draft Memo Defended Voter List Margin of Error
Audits of the voter list which claimed that up to 1 million people could lose their right to vote in the July 28 national election were attributed to an “unavoidable margin of error” due to many citizens not having national identity cards or a permanent ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/eu-draft-memo-defended-voter-list-margin-of-error-32909/
Ban on Radio Broadcasts Lifted Amid US Pressure
The Ministry of Information on Saturday lifted a ban on the broadcast of all Khmer-language foreign radio programs by FM stations during the month leading up to the July 28 national election amid swift and harsh rebuke from the U.S. and the broadcasters themselves. The ministry ...
Foreign Radio Broadcasts Banned Ahead of Election
The Ministry of Information has banned the broadcast of all Khmer-language programs by foreign radio stations for the entire 31 days of the pre-election campaign period and on election day, July 28, warning that legal action will ensue if stations fail to comply. The ban, announced ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/foreign-radio-broadcasts-banned-ahead-of-election-32648/
NEC Says Statement on Bloggers Not an Attack on Free Speech
Despite fears that a warning to users of social media and Internet blogs will dampen free speech, the head of National Election Committee (NEC) has insisted the intention was not to limit expression ahead of July’s national election. The NEC last week issued a statement requesting ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-says-statement-on-bloggers-not-attack-on-free-speech-26791/
Huawei withdraws injunction
Huawei Technologies (Cambodia) Co agreed yesterday to withdraw its injunction against Mfone in order to pave the way for a court-appointed administrator to sell the bankrupt company’s assets and compensate its many creditors. Along with other creditors, Huawei representatives expressed concerns that the assets would ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040964953/Business/huawei-withdraws-injunction.html
National Election Committee Dismisses Criticism of Reform
At the ceremony yesterday making the official start of the National Election Committee’s new mandate, NEC chairman Im Suosdey criticized the U.N. human rights envoy to Cambodia for taking an exceedingly harsh view of the country’s much derided electoral system. In a July report to the ...
Sam Rainsy deleted from Voter Registration
The National Election Committee (NEC) has removed opposition leader Sam Rainsy from the voter list for next year’s national election on the grounds that he is a convicted criminal, an NEC official said yesterday. The decision means that even if Mr. Rainsy is granted a royal ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sam-rainsy-deleted-from-voter-list-for-election-5229/
Hun Sen Talks Victory, Mocks Party Merger
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday thanked voters for the CPP’s overwhelming victory in Sunday’s commune election and told opposition parties that their plans for a coalition will not stop the ruling party’s dominance in the polls. Speaking for the first time since the elections, Mr. Hun ...
Election Body Urged to Keep Gov’t Out of Politics
Nine non-governmental groups issued a statement late last week urging the country’s National Election Committee (NEC) to enforce laws that bar political parties from using state resources. “The NEC has to punish the politicians and parties who use the state resources,” said Yong Kim Eng, ...