SRP accuses ruling CPP of election vote-buying

In the wake of what the opposition Sam Rainsy Party has called unprecedented gains in the senate election, the party has said that “virtually every SRP councillor” was approached by ruling Cambodian People’s Party officials attempting to buy their vote in the election, a party statement issued yesterday said.

The statement said that in Kandal province, where Prime Minister Hun Sen lives and votes, SRP councillors were offered US$5,000 a vote to swing their support to the CPP.

“Many forms of intimidation were also used to frighten the opposition into voting for the CPP,” the statement said, adding that “virtually every SRP councillor in all provinces was approached by CPP officials and offered between $500 and $5,000 to sell their votes to the ruling party”.

Cambodian Senate resembles French, Indian upper houses in reflecting will of the people

PHNOM PENH (Cambodia Herald) - As Cambodians prepare to digest the release of the final results in last weekend's Senate elections, they should at least feel comfortable with the knowledge that the body that convened its first meeting in 1999 is one of the more democratic upper houses of parliament in the world today. Final results were due Sunday but have been delayed amid complaints from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

At first glance, the upper house of the Cambodian parliament resembles the Senate in France. But the combination of indirect elections for the majority of senators and the appointment of a small minority makes the Cambodian Senate more like the upper house of parliament in India, widely described as the world's biggest democracy. Interestingly, Myanmar has chosen a similar model for its new upper house of parliament, although the minority appointed (by the military) is proportionally much bigger.

Thwarted vote buyer wants compensation

A ruling party member caught vote-buying on tape told a court hearing yesterday he should be compensated by the man he attempted to bribe because he recorded their conversation. 

On January 23, the Battambang Provincial Election Commission fined Cambodian People’s Party member Cheam Pe A $US1,230 for attempting to buy Sam Rainsy Party commune councillor Mok Ra’s vote in Senate elections the following Sunday. 

As a plaintiff, Cheam Pe A told Battambang Provincial Court yesterday that Mok Ra had broken the law by recording him offering the $700 bribe and asked for 10 million riel (US$2,475) in compensation. 

I’ve won already, says PM

Prime Minister Hun Sen casts his vote on Sunday in Phnom Penh for the national senate election. The Prime Minister is confident of the outcome.

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday that at least one element of the 2013 National Assembly election is a foregone conclusion – he will still be in charge when it’s over.

Speaking only three days after his party won control of the Senate for the third time in a row, the premier said yesterday that there is no chance he will be displaced as prime minister, given the fact that he is the only candidate.

“Don’t worry; the opposition party has no possibility of breaking [the Cambodian People’s Party],” he told a crowd at a ground-breaking ceremony inaugurating national road 76 in Ratanakkiri. 

“At that time, who will be a Minister of Public Works? [We] don’t know yet, but the only candidate for prime minister is me.”

The premier also expressed his thanks to 797 members of Funcinpec, the Norodom Rannaridh Party and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, who voted for the CPP at Sunday’s Senate election, including 179 councilors from the SRP.

SRP says vote-buying fine not nearly enough

Meas Sokchea 

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

A Cambodian People’s Party member found guilty of attempted vote-buying in last Monday’s Senate election had been let off too lightly with a fine and should face legal action, an opposition Sam Rainsy Party councillor said yesterday.

At a hearing of the Battambang Provincial Election Commission last week, CPP member Cheam Pe A was fined US$1,230 after he was caught on tape offering SRP Tuol Ta Ek commune councillor Mok Ra $700 to cast his vote for the ruling party. 

Senate Voting Along Party Lines, as Expected: Analysts

SRP MP Tioulong Saumura following her senate vote (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

The Senate elections held over the weekend produced results as expected, analysts said Monday. But the polls, open only to already chosen members of local commune councils, don’t reflect the will of the people, election observers said.

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party received about 78 percent of the votes, with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party taking the remainder, increasing from two to 11 seats.

Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the numbers showed voting along party lines, as expected, rather than commune councils extending the will of the people.

“There is no relationship like that,” he said.Some commune councils are unpopular over their handling of community problems like land disputes, he said.

Cambodia's political parties conclude 21-day campaign for Senate vote

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's political parties had ended electoral campaigns for the third legislature of the Senate on Friday, two days prior to the vote.

Mao Sophearith, member of the National Election Committee (NEC), said Friday that during the 21-day campaign, the parties had promoted their political stances through marching and broadcasting on the National Television of Cambodia.

"In general, the campaign had been done smoothly with good environment and security," he said in a press briefing to conclude the campaign. "There was no any violence happened during the period."