SAM RAINSY: DISENFRANCHISED VOTERS, KEM SOKHA, AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000778 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CB SUBJECT: SAM RAINSY: DISENFRANCHISED VOTERS, KEM SOKHA, AND SAVE OUR STUPA REF: PHNOM PENH 765 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In a June 6 meeting with the Ambassador, Sam Rainsy and Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) National Assembly Whip Son Chhay conveyed concerns over voter disenfranchisement in the 2008 national elections because of voting registration problems and also discussed the lack of "proper representation" in the National Assembly. Sam Rainsy complained the voter registration process underway is controlled by Cambodian People's Party (CPP) village- and commune-level leaders who deliberately pass over non-CPP party voters when compiling local voter lists. Voter representation in the legislature, meanwhile, dilutes as Cambodia's population increases but the number of National Assembly seats remains at 123. On Kem Sokha, Sam Rainsy and Son Chhay said the Human Rights Party founder was already losing momentum. Rainsy also asked for the Ambassador's help in saving a memorial stupa commemorating a grenade attack on an SRP rally that killed 16 people in 1997. The stupa was placed in front of the National Assembly building seven years ago. New plans by the Phnom Penh Governor to beautify the area do not include the SRP stupa. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) During a June 6 meeting with the Ambassador, Sam Rainsy and National Assembly SRP Whip Son Chhay voiced concerns over voter registration activity that appears to be skipping over eligible, non-CPP voters. The April 1, 2007 commune council elections showed a glaring need for updated, accurate and complete voter registration lists. (SRP maintains that as many as 2.5 million Cambodians had been disenfranchised in the April 1 elections, many of them due to voter registration list problems.) Cambodia's National Election Committee (NEC) is responding to the problem by sending out new voter notification letters to village chiefs. Chiefs are then expected to document names of voters in their villages mostly by going door to door to collect information. Sam Rainsy reports that village chiefs are generally familiar enough with their area residents that they document voters who are away from home working in remote fields or who have temporarily migrated for work or other reasons but who are certain to return for elections. However, CPP village chiefs are reportedly not recording non-CPP voters in these situations. The CPP now controls 1,591 chief positions out of 1,621 communes and sangkats across Cambodia after the April 1 elections. ¶3. (SBU) As mentioned by SRP Secretary General Mu Sochua on May 31 (reftel),the SRP is pushing for an increase in the number of National Assembly seats from 123 to at least 135 prior to the 2008 election. Son Chhay told the Ambassador the basis for calculating this number is a formula stipulated in Cambodia's Law on the Election of the National Assembly and on projected population increases since the first seat allocation in 1993. Sam Rainsy noted one MP will represent 118,000 people in 2008 if the seats are not increased -- a constituency he says is too large for MPs to effectively and fully represent. (Note: The government has said that the number of National Assembly seats will be resolved after the 2008 census -- which will be finalized too late to affect the national elections next year. End Note.) ¶4. (SBU) Son Chhay recently met with presidential candidate Kem Sokha and believes Kem Sokha and his Human Rights Party have lost initial presidential campaign momentum. Kem Sokha's campaign rides on his popularity from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights -- popularity that was high when Kem Sokha was not running for political office. Now that Kem Sokha is on the campaign trail he is discouraged by unimpressive support compared to the extensive political networks and popularity that other candidates (read: Sam Rainsy) have built up over years. Kem Sokha recently returned from a campaign tour in the U.S. where he drummed up only USD 10,000 per month from his U.S. supporters, according to Son Chhay. (Note: Kem Sokha was planning to hold a party congress next month, but reportedly has been denied permission due to his inability to comply with all the necessary administrative requirements. End Note.) ¶5. (SBU) Sam Rainsy requested the Ambassador's support to save a memorial stupa commemorating a 1997 grenade attack on an SRP rally for judicial independence. The attack killed 16 people and injured 114, including an Amcit. In what was considered a small political victory, the stupa was erected in front of the National Assembly building by SRP members seven years ago. The Phnom Penh Governor recently publicized plans to beautify the area by creating a garden and increasing parking space. New plans do not include the memorial stupa. Sam Rainsy purports the CPP wants to get rid of the memorial before the 2008 elections because it PHNOM PENH 00000778 002 OF 002 symbolizes dissention. The Ambassador told Sam Rainsy he will meet with the Phnom Penh Governor to express his support for the memorial. ¶6. (SBU) Comment. Post believes the Royal Government of Cambodia's (RGC) proposed plan regarding the 1997 grenade attack memorial stupa is a trial balloon to gauge the level of response from civil society, the SRP and donors. The RGC is aware that the attack's unresolved status evokes persistent sensitivity in Washington. If plans to remove the memorial move forward, the Ambassador will discuss the matter with RGC officials above the level of the Phnom Penh Governor, including Prime Minister Hun Sen. End comment. MUSSOMELI