The third National Assembly
Election, which took place on 27 July 2003, drew praise from both national and
international monitoring organizations for the improved organization and
implementation of the electoral process in Cambodia. Yet, there were some
concerns raised as to the neutrality of the election management. According to
the statement made by the meeting of Analysts Team on Cambodia in 2002, issues
and recommendations on Election Reforms were raised urging complete democratic
implementation aimed at improved governance for reducing poverty in Cambodia.
This new statement will
highlight implemented results, and raise some more priority issues that demand
immediate reforms before the next general election takes place. This statement
will also raise some new priorities including the Senate
Election.
The following Priorities and
Recommendations represent the views gained from discussions amongst election
monitoring organizations (EMO) and Human Rights NGOs.
Although the National
Election Commission (NEC) was restructured prior to the 2003 election, from 11
to 5 persons, it was noted that problems arose in relation to the procedure for
selection, including the failure to follow open guidelines. Thus the selection
of candidates for the NEC was made by the Ministry of Interior, which is under
the control of the government and regarded as being led by the ruling party.
Three (3) of these candidates are selected by the Ministry of
Interior’s CPP-appointed Co-Minister and the other two (2) are selected by the
Ministry of Interior’s FUNCINPEC-appointed Co-MInister before being submitted
to the Council of Ministers for approval and the National Assembly for the final
vote of approval.
If we examine the NEC’s
composition and its members at all levels, it would appear that most are from
the ruling party with a small number from FUNCINPEC. According to a study
carried out by the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL),
in the Provincial Election Commissions (PEC) 70% of officials were affiliated
with CPP, 20% with FUNCINPEC and the other 10% from the public. Several parties
were unhappy at this balance and raised the issue of whether the NEC and its
subordinate bodies were in fact neutral. A lack of trust in the bodies that
organize the election and enforce the election law ultimately undermines the
overall process and final result.
The
electoral system should be revised so as to encourage independent candidates:
The Cambodian electoral
process remains based upon a system of proportional representation. There are
concerns that the current system does little to encourage National Assembly
members to communicate with the electorate regarding their actions as elected
officials and the discharge of their election promises.
At the same time the system
gives power to political leaders in relation to listing representative
candidates and commune/sangkat council. Elected representatives and commune/sangkat
council have been threatening with expulsion from their positions, if they did
not work towards the parties’ interests. The stranglehold of the large parties
over the political process combines with the current system to prevent
independent candidate from standing for election.
A
quota should be established by which women members make up at least 30% of those
on political party/government positions
In the 2003 Election, about
25% of registered candidates were women. However, the number of female
candidates actually electedwas as low as for the previous Assembly: only 9% of
123 parliamentarians. This is because the political parties did not have real
will to encourage and provide opportunity for women to be elected [and put
female candidates in a low position on their party lists]. More accurately, 493
women (equal to 25.88%) were registered as candidates and 12 of them were voted
into the Assembly as a result of the 27 July National Election, 2003. In the
1998 election, 603 women (equal to 16.91%) were registered as candidates and 14
women were voted into the Assembly. Therefore, Civil Society urges the Royal
Government and all political parties to improve the representation of women via
encouraging them to stand as female candidates [and giving them higher positions
on political party lists].
In the 2003 election, the NEC
once again failed to effectively operate an effective complaints system. The
procedures dealing with complaints were ineffective in their drafting and
operation to punish electoral law violators and enforce the law in relation to
serious problems such as vote buying and cases of intimidation.
A large number of cases, especially at the CEC level were dealt with
through procedures of conciliation rather than a hearing. This conciliation
procedure did not deter electoral violations; rather it seemed to encourage
perpetrators to continue to act and increased the culture of impunity. At the
same time, jurisdictional problems arose in relation to the NEC’s competence
and that of the courts in relation to different types of election offence. The
law needs to be clarified and the roles of all bodies made clear. Finally better
training of election officials needs to take place in order that they have a
full understanding of the electoral complaints procedure.
Media access is largely
controlled by the ruling party, especially broadcasting. However, compared to
previous elections, it can be concluded that there has been progress in campaign
broadcasting in the 2003 election. This has been as a result of activities
undertaken by national and international civil society in establishing programs
such as voter education, political debates, and equitable political news
broadcasts.
Strengthening
non partisan Election Monitoring Organizations
(EMO):
In accordance with previous
election monitoring experience, we draw concern on the acts of the
Government/Ruling Party that try to create a mechanism of actively using their
influence to affect the neutrality and work of NGOs’ monitoring of the
election. For instance, in the 1998 National Election, the Government/Ruling
Party supported one candidate to become the NGO representative on the NEC,
although there was displeasure expressed by civil society. Since 2002, the year
of the Commune/Sangkat Council Election, the Government/Ruling Party tried to
establish an NGO COORDINATION COMMITTEE
on MONITORING ELECTIONS aimed at controlling EMOs, which may affect the
independence of EMOs as a result. During this 2003 National Election, the ruling
political parties supported a particular group of NGOs consisting of about 76
organizations. They are non-government organizations, but their actions
absolutely support all acts of the ruling party. These factors caused public
confusion regarding the neutrality of Election Monitoring NGOs.
NGOs
strongly express our support for elections to be held for the
second term of the Senate, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of
the Kingdom of Cambodia. His Majesty Samdach Preah Norodom Sihanouk, King of
Cambodia refused to use his special privileges to appoint Senators, who are not
elected through the elections, stating, “The
Senate must be born from the people”.
An election is essential for the observance of, and
respect for, democracy and the Constitution in Cambodia. It ensures full
participation from all parties who will serve the public interest of all ways of
life of the people.
The
suggestion that the lack of finances in the country should lead to the
appointment of senators is not legitimate. A failure to organize an election
because of a lack of budget, for which the Government itself is
responsiblewithout exploring ways to generate resources, will undermine the
observance of democracy in Cambodia.
Noticeably,
so far a number of Senators invested their efforts to draft a "Law on the
Election of Members of the Senate". We and other election stakeholders will
encourage participatory discussions on the draft Law
on the Election of Members of the Senate,
by members of the National Assembly,
government, civil society, donor community, political parties and lawyers, in
order to explore possibilities.
Structure of the National Election
Commission
Restructure the NEC with clear procedures for
recruitment and selection written into the Constitution.
. The
legislative and executive branches should take full responsibility for the
development of legislation on Senate elections and thereafter for the
organization of this election.
·
Amend chapter 3 of the National Assembly Election Law in relation to the
NEC. In particular:
Recheck
the structure of the NEC, keeping 5 persons membership but making sure that they
are not political representatives, hold positions in the RGC or key national
institutions within 3 years of being appointed to the NEC.
Members
should be independent, neutral, non-politically affiliated, competent and of
good reputation.
Members
should hold a higher education advanced degree, and/or been in a post such as a
judge for an extended period, and/or be of good reputation. Female candidates
should be encouraged.
In
terms of the nomination procedure - a recruitment commission should be
established made up of: representatives of political parties as member of the
National Assembly, non-government organizations and the Cambodian Bar
Association.
The
names of candidate’s names should be released to the public in order to
encourage their feedback before being submitted to the National Assembly for
confirmation.
Members of the
electoral body should have immunity or privilege as per National Assembly
members.
·
To strengthen the function and competence of NEC members, an independent
body should be established. This body should have the right to punish NEC
members if they violate the election law.
The
electoral system should be revised so as to encourage independent candidates:
·
The Electoral System should operate on a mixed-voting system (individual
and proportional systems combined) to
provide the opportunity for independent
individuals or groups to contest the election.
·
Political party and non-political party candidates should be able to
contest the election in all constituencies.
·
Establish a quota of at least
30% of female candidates on all political party’s lists.
This quota should also be stated in the electoral legal framework or the
policy of each political party in order to provide women a more effective
opportunity to take part in social and political affairs.
·
Female candidate’s names should alternate with male candidate’s names
starting from the top of the candidate list.
·
Increase the provision of information to and training of court officials,
the police, and the general public on election complaints procedures.
·
Establish bodies to conduct hearings independent of the NEC and within
the existing judicial framework.
·
The police at all levels should coordinate with polling staff of the
sub-committee or department of investigation of the NEC.
·
In order to improve information and debate, and the media monitoring of
political platforms, both state and private run media must have procedures,
guidelines and law regarding equal access to media.
·
State-owned media outlets should provide airtime free of charge to NGOs
for voter education programs.
·
The law on broadcasting media should be established for TV and Radio.
____________________________________________________
For
more information and the issues raised in this paper, please contact:
Election Sectoral GroupTel: 023-884-150/023-883-967Email: comfrel@online.com.kh and comfrel@forum.org.kh