The Cambodian opposition chief believes the government will allow him to contest upcoming polls in order to safeguard the vote's legitimacy.
2013-01-08
RFA
Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday he is still confident of returning to Cambodia to participate in national elections in July,
even though the government has disqualified him from standing or voting
in the polls and has vowed to arrest and jail him if he returns.
He said that international pressure on the government of Prime Minister
Hun Sen over the vote's legitimacy if he cannot stand in elections could
convince the authorities to allow him back to the country.
Sam Rainsy, who is head of the united opposition coalition National
Rescue Party (NRP) and currently lives in Paris, faces up to 11 years in
prison in Cambodia on charges he says were part of a campaign of
political persecution against him.
Sam Rainsy said that the opposition could give Hun Sen's Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) a run for its money following the recent merger between his erstwhile Sam Rainsy Party and another leading group, the Human Rights Party.
Speaking to RFA's Khmer Service from Finland, where he met with senior officials, Sam Rainsy said that international
pressure on the Cambodian government is mounting for his return and
expressed confidence that the political environment will change ahead of
the July 28 elections.
"We have seven months to go, and experience has shown that the political
environment changes all the time. All I know now is I will be in
Cambodia for the election," he said.
The country’s National Election Committee (NEC), which critics say lacks
independence from the ruling party, had removed Sam Rainsy as a voter
and disallowed him from standing as a candidate in the elections in a
ruling in November.
It reaffirmed its position last week, saying that his conviction for
crimes that included destroying border markers near Vietnam in 2009 make
him ineligible to vote or to run for office.
U.S. disappointed
The United States criticized the decision on Friday, saying it calls into question the vote’s legitimacy.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Washington was
disappointed by the NEC's disqualification of Sam Rainsy based on
criminal convictions.
"We
are disappointed in the Cambodian National Election Committee’s
announcement recently, again reiterating that Sam Rainsy was removed
from the official voter list for the July 2013 elections due to criminal
convictions, which credible observers believe have been politically
motivated,” she said.
Free and fair elections “require a level playing field and unfettered
participation of opposition parties,” she said. “So the exclusion of a
leading opposition leader calls into question the legitimacy of the
whole democratic process in Cambodia.”
But as National Rescue Party President, Sam Rainsey declared this week
that he would be able to return to Cambodia due to international
pressure ahead of the National Election July 28.
"Actually,
as president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party representing the
united democratic opposition, I am the only serious challenger to Mr.
Hun Sen for premiership," Sam Rainsy said.
He said the opposition's chances in the coming elections are good,
basing his forecast on local elections last June in which he said the
Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party collected a total of 31
percent of the popular vote in spite of what he described as a partisan
election commission and serious manipulation of voter lists.
"Therefore, one can understand why incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen
wants to exclude me from the election process in spite of international
condemnation.”
“He wants to preserve his position without a risky, real fight. But any
national election without the participation of the leader of the
opposition is just meaningless," he said.
"I will be back in Cambodia before the July elections, when Hun Sen
realizes that any government stemming from an illegitimate election
would be considered illegitimate with far-reaching consequences for
Cambodia's stability and prosperity."
'Independent state'
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told RFA however that Sam Rainsy's
statement that he could return to Cambodia does not hold water, saying
the international community cannot influence Cambodia as an "independent
state."
He said that the government will enforce the court's verdicts against Sam Rainsy if he returns.
"Sam Rainsy told his followers that when [President Barack] Obama came
to Cambodia [in November], he would be here, but he wasn't here," Khieu
Kanharith said.
"He is now telling his supporters that he will be in Cambodia for the election. This is a lie."
Reported by Samean Yun of RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
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