Cambodian Electoral Concern from Asian International Observers

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) has been invited by COMFREL and NICFEC to observe an important election in Cambodia.  Asian observers from 7 countries from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Philippines, India, Thailand and Nepal have clear expectation of observing a better electoral practice and democratic environment in the Kingdom of Cambodia.  ANFREL aims to follow up the effective participation of Cambodian stakeholders to reach their supreme goal for actual democracy.

ANFREL’s 2008 observation is the forth mission since 1998, the observers are looking forward to the 27^th July Election being conducted in a credible manner, with less violence, equal treatment between all the parties- opposition and ruling, majors and others, new and old.  A positive political development, free and fair poll as well as neutrality of the National Election Committee (NEC) can create a good image among the international community.   Meanwhile all party leaders and candidates should adhere to the law, avoid black campaigning, voter bribery and stay away from physical and verbal violence.  All stakeholders must try by all means to end the violence and bring justice to all killing cases over parties’ activists, supporters, journalist.

However, during the last few weeks, ANFREL observers have noticed that most media: TVs, Radios and local Newspapers have not maintained as much professional conduct in their work as expected.  Most have not been fair in broadcasting or writing the news of political parties equally. Information of candidates from ruling parties and opposition parties are quite imbalanced. Observers have requested the NEC to encourage more cooperation from all media to make the electoral environment more fair and democratic.
In line to local observation and international standard, the NEC is supposed to be the most respected body for all election, Guideline for the Media that was distributed on 18^th July, 2008 should be promoted in a high degree for serious implementation.  The guideline must be diverted to be an Order, if not a Reminder or Announcement.  All media are crucial for providing public with accurate information, they should be closely monitored by NEC and all stakeholders.  The state media must be a good example for private media; they should not favor any specific party or powerful candidates.   It is important to impose a clear punishment from the pre to post election period to the biased media and demand professional performance from reporters and journalists.

For further information about ANFREL observation mission, please contact
Ms. Somsri Hananuntasuk – Executive Director,  Phone No in Cambodia:  099378802

NGOs upset with joint military-police exercises

P Tarani | Jul 4, 08 2:03pm

Twenty seven NGO’s have come together and conveyed their outrage over the joint military-police exercises at the Police College in Cheras today.

MCPX

This is an unprecedented move. We have witnessed even in the peak of the Reformasi movement in 1998, no army deployment” said Yunus Ali, representative of National Institute Electoral for Integrity.

“(The scenario) is much calmer now (compared to 1998). So why is there a need to deploy military personnel?”

Yunus Ali, accompanied by Women’s Aid Organisation (WOA), Executive Director Ivy Josiah and Yap Swee Seng, Executive Director of Suaram gave the press conference while representatives from the remaining 24 organisations keenly listened and later joined in for a lively question and answer session.

Many came to the agreement that the joint exercise created an artificial environment of insecurity to generate fear among the people.

“The situation does not warrant for such drastic action, so why are they initiating this movement?” asked Tan Jo Hann, President of Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor (Permas).

“Secretly, they have been contemplating this move for two years, so why are they only acting on it now? This may be a political ploy to advance some parties’ political ambitions,” he said.

When elephants collide

Asked if this may be a repeat of the military-led rule in the aftermath of the May 13, 1969 riots, where the country was under the National Operational Council (NOC), Suguna Papachan of Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor (PSWS) said that things were different now than the 1970s.

“Methods of communication were very scarce in the 70s. There are various means of communications today, like the Internet and the blog.

“There is an old proverb in Malay that goes, Bila gajah lawan gajah, pelanduk yang mati (When the elephants fight each other, it is the mousedeer that dies.).

“We have to ask why are you creating this fear when there is no reason to do so? The media has to carry out their duty to inform and question why the fear is being created?”

The press conference was in response to Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan’s statement two days ago that the army and the police have had training exercises. This is for a possible deployment in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam areas in response to demonstrations planned in the immediate future.

PM must take charge

Yunus Ali also said that the military were not trained to interact with civilians.

“They are not trained to fire tear gases and water cannons , and if they are deployed that will most likely bring along their guns,” he said.

“In a democratic country, armed forces are under the purview of the people. We cannot allow this development to take place, we must reject it.

Meanwhile, Klang member of parliament Charles Santiago in a separate statement said that any move of the army and police being jointly used to maintain peace and national security would violate the rights of Malaysians to freedom of expression.

I also believe this sudden decision is a result of the anti-fuel hike rally planned for Sunday. The organisers have said that hundreds of thousands of people would attend the peaceful protest”.

“Any violence on the part of the police and military would only lead to more dissatisfaction among the people,” he said.

He said that the government should allow for peaceful demonstrations as opposed to using thinly-veiled threats of arrests to prevent people from airing their grievances with the BN leadership.

Furthermore, he said, the need to use the army to ensure national security was unwarranted as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that “everything is under control”.

Intimidating to the public

The Bar Council also expressed its concern over the use of armed forces to maintain public order.

Its chairperson Ambiga Sreenavasan said that there has never been a necessity to take such a measure in the past, adding that in two recent occasions, assemblies were conducted peacefully and without incident.

“[The use of armed forces] is unwarranted and heavy-handed, and we call for this move to be abandoned,” she said in a statement.

“The threat of such deployment is intimidating to members of the public who have shown the desired maturity and responsibility in the conduct of such assemblies.”

Ambiga added that the threat of the use of the army was inconsistent with the government’s move towards loosening the grip in assemblies.

“Recent events in the course of the week have also created much disquiet. We call on the prime minister to address this disquiet,” she said.

The Malaysian Bar represents more than 13,000 lawyers in peninsular Malaysia.

From Malaysiakini