Cambodge Soir (translation)
Friday, February 16 to Sunday, February 18, 2007
p. 6
Original in French: http://tinyurl.com/2l8ygo

Commune Elections: Sam Rainsy Invokes Organization of Frauds

At a press conference at the headquarters of his party, Sam Rainsy denounced "irregularities in the election process" that, according to him, aim at preparing the victory of the ruling party.  Among the most serious irregularities, he mentioned those voters registered on the voter list in October 2006 and whose names have since disappeared from the list, while the National Election Committee (NEC) expressed its satisfaction about the registration of 1.2 million citizens.  Some of the voters who have realized spelling mistakes in their names and have asked the correction to be made have reportedly noticed that those corrections have not been made.  For example, Heng Srun, member of the commune council of Tonle Bet in the province of Kompong Cham, confirmed that people in his commune have actually noticed that the mistakes have not been rectified, which makes them worried.  "These errors could be used as pretext to deny their right to vote," Sam Rainsy worried.  "The names of some SRP candidates have also disappeared from the list, which will prevent them from running for the election," he protested.  Regarding spelling mistakes, Tep Nitha, Secretary General of the NEC, recognizes that they could have been made, since the commune electoral committees hand-wrote the names and could have created errors when entering them in the computer.  But he apparently wants to reassure and guarantee that those voters will
still be able to vote.

Among the second worries of the SRP are the complaints lodged with the election authorities at different levels concerning the illegal registration of foreigners.  The SRP has asked for the deleting of their names, but its leader asserts that this has not been done.  For the party president, these irregularities, in addition to the false names put on the list, in addition to the voter information notices that indicate non-existing polling stations (he cites the commune of Poipet in the province of Banteay Meanchey) form a dangerous whole. "We ask the NEC to check these points.  We must not let these irregularities persist.  With these serious shortcomings, the elections will be worthless.  They will not reflect the will of the people.  The NEC is organizing the victory of the CPP [even before voting day]."  If the SRP's recommendations are not taken into account, Sam Rainsy will call for a postponement of the elections and the condemnation of election officials who have violated their code of ethics.  He has also urged the UNDP, the main financial supporter of the election process, to withdraw in case the irregularities are not rectified in time instead of endorsing "ridiculous elections."