VZCZCXRO4898
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0418/01 0731110
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 141110Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8188
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CB
SUBJECT: KEM SOKHA REENTERS POLITICS 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Gaurav Bansal, Reason 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) 
President Kem Sokha's March 11 announcement that he is 
reentering politics by forming a new political party is not a 
surprise, except with respect to the timing of the 
announcement coming before April 1 elections.  Many observers 
from civil society and politics had been expecting him to 
enter politics but few expected that he would make the 
announcement before the upcoming nationwide commune 
elections.  Most observers agreed that this is a gain for Kem 
Sokha but a loss for civil society and risks further damage 
to Cambodia's already divided opposition.  Civil society 
leaders agree that the timing of the announcement was 
probably designed to do maximum damage to the opposition Sam 
Rainsy Party (SRP) in the upcoming elections by causing 
potential Kem Sokha supporters to stay home -- although it 
remains an open question how Kem Sokha benefits if the CPP 
wins even more seats at the SRP's expense. End Summary. 
 
Kem Sokha Announces a New Political Party 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  On March 11, Kem Sokha announced that he would 
reenter politics by forming his own political party, 
confirming persisent rumors since his January 2006 release 
from prison that the human rights leader would return to the 
political scene.  Kem Sokha noted that he would officially 
step down as the leader of the Cambodian Center for Human 
Rights (CCHR) in May, and that his decision was predicated on 
an outpouring of popular support for his return.  The 
announcement signals a further splintering of the democratic 
opposition parties in Cambodia, and raises questions about 
Kem Sokha's motives.  Kem Sokha and key opposition leader Sam 
Rainsy have had an uneasy relationship since the CCHR leader 
began flirting with the idea of returning to politics after 
seeing his popularity soar following his December 31, 2005 
arrest.  The two leaders have met sporadically since Sokha's 
subsequent release and Rainsy's return to Cambodia, and have 
discussed the possibility of joining forces.  Relations 
between the two men have soured over the past year and rumors 
of a Kem Sokha announcement of a new party have been rife for 
several months.  There appeared to be tacit understanding 
between Sokha and Rainsy, however, that the CCHR leader would 
not go public on his political future until after the commune 
elections.  The announcement on March 11 is oddly timed, as 
Kem Sokha cannot field any candidates, and has left many 
observers scratching their heads. 
 
 
Good for Kem Sokha; Bad for Democracy 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Dr. Kek Galabru, President of the human rights NGO 
LICADHO, commented that she was afraid that Sokha's 
reentering politics would divide the voices of democracy in 
Cambodia.  She said that she had discussed with Sokha and Sam 
Rainsy and his wife Saumura the idea that Rainsy and Sokha 
might joining forces to create a united front to oppose the 
ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), but had gotten little 
positive response.  Although Sokha and Rainsy appeared to be 
willing to unite, Saumura did not seem prepared to put 
personal ambitions aside.  (Comment:  This tracks with our 
reading of the dynamic as well; Rainsy has repeatedly told us 
that he would gladly welcome Kem Sokha in his party and that 
if the latter proved the leader of choice within the party 
and was the person deemed by polling as most likely to unseat 
Prime Minister Hun Sen, Rainsy would happily step aside. 
Saumura, however, has always been wary of Kem Sokha's 
ambitions.  She appears not to trust the CCHR leader, 
believing that he may be being pushed directly and/or 
indirectly by the CPP as a tool against Rainsy.  End 
Comment.)  Concerning Sokha's widely published comments that 
no existing political party was truly democratic and that in 
his party the leader would not have total control, Galabru 
thought this was an obvious jab at the SRP's internal 
democratization efforts and the behind-the-scenes power 
Saumura has wielded over the SRP. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Thun Saray, President of the human rights group 
ADHOC, commented that Sokha's return to politics is a 
reenactment of his leaving civil society in the early 1990s 
to join politics.  Saray opined that although Sokha has 
credibility with the public, his leaving the Cambodian Center 
for Human Rights (CCHR) is bad for the credibility of human 
rights organizations.  He agreed with Kek Galabru that 
Sokha's comment about existing political parties not being 
internally democratic was indeed meant as an attack at SRP's 
internal democratization program.  Saray said that Cambodian 
opposition parties have a history of attacking one another 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000418  002 OF 003 
 
 
instead of the CPP; the timing of Sokha's announcement being 
geared towards stealing votes from the SRP fits this 
historical pattern. 
 
Where is the Money? 
------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Theary Seng, President of the Center of Social 
Development, thought Sokha's announcement was a step back for 
democracy.  She said that Sokha would find that he was more 
influential as a human rights activist than as a politician. 
Her biggest concern was where Kem Sokha would obtain the 
necessary funds to start and sustain his party.  As a 
Cambodian-American, Seng mentioned that Sokha's claim that he 
was obtaining most of his funds from Cambodian-Americans was 
not true.  She opined that a strong network is necessary to 
build a proper funding base in the U.S.; she thought that it 
was improbable that he had such a network in the U.S.  On the 
other hand, she commented that she had heard that a wealthy 
Cambodian businessman had offered to help fund Sokha's party, 
although she did not have a name of this individual.  On the 
timing of the announcement, she admitted that she had not 
thought very much about it but offered that Sokha had timed 
his announcement to coincide with the lead up to the commune 
elections.  She noted that Kem Sokha's announcement creates 
confusion among opposition leaders and helps the ruling party. 
 
SRP Not Surprised 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  SRP's Secretary General Mu Sochua and National 
Assembly Whip Son Chhay were not surprised at Kem Sokha's 
announcement; both claim they were aware that Kem Sokha was 
planning to go ahead with his own party.  Son Chhay allowed 
that Kem Sokha had contacted him to alert the SRP MP in 
advance of the announcement; Son Chhay said that Kem Sokha's 
decision would not make much difference in the April 1 
elections.  Son Chhay noted that Constitutional Council 
member Son Soubert would likely be one of the people 
supporting the new party, as Kem Sokha would probably accord 
more respect to the Son Sann party of Son Soubert's father, 
having worked with Son Sann in the past.  Both SRP figures 
noted that Kem Sokha was faced with the loss of USG financial 
support for CCHR and wanted a new platform by which he could 
continue his real objective -- which, they say, has always 
been a return to politics. 
 
¶7.  (U)  In a press interview, Kem Sokha responded to the 
issue of why he was not joining with the Sam Rainsy Party by 
declaring that the SRP does not follow democratic principles. 
 He added that the SRP is managed by a single individual, and 
also stated that the SRP is in conflict with other political 
parties.  Kem Sokha's party, he continued, will cooperate 
with all the other political parties in the national interest 
and will not view any other party as its enemy. 
 
Comments from Other Parties 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The other major political parties gave mixed 
responses to Sokha's announcement.  Tep Ngorn, Second 
Vice-President of the Cambodian Senate and Director of the 
CPP Cabinet, stated that the ruling CPP was not afraid of the 
new party or of any other party and that voters will decide 
how successful the new party will be.  FUNCINPEC spokesperson 
Nouv Sovatharo opined that he wished that Kem Sokha had 
stayed as a NGO leader because he had won the respect of the 
public through his public forums; he predicted that Sokha 
would lose the respect of the public in the political arena. 
Meanwhile, Noranarith Anandyath, spokesperson for the Norodom 
Ranariddh Party, said that Kem Sokha's new party would merely 
divide the democratic opposition further, but he predicted 
that the SRP would lose many key supporters to the new party. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  The inability of Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to 
overcome their differences and add a sense of direction to 
Cambodia's democratic opposition in the advance of the 2008 
national elections is unfortunate but not surprising.  In 
Cambodian politics, personality and ego reign supreme.  Kem 
Sokha's announcement of a decision to start his own party was 
the easy part; the difficult part will be the development of 
a party structure on a national level.  We understand that 
the CCHR leader plans to use participant information and 
networks developed through CCHR's public forums as a basis 
for establishing a party structure.   It is likely that he 
will also tap existing SRP officials; SRP MP Keo Remy has 
complained to us on numerous occasions about Rainsy's 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000418  003 OF 003 
 
 
management style and he may jump ship.  Much will ride on the 
April 1 election results -- if the SRP does well and makes 
some incremental gains, it could bode poorly for Kem Sokha. 
On the other hand, if the SRP falters and loses ground, Kem 
Sokha could emerge as a winner without even participating in 
the elections.   End Comment. 
MUSSOMELI