VZCZCXRO9257
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0778/01 1590427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 080427Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8529
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000778 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CB
SUBJECT: SAM RAINSY: DISENFRANCHISED VOTERS, KEM SOKHA, AND 
SAVE OUR STUPA 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 765 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  In a June 6 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Sam Rainsy and Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) National Assembly Whip 
Son Chhay conveyed concerns over voter disenfranchisement in 
the 2008 national elections because of voting registration 
problems and also discussed the lack of "proper 
representation" in the National Assembly.  Sam Rainsy 
complained the voter registration process underway is 
controlled by Cambodian People's Party (CPP) village- and 
commune-level leaders who deliberately pass over non-CPP 
party voters when compiling local voter lists.  Voter 
representation in the legislature, meanwhile, dilutes as 
Cambodia's population increases but the number of National 
Assembly seats remains at 123.  On Kem Sokha, Sam Rainsy and 
Son Chhay said the Human Rights Party founder was already 
losing momentum.  Rainsy also asked for the Ambassador's help 
in saving a memorial stupa commemorating a grenade attack on 
an SRP rally that killed 16 people in 1997.  The stupa was 
placed in front of the National Assembly building seven years 
ago.  New plans by the Phnom Penh Governor to beautify the 
area do not include the SRP stupa.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During a June 6 meeting with the Ambassador, Sam 
Rainsy and National Assembly SRP Whip Son Chhay voiced 
concerns over voter registration activity that appears to be 
skipping over eligible, non-CPP voters.  The April 1, 2007 
commune council elections showed a glaring need for updated, 
accurate and complete voter registration lists.  (SRP 
maintains that as many as 2.5 million Cambodians had been 
disenfranchised in the April 1 elections, many of them due to 
voter registration list problems.)  Cambodia's National 
Election Committee (NEC) is responding to the problem by 
sending out new voter notification letters to village chiefs. 
 Chiefs are then expected to document names of voters in 
their villages mostly by going door to door to collect 
information.  Sam Rainsy reports that village chiefs are 
generally familiar enough with their area residents that they 
document voters who are away from home working in remote 
fields or who have temporarily migrated for work or other 
reasons but who are certain to return for elections. 
However, CPP village chiefs are reportedly not recording 
non-CPP voters in these situations.  The CPP now controls 
1,591 chief positions out of 1,621 communes and sangkats 
across Cambodia after the April 1 elections. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) As mentioned by SRP Secretary General Mu Sochua on 
May 31 (reftel), the SRP is pushing for an increase in the 
number of National Assembly seats from 123 to at least 135 
prior to the 2008 election.  Son Chhay told the Ambassador 
the basis for calculating this number is a formula stipulated 
in Cambodia's Law on the Election of the National Assembly 
and on projected population increases since the first seat 
allocation in 1993.  Sam Rainsy noted one MP will represent 
118,000 people in 2008 if the seats are not increased -- a 
constituency he says is too large for MPs to effectively and 
fully represent.  (Note:  The government has said that the 
number of National Assembly seats will be resolved after the 
2008 census -- which will be finalized too late to affect the 
national elections next year.  End Note.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Son Chhay recently met with presidential candidate 
Kem Sokha and believes Kem Sokha and his Human Rights Party 
have lost initial presidential campaign momentum.  Kem 
Sokha's campaign rides on his popularity from the Cambodian 
Center for Human Rights -- popularity that was high when Kem 
Sokha was not running for political office.  Now that Kem 
Sokha is on the campaign trail he is discouraged by 
unimpressive support compared to the extensive political 
networks and popularity that other candidates (read: Sam 
Rainsy) have built up over years.  Kem Sokha recently 
returned from a campaign tour in the U.S. where he drummed up 
only USD 10,000 per month from his U.S. supporters, according 
to Son Chhay. (Note:  Kem Sokha was planning to hold a party 
congress next month, but reportedly has been denied 
permission due to his inability to comply with all the 
necessary administrative requirements.  End Note.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Sam Rainsy requested the Ambassador's support to 
save a memorial stupa commemorating a 1997 grenade attack on 
an SRP rally for judicial independence.  The attack killed 16 
people and injured 114, including an Amcit.  In what was 
considered a small political victory, the stupa was erected 
in front of the National Assembly building by SRP members 
seven years ago.  The Phnom Penh Governor recently publicized 
plans to beautify the area by creating a garden and 
increasing parking space.  New plans do not include the 
memorial stupa.  Sam Rainsy purports the CPP wants to get rid 
of the memorial before the 2008 elections because it 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000778  002 OF 002 
 
 
symbolizes dissention.  The Ambassador told Sam Rainsy he 
will meet with the Phnom Penh Governor to express his support 
for the memorial. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment.  Post believes the Royal Government of 
Cambodia's (RGC) proposed plan regarding the 1997 grenade 
attack memorial stupa is a trial balloon to gauge the level 
of response from civil society, the SRP and donors.  The RGC 
is aware that the attack's unresolved status evokes 
persistent sensitivity in Washington.  If plans to remove the 
memorial move forward, the Ambassador will discuss the matter 
with RGC officials above the level of the Phnom Penh 
Governor, including Prime Minister Hun Sen.  End comment. 
MUSSOMELI