VZCZCXRO6867
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0570/01 1970212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150212Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000570 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA ELECTIONS: SMALLER PARTIES REPORT 
DISCRIMINATION BUT NO MAJOR INCIDENTS 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 554 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: While the ruling and main opposition 
parties vie for ground in the public spotlight during the 
month-long campaign period before Cambodia's July 27 National 
Assembly elections, the country's lesser-known parties are 
seeking votes without much ado.  Smaller party 
representatives have generally stated that they have not 
experienced major obstacles or incidents during the 
pre-election period.  Some experienced difficulties in 
registering for the elections in May 2008.  While they would 
prefer a more level playing field compared to the ruling 
Cambodian People's Party's advantages, these smaller parties 
persevere despite what may be a bleak outlook for capturing 
parliamentary seats.  Some of the smaller parties stated that 
they have strategies to concentrate their efforts in a few 
areas instead of on a nationwide campaign; many have 
parliamentary candidates on the National Election Committee 
lists for nearly all provinces.  End Summary. 
 
Small Parties Report Some Campaign Period Problems 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Cambodia's smaller, lesser-known political parties 
have reported some incidents of discrimination towards their 
parties or members during the run-up to the July 27 National 
Assembly elections, but they also report that the campaign 
period has been peaceful.  Before the official campaign 
season began on June 26, the Hang Dara Democratic Movement 
Party (HDP) reported that some of its new members had been 
refused administrative documents by local commune council 
members.  However, since the campaign period has begun, the 
HDP stated that they have not received reports of 
intimidation or violence towards their members. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Society of Justice Party (SJP) reported that 
some of their party signs have been torn, but stated that 
they have not submitted official complaints.  Prior to the 
official campaign period, the SJP reported two different 
incidents in two Battambang communes where local commune 
council members hassled SJP members when they went to put up 
SJP party signs.  In the end, both signs went up.  The Khmer 
Democratic Party (KDP) reported that during a campaign rally 
in Kandal province, the party attempted to erect a party sign 
near an existing CPP sign.  Before they could finish the job, 
local CPP commune council members arrived at the site and 
told the KDP members that they could not put up the sign. 
The KDP reported that the party did not want to provoke 
problems, so they erected the sign elsewhere and did not 
officially report the incident.  (Note:  In general, 
placement of multiple signs in most locations has not been 
reported as a problem in this election campaign.  End Note.) 
The smaller parties, including the League for Democracy Party 
(LDP), reported that the official June 26 to July 25 campaign 
period has otherwise been peaceful and without incident. 
 
Playing Field Not Level 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) During a meeting with Emboffs, SJP members were 
vocal about what they consider to be an unfair playing field 
for parties other than the ruling CPP.  SJP President and 
former FUNCINPEC Deputy Governor of Battambang province Ban 
Sophal claimed that CPP members have taken national property 
to serve their own interests, such as using government 
vehicles and/or government-purchased fuel for personal or 
party related travel to the provinces.  He also stated that 
the CPP is advantaged by being able to use national radio and 
television outlets to regularly broadcast information about 
the party and incumbent achievements, mainly outside the 
official campaign period because such abuses are curtailed 
during the campaign period.  HDP party members also told 
Emboffs that they perceive the media playing field to be 
uneven because CPP supporters control many of the media 
outlets in Cambodia. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) KDP representatives reported that their party takes 
an openly neutral stance towards both the CPP and SRP.  Some 
HDP party members have reported that there have been 
incidents when they have had problems within their villages 
and go to the commune council for help, council members have 
turned HDP members away, asking the HDP individuals why they 
don't go to their own party for help instead.  One HDP 
representative also stated his perception that in areas where 
many villagers belong to a party other than the CPP, 
government authorities have not developed that area by 
improving infrastructure.  He did not provide an example 
where that was the case. 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000570  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Difficulties Registering Parties in May 2008 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Some of Cambodia's smaller parties seem to have hit 
their biggest snags during the April 28 to May 12 
registration period when parties were required to submit 
candidate lists to the NEC to be considered contenders for 
the July 27 National Assembly elections.  According to the 
Cambodian election law, political parties must submit to the 
NEC a list of candidates throughout the country, with a 
number of candidates that is equal to at least one-third of 
the seats in the National Assembly -- currently 123 -- plus 
one alternate candidate for each titular candidate.  A 
candidate list could be as short as 82 names, including 
alternate candidates.  The law requires that all candidates 
be registered voters.  The HDP, KDP, LDP, SJP, and the United 
People's Party (UPP) each reported to Emboffs that they had 
names on their candidate lists rejected by the NEC because 
the rejected names did not appear on NEC voter registration 
lists.  The Cambodian-American leader of the Khmer Republican 
Party (KRP) admitted to Emboff that he submitted invalid 
names because of poor preparation by his advisors.  When 
Emboffs met with the KDP on May 19, they reported that they 
had submitted 286 names to the NEC, 33 of those names were 
rejected, and the party was seeking to replace the 33 
candidate names.  The HDP, LDP, and SJP faced similar 
problems during the party registration period.  Despite what 
appeared to be unnecessary delays, excessive bureaucracy, and 
clearly inadequate service at the commune level, the five 
parties were finally successful in registering their 
candidate names. 
 
United People's Party Not Successful in Registering 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The UPP was not successful in replacing their 
rejected names and is out of the National Assembly seat 
running.  The UPP had initially submitted 105 candidate 
names, 25 of which were rejected.  The UPP requested 
permission from the NEC to reduce their total number of 
candidate names, meaning that they requested not to replace 
all 25 names on their list.  As a compromise, the NEC gave 
the party 10 additional days after the final party 
registration date on May 12 to submit 25 new names.  The UPP 
decided to take their request to the Constitutional Council, 
and the UPP claims that it also submitted 25 new names to the 
Constitutional Council.  In the end, the Constitutional 
Council decided against the UPP, and the party was not 
eligible to run for National Assembly seats. 
 
Small Parties -- What Are Their Chances? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Among the HDP, KDP, LDP and SJP, only the Hang Dara 
Democratic Movement Party won a 2007 commune council seat -- 
a second deputy commune council chief position in Sitoh 
commune of Kandal province.  The HDP was established in 2002 
by Hang Dara, a former Royalist and member of the opposition 
to the Vietnamese occupation after January 1979; he was a 
FUNCINPEC member from 1993 to 2002.  After running for a 
National Assembly seat under his namesake party in 2003, and 
losing, he became a Buddhist monk.  The party leadership told 
Emboffs they have an estimated 200,000 activists for the 
party, most in Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kandal, Prey Veng, 
and Takeo provinces.  They expect they will receive 80,000 
votes during the July 27 elections. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Khmer Democratic Party won one 2002 commune 
council position and during the 2007 commune council election 
won 7,685 votes but not a seat.  KDP candidates ran for 
National Assembly seats in the 1998 and 2003 elections 
without success.  The party will focus in Kampong Cham this 
election. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The League for Democracy Party is affiliated with 
a local NGO that runs a radio program called "The Sound of 
the Bell" that broadcasts the party's political platform. 
The LDP states that the NGO also conducts public forums two 
to three times per month during which the party publicizes 
its proposals, seeks members, and collects donations - the 
LDP told Emboffs that it collects about USD 200 per public 
forum.  In 2007, LDP candidates ran for commune council 
positions in 25 communes across six provinces and reportedly 
received somewhere between 80-100 votes. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The Society of Justice Party was established two 
years ago by Ban Sophal, a former FUNCINPEC deputy governor 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000570  003 OF 003 
 
 
of Battambang province where the party believes most of its 
7,000-plus supporters reside.  The party did not have 
candidates running in the 2007 commune council election. 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  The Khmer Anti-Poverty Party (KAPP) was created 
last year by Daran Kravanh, a Cambodian-American former 
refugee who did well as an official in the Washington State 
social welfare agency.  He says that he now wants to give 
back to Cambodia.  Kravanh's Khmer Rouge survival story was 
told in a moving account written by his wife Bree Lafreniere 
and published by the University of Hawaii Press.  In the 
televised political party round-tables on state-run TVK, 
Kravanh has shown himself to be an able public speaker who 
can at least keep a Cambodian audience.  His emphasis on rule 
of law, fighting corruption, and developing Cambodia out of 
its current level of poverty has registered well with some 
voters but his voter base is relatively small in Kampong 
Speu, Pursat, Battambang and Kampong Cham provinces.  He has 
worked closely over the years with a group of 
non-denominational Christian churches in Cambodia and some of 
these adherents help to cultivate support.  In an arrangement 
with the Social Justice Party, Kravanh has agreed to advocate 
his voters support SJP in Battambang, while SJP is supposed 
to push for KAPP's support in provinces like Kampong Speu and 
Kampong Cham. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) The Khmer Republican Party (KRP) is the brainchild 
of Lon Rith, another Cambodian-American and the son of Lon 
Nol, the U.S.-backed Cambodian premier in 1970-1975.  Lon 
Rith returned briefly in the fall of 2007 to formally anoint 
the party, established in 2005, but failed to register as a 
voter and so cannot run as a candidate in his party.  He 
returned to Cambodia again in June.  He finds most of his 
support among his father's former political base, avid 
Republicans who had been unhappy with Sihanouk's rule and who 
have always embraced America.  However, having left Cambodia 
at the age of 12, Lon Rith is a halting Khmer speaker and 
cannot read Khmer.  His public speaking performances do not 
appear to attract many voters.  The KRP seems to be strongest 
in pockets of Phnom Penh, parts of provinces bordering 
Vietnam, and Battambang.  Lon Rith has expressed strong views 
against the Vietnamese, but not as stridently as the 
government under his father, which had devastating results 
(including massacres of Vietnamese civilian populations 
during the early 1970's).  Lon Rith is also looking for 
support from Khmer Kampuchea Krom voters. 
 
Illegal Immigration a Hot Issue Among Small Parties 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The HDP, KDP, LDP, KRP and SJP have mostly 
predictable party platforms such as fighting corruption, and 
promotion of democracy.  A common (and popular) platform 
issue across the five parties is illegal immigration -- 
during meetings with party representatives, most referred to 
immigrants from Vietnam as problematic.  HDP members told 
Emboffs that they believe many parties focus on illegal 
immigrants from Vietnam because people perceive Vietnamese 
immigrants as illegally obtaining documents to vote, and that 
they vote for the ruling CPP.  One HDP representative also 
stated his belief that Cambodians worry that Vietnamese 
people will "take over" Cambodia. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15.  (SBU) During recent pre-election monitoring visits to 
various provinces, Emboffs have seen some campaign signs of 
the smaller parties along major roads, and even along 
stretches of a few dirt roads in more remote villages. 
Emboffs stopped to chat with a small kiosk owner along a 
dusty stretch of road surrounded by rice paddies in Prey Veng 
province.  An HDP sign was posted a few feet away.  When 
asked if people in the village had problems posting any party 
signs she said that people in her village were not pressured 
to put up any particular signs.  However, there were vastly 
fewer small party signs than those of the CPP -- a party that 
appears to be well-organized in its campaigning in the 
provinces -- and the better-known opposition parties such as 
the Sam Rainsy Party and the Norodom Ranariddh Party.  The 
low-key campaigning by the smaller parties, and their 
probable minimal chances at winning parliamentary seats this 
year, has likely helped draw less attention to them as rivals 
by the organized ruling party. 
MUSSOMELI