VZCZCXRO5933
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0602/01 2070723
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250723Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000602 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL, USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGN SEASON SNAPSHOT FROM 
THE CAPITAL 
 
REF: A. PHNOM PENH 565 
     ¶B. PHNOM PENH 575 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Emboffs' pre-election monitoring trip in 
and around the capital of Phnom Penh revealed a campaign 
process that is generally running smoothly (particularly when 
compared to previous elections) and with very few official 
complaints logged to date.  While the Election Committees and 
at least one commune chief painted a rosy picture of the 
election climate and the opening of political space, the 
opposition Sam Rainsy Party unsurprisingly remains concerned 
about several alleged, anticipated, or unspecified abuses and 
irregularities, including intimidation of voters and party 
agents and irregularities in use of identification documents. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
Fewer Complaints But Some Concerns 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Emboffs paid a visit to the capital's Provincial 
Election Committee (PEC), where Mr. Lon Chheng Kay, Chairman 
of the PEC, explained the process for resolving the five 
official campaign complaints filed with the PEC, compared 
with 20 to 30 complaints during the 2007 commune council 
elections and 241 complaints during the 2003 national 
election.  Of these five, two concerned officials campaigning 
during working hours and three concerned the destruction of 
opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) signs.  In all three of the 
sign destruction cases, the PEC determined there to be no 
fault because the SRP placed the signs on private property 
and the owners were well within their rights to remove any 
unwanted signs.  Otherwise, Mr. Kay explained that 
preparations for election day were progressing smoothly, 
reporting that 67.47 percent of the Voter Information Notices 
(VINs) (Ref A) have been distributed for the 722,677 
registered voters in Phnom Penh.  Local authorities are 
working with civil society and media to get the message out 
to voters that the remaining VINs are available to be picked 
up directly from the Commune Election Committees (CECs.) 
 
¶3.  (U)  The Chairman seemed particularly worried about the 
potential for violence and insecurity occurring around 
campaign activities at market places.  In an effort to avoid 
unwanted incidents, the PEC appealed to all parties to forego 
campaign activities at the markets.  Mr. Kay also expressed 
his concern about the potential for future traffic 
disruptions between now and the election.  The PEC asked all 
parties to refrain from campaigning on major thoroughfares 
throughout the capital during peak hours to prevent a repeat 
of a June 26 incident where almost all major routes to and 
from the airport were blocked by various campaign activities. 
 
 
Preparations Well Underway at the CECs 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U)  Emboffs then paid visits to several CECs in Phnom 
Penh and discovered that most of the PEC's plans have been 
put into practice.  Of the four CECs visited by Emboffs, the 
number of VINs distributed varied from 58.8 percent to 84.6 
percent.  Additionally, all four CECs reported having 
received all of the election materials from the PEC and are 
in varying stages of distributing them.  When asked how they 
planned to prevent unauthorized officials from loitering in 
or around the polling stations, the CECs reported that they 
received strict instructions to prevent such behavior and 
have educated their staff, local authorities, and the 
security guards to be vigilant against such violations. 
 
¶5. (U)  All four CECs reported that they have not received 
any campaign related complaints (official or unofficial), but 
they noted that only a few of the parties (primarily CPP and 
occasionally SRP) regularly keep them informed of their 
planned campaign activities, which makes it difficult to 
manage security and logistical concerns.  Most CECs 
identified the CPP and SRP as being by far the most active 
parties in their communes and Emboffs observed a great number 
of CPP and SRP signs throughout their visits around Phnom 
Penh. 
 
Optimism From CPP 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  During a meeting with Emboffs, Mr. Pov Huot, 
Commune Chief of Chbar Ampov I commune and Chairman of the 
CPP for the commune, reported that the campaigns were 
proceeding smoothly in his commune.  He explained that due to 
the good cooperation between SRP and CPP on the commune 
council (CPP holds six seats and SRP holds the other three) 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000602  002 OF 002 
 
 
there exists a respectful campaigning environment in the 
commune.  Mr. Huot predicted a high voter turn out and strong 
support for the CPP because "most of the people love the 
CPP," which he accredited to improvements such as the 
successful asphalting of most of the commune's roads. 
 
Despite Improved Campaign Climate, 
Alleged Abuses Continue 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  However, Chairman of SRP for Meanchey District Mr. 
Thach Khun Sarin alleged discrimination against known SRP 
supporters in the distribution of VINs by pro-CPP village 
chiefs during a meeting with Emboffs.  When asked if most 
voters are aware that they can now go directly to the CECs to 
retrieve their VINs, Sarin replied that many are not aware 
that they can do this, but assured Emboffs that most voters 
know that they can cast their ballot without their VINs. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  SRP members also expressed concern about alleged 
abuses committed by commune chiefs in issuing Form 1018s to 
illegitimate voters.  (NOTE: Voters who have no other form of 
identification, either through loss or failure to apply for 
other forms of identification, can seek to have their commune 
chief issue them a Form 1018, which serves as a legitimate 
identity document accepted as a valid form of ID for voting 
purposes. END NOTE.)  SRP members fear that unscrupulous 
pro-CPP commune chiefs issue such identity documents 
irregularly, specifically to Vietnamese immigrants who are 
widely perceived to support the CPP.  Sarin appealed to 
Emboffs to try to persuade the NEC to prohibit commune chiefs 
from issuing any Form 1018s on the day before and day of the 
election to prevent such abuses.  (NOTE: Sarin did not 
elaborate on whether or how the Vietnamese names appear on 
voter lists, which have been scrubbed of almost 500,000 names 
since 2007.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  During conversations with several CECs throughout 
Phnom Penh, Emboffs learned that the SRP had yet to register 
party agents with most of the CECs.  Sarin explained that the 
party decided to delay the registration of agents in an 
attempt to protect them from intimidation or attempts to 
influence their loyalty to SRP, conduct which Sarin alleged 
occurred with some frequency during previous elections (Ref 
B.)  Sarin and SRP members also complained to Emboffs that 
local authorities intimidate their constituents to prevent 
people from affixing non-CPP party signs to their private 
property.  According to SRP members, some people fear 
repercussions from local authorities allied with the CPP, 
such as making it difficult to obtain official documents, for 
their perceived support for opposition parties.  Sarin 
indicated that this problem negatively impacted the level 
playing field for SRP's campaign activities.  Emboffs believe 
that this practice is less of a concern in urban Phnom Penh 
than it is in the countryside, where the practice is believed 
to be more wide-spread, because many of the commune councils 
in Phnom Penh have SRP members to prevent such abuses. 
Additionally, the overall campaign strategy of the SRP has 
been to recruit supporters at the community level, quietly 
and "below the radar" -not to compete directly with the CPP 
in postering all houses in Phnom Penh with party signs.  This 
is an approach aimed to better protect SRP supporters from 
the same concerns affecting official party agents, so it is 
unclear the extent to which their complaint about being 
unable to post party signs on houses is affecting their 
election strategy. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Phnom Penh has historically been a stronghold of 
SRP and we anticipate SRP will continue to receive support 
among the capital's residents, despite the party's concerns 
about alleged abuses and irregularities.  The 67.47 percent 
success rate in the distribution of VINs falls short of the 
national average of 85.77 percent. This is most likely due in 
large part to the composition of Phnom Penh's population. 
There is greater migration in and out of the city than in 
more rural areas, and local authorities encounter greater 
difficulties in distributing the VINs to residents unknown to 
them.  With the early establishment of locations, which 
should help to avoid the confusion over polling station 
locations witnessed in previous elections, we do not 
anticipate the undistributed VINs will have a major impact on 
voter turn-out in Phnom Penh. 
MUSSOMELI