Veteran CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said Tuesday that his party would not join further talks with the opposition CNRP to resolve election-day irregularities unless it is invited to do so by the National Election Committee (NEC).
With final election results set to be released by September 8, negotiations between the CPP and CNRP over a joint investigation into irregularities during the July 28 election have hit a wall, with the two sides unable to agree on whether or not the NEC should participate.
“If NEC invites the CPP, we [will] have four representatives of the CPP attending the meeting. But until today, we have not received an invitation letter from the NEC,” said Mr. Yeap, who has been appointed as the lead negotiator for the ruling party in the formation of an ad hoc committee to investigate elections.
“[T]he laws of Cambodia stipulate [that for] the responsibility and settlement of all conflicts involving the election, we have only the NEC and Constitutional Council. If the conflict is not yet resolved and settled you can complain to the Constitutional Council,” he added.
The CNRP, however, claims that the NEC cooperated with the CPP in manipulating voter lists and committing electoral fraud, so it cannot be the body that investigates irregularities.
In talks on Friday, the parties agreed in principle to form a committee that could be monitored by the U.N., but failed to come to an agreement over the composition of a body that would actually conduct the investigation and act as a mediator between the two parties.
NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha said that the electoral committee had no plans of organizing further talks, as the CNRP had already rejected previous efforts to form a subcommittee under the NEC’s authority.
“Following Friday’s meeting, the CPP sent a candidate list to the NEC while the CNRP decided to create a special committee without the NEC. Therefore, the special committee cannot be created, and now it is out of the NEC’s authority. If any political party is not happy with the result, they can file a complaint,” Mr. Nytha said.
CNRP chief whip Son Chhay, the opposition party’s lead negotiator in Friday’s talks, said Tuesday that the CNRP, which claims that the NEC cooperated with the CPP in manipulating voter lists and committing electoral fraud, would remain patient in the hope that the CPP would return to the negotiating table before election results are finalized.
“We have no plan at the moment but we only hope that another talk could be organized. This is a time that [the] CPP should commit themselves to what we have achieved so far,” Mr. Chhay said.
“We don’t want to go along with what the CPP wants and then move away from the fact that we need to find justice or at least deal with the issues of fraud and irregularities before we can do anything else,” Mr. Chhay said.
Protests were a last resort, he continued, adding: “That is why we are so patient even though the CPP seems to behave in contrast to what we are trying to do, they seem to be asking for trouble, like they want to confront with the people.”
Koul Panha, the executive director for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said he remained optimistic that the two parties would find a role for the NEC that was acceptable to both sides.
“The NEC can be part [of the investigation], but [the CPP and CNRP need to decide] who can independently do findings to show voters who don’t trust NEC election results,” he said.
“We have to show the public that the NEC invites independent investigators to do an audit to verify the NEC election results. If you show the public like that, it would make them much more confident,” said Mr. Panha.
(Additional reporting by Neou Vannarin)
