Sounding a note of caution on possible security threats facing the forthcoming general election, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng on Wednesday unveiled the government’s election security plans, which will be implemented by a newly formed Central Bureau for Security.
With just six months to go to the July vote, Sar Kheng said the election would be a “serious political competition” between parties vying for power. The maintenance of security will determine the success or failure of the vote, he said.
“We have to pay attention…in order to heighten our vigilance and to confront as well as to prevent any influence of the poisonous atmosphere in the coming time,” Sar Kheng said at a conference at Chaktomuk Theater to unveil the extensive security plan.
Sar Kheng, chairman of the new security apparatus, said the bureau’s role is to act as a “high command,” in consultation with the National Election Committee, to guarantee security from the voter registration process until the declaration of the next government.
“We have to perform our duty with responsibility in order to provide enough security and safety, without intimidation, harassment [and] violence that could lead to the death and injury of people at the election,” Sar Kheng said.
Where incidents do occur, authorities must immediately report to senior police officials and conduct full investigations, “arrest suspects, and send them to justice, no matter what level of society they belong to,” Sar Kheng added.
Introducing the plan, National Police Director-General Hok Lundy said the ballot could be a target for “deceitful propaganda” and “malicious accusations” aimed at undermining the election results on the national and international stage.
Officials must guard against elements focused on whipping up support for demonstrations, riots and strikes to discourage public participation in the poll or terrorist acts and attacks on candidates, political activists and international election observers, he said.
Criminal elements could also be employed to disrupt society by carrying our armed robberies, kidnappings, extortion and killings during the election period, Hok Lundy warned.
Security bureaus will be set up at the municipal, provincial, district and commune level in a direct chain of command answering to the Central Bureau for Security, which will discuss its activities with the NEC’s election security officials, Hok Lundy said.
According to the security action plan, over 8,000 unarmed police officers have been deployed nationwide to voter registration centers for the 30-day registration period that began last Friday.
Security will jump during the month-long election campaign period beginning June 26 when some 19,000 police, soldiers and military police will be on election duty countrywide.
On polling day some 38,500 police officers will guard the 12,845 polling centers, and thousands of soldiers and military police officers will be on stand by at provincial and district levels as a second-tier intervention force.
But those forces will be required to keep a distance from polling stations and voters who might be intimidated by their presence.
Prime Minister Hun Sen told the hundreds of government officials, police, military and military police officials who attended the conference that “security reasons” cannot be used to violate the rights of people who “practice different political ideologies.”
Officials should expect criticism to be meted out by the political opposition, but authorities must keep in mind that their duty was to follow the law and thoroughly investigate killings or other incidents around the election, Hun Sen said.
“This is a common thing if the opposition cries out that there is no security. But if there is really no security, those that criticize would not be able to stand at that place to cry out because it is not safe to cry out,” Hun Sen said.
Sam Rainsy Party Secretary General Phi Thach said on Wednesday he held “no hope” that the security arrangements would protect supporters of his party from acts of violence and intimidation as the election process moves forward.
“I don’t believe any government effort will help people live in peace, especially the…state party in Cambodia,” Phi Thach said.
More than a dozen political activists and candidates were slain in the lead up to last February’s commune elections and several more have been killed in recent months.
Denying any political links to the killings, the Interior Ministry has blamed personal disputes, robbery and sorcery for the deaths.
