The catwalk was so narrow the models occasionally bumped shoulders as they passed. At one point, the music ended prematurely. At another, toilet paper got caught under a heel. 

They can’t vote, but they’re smart, aware and they’ll be around for a long time, so what they say to Cambodia’s future leaders demands attention. 

There’s a buzz in the school yards of the nation’s major cities, summed up in one word: “Indo­nesia.” 

Siem Reap military police ar­rested nine soldiers and seized tons of stolen artifacts in two arrests last week, police and conservation officials said Tues­day. 

UN Asia-Pacific Representative Francesc Vendrell arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to as­sess preparations for July’s scheduled elections. 

A top army general walked out of secret talks with the Khmer Rouge last Friday, according to a Radio Free Asia interview with a Khmer Rouge Cabinet member. 

Finance Minister Keat Chhon said Monday that Cambodia should not delay its expected admission to Asean, and predicted entry into the regional grouping in December. 

The government is allowing thousands of trees to be cut to help fund the renovation of a 46-km stretch along Route 12 be­tween Kompong Thom and Preah Vihear provinces.

But officials deny that military units involved in the road construction are responsible for illegal logging that also has been occurring in the area, including at a nearby wildlife sanctuary.

Since January, an RCAF engineering unit has been working to restore a portion of the road that leads north from the border of Kompong Thom, government officials said recently.

A senior government environmental official said the RCAF unit and a road-construction company were given permission to cut as far as 100 meters from both sides of the road, to help the government fund the $960,000 project. Government officials say they are selling the logs to Chernda Ply­wood, a Taiwanese concessionaire in Preah Vihear province.

But the senior environmental official charged that the road construction crews have cut deeper into the forest than 100 meters. “They have tried to cut trees 2 to 3 km” in­to the forest, he recently claimed.

Forestry Director Or Soeurn and Kompong Thom Governor Cheang Am both denied that the government engineering units are responsible for the illegal logging. But they differed on who is to blame.

Cheang Am blamed the illegal cutting on villagers. He acknowledged there had been cutting in the nearby Boeng Per wildlife san­ctuary, but said it is on a small scale, noting that land mines re­main strewn in the area.

But Or Soeurn charged that a Taiwanese-logging company and provincial authorities had taken advantage of the road construction agreement to hire villagers to cut trees deep into the forest and in the wildlife sanctuary.

The logs are in stockpiles and “we will ask the government to consider whether the logs should be seized,” Or Soeurn said. He estimated that the illegal cutting totals 13,000 cubic meters, 7,000 of which are in the sanctuary.

Or Soeurn said the logging in the sanctuary and along the road has stopped, and that the company will be punished if it resumes. He also said the forestry department will issue an order prohibiting any logs from being transported from Kompong Thom except the logs allowed to be cut along Route 12.

After two failed attempts to convene, the Constitutional Council met for the first time Monday and elected former Supreme Court president Chan Sok as its president for the next three years. 

More than 800 students at the Faculty of Law hung effigies and burned tires Monday to pro­test the alleged issuance of what they said was a fake diploma. 

The National Election Com­mittee confirmed Monday that the ballots from as few as three polling stations would be mixed before counting after the July 26 elections, a fact that some say weakens the secrecy of the polls. 

The four-week voter registration drive for the upcoming election ended Monday with 92 percent of eligible voters registered, election officials said.

About 4.7 million people were signed up and given voter registration cards for the July 26 poll, said National Election Committee spokesman Leng Sochea.

As for complaints of irregularities and intimidation, Leng So­chea told Agence France-Presse, there were “only a few cases and these have been dealt with by authorities.”

Although no major incidents of violence were reported, there were several allegations of cheating and intimidation by the CPP.

The US-based National Demo­cratic Institute has des­cribed voter registration as having gone fairly well, but also declared that conditions for a “competitive election” do not exist.

“The NEC appears to have been receptive to complaints and willing to consider improvements to the registration process,” the group said in a Friday statement.

The statement said institute observers had noted Cambo­dians’ apparent eagerness to register. But it warned that “essential elements”—such as media ac­cess—have yet to be established in Cam­­bodia.

Opposition figure Sam Rainsy, however, called the registration process “hopelessly flawed and terribly biased” in favor of the CPP. In a statement issued Mon­day, Sam Rainsy asserted that the NEC’s figures could not be trusted and that little effort had been made to register those who are loyal to the opposition.

Labor leaders have repeatedly complained that garment workers have experienced difficulties at registration centers and getting time off from their workplaces.

An official with the human rights group Adhoc on Monday said that 400 factory workers in Kandal province had not yet registered because employers had threatened to fire them.

The Adhoc official said that a request to the NEC to extend registration by one day in Kandal to accommodate the workers was denied.

(Reporting by Kay Johnson and Lor Chandara)

Phnom Penh Municipality has banned demonstrations until after the scheduled July 26 elections in order to “maintain good security, public order and a good atmosphere of neutral politics.” 

Five senior Khmer Rouge technocrats walked out of the jungle last week and defected to the government in the former rebel zone of Pailin, prompting speculation that the men cut a deal with their former comrades. 

Drink vendors could be facing an election-day dilemma: to sell or not to sell.

Cambodia’s two prime ministers have appealed to citizens and foreigners alike to refrain from drinking or selling alcoholic beverages on election day.

The appeal, signed June 2 by First Prime Minister Ung Huot and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, calls for all to “cooperate with the government and the NEC [National Election Com­mittee] to prevent violent acts, which can be caused by drinking.”

The premiers are requesting the ban be in effect from midnight July 25 to midnight July 26. Polls are scheduled to be open between 7 am and 4 pm on July 26.

Cambodian vendors interviewed Sunday seemed willing to go along, but were concerned about the money they could lose and whether their competitors would follow suit.

“I will not be disappointed if all the shops in Cambodia are closed on election day,” said Morm Chantha, who owns a drink shop near Psar Kandal. “But I will not be pleased if some drink shops are open and mine is closed.” She said she could lose more than $12.50 on election day—the am­ount of her rent.

“I have heard of the appeal of both prime ministers, but I wonder why in Untac time [1993] they did not do it like this,” said My Morn, a duck blood wine seller in the capital’s Tuol Kok district. “I will agree to that appeal when all drink shop owners agree to close theirs.”

My Morn did say he believes the request may make some sense. “You see, if people drink

…they might make trouble and we will be ashamed in front of the foreign [community],” he said.

But he also disagreed with ex­tending the ban until midnight. He noted that the polls close at

4 pm, and said he should be al­lowed to sell his wine after that.

Some owners of bars catering to Phnom Penh’s expatriate community said the prime ministers have raised an interesting point and noted that other countries have similar provisions for election day.

“If Cambodia wishes me to close my bar, I’m more than hap­py to do so,” said Ian Travis, co-owner of the DMZ bar.

Government officials couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday on whether or not the “appeal” is an order that could include fines for shops that sell alcoholic beverages.

According to the document, police and local authorities have been instructed to help educate the public and make sure the appeal is followed so that a positive atmosphere can be created for the elections.

The ministries of Interior, De­fense and In­formation have been called on to cooperate with the NEC to disseminate the ap­peal.

At the age of 11, with his father dead and his mother ill, Chan Makara was forced to support his family. 

The third-eldest royal appoin­tee of the Constitutional Council announced he will resign from the body after he chairs its first meeting today. 

The heaviest rainfall this year knocked out electric power several times in areas of Phnom Penh on Saturday evening, officials said. 

Five US Congressmen have requested the US seek a two-month delay of the July 26 elections at a Friends of Cambodia meeting next week. 

In March, Agriculture Minister Tao Seng Huor agreed with the World Bank to crack down on illegal logging in part by suspending the signing of new timber contracts.