Cambodian Senate election an undemocratic exercise, regional parliamentarians warn

JAKARTA — The upcoming Senate election in Cambodia cannot be considered a legitimate democratic exercise, given the dissolution of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the overall climate of repression that has seized the country over the past year, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.

“This election is a sham. Having amended a long list of laws in an effort to consolidate his power, Prime Minister Hun Sen has changed the rules of the game to such an extent that it is impossible for the Senate to be a true representation of the will of the Cambodian people,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament.

“With a full CPP takeover of the Senate on Sunday almost certain, any hope of the chamber evolving into anything more than a dormant body tasked with rubber-stamping the Prime Minister’s every legislative whim, is dead in the water,” he added.

A total of 62 seats in the Cambodian Senate will be up for grabs on Sunday, 25 February, of which 58 will be elected by commune councilors, two by the National Assembly, and two by the King.

During commune council elections, which took place in June 2017, the CNRP received over 40 percent of total votes, a significant improvement over the opposition’s performance in the previous local contest in 2012. After the dissolution of the CNRP by the Supreme Court in November 2017, however, the vast majority of commune council seats won by the opposition were redistributed to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), increasing the CPP’s hold to more than 95 percent of seats and effectively guaranteeing the party near complete control of the Senate after Sunday’s vote.

“High voter turnout in the commune elections signaled growing confidence in Cambodia’s democratic potential, and the results made it clear who the Cambodian people had decided to represent them. The government, however, was not ready to respect their wishes, and instead replaced the legitimately elected councilors with individuals who received no mandate from the people,” said Tom Villarin, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives.

“The Senate elections are therefore nothing more than an attempt by the ruling party to reap further rewards after a blatant act of political theft,” Villarin added.

APHR said that the Senate election – although far from being the only threat to Cambodia’s democratic prospects – would have long-term impacts on Cambodian politics.

“The Senate has long been a body of little legislative importance, primarily because the CPP, with its large majority, chose not to use its powers to properly review legislation. However, after last year’s commune elections, there was a real chance that the Senate’s power balance could be shifted sufficiently for it to begin fulfilling its legislative functions,” Charles Santiago said.

“Now, that aspiration has been snuffed out, as Cambodia has moved ever further from the vision of liberal democracy and genuine elections enshrined in the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991. Unfortunately, the Cambodian Senate will continue to stand as yet another sad reminder of Cambodia’s unmitigated descent into outright dictatorship.”