Cambodian PM Rejects Opposition Demand for Key NEC Reform

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday he would not accept a key opposition proposal for members of the country's election body to be endorsed by a two-thirds majority in parliament. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has touted the proposal as key to breaking a one year old political stalemate following July 2013 general elections, in which it robbed the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of its long-running two-third majority. “We still keep our door open for further talks but we must not talk about the two-third [majority] issue," Hun Sen said at an event in Cambodia's central province of Kampong Chhnang. He said he had also told Fumio Kishida, the visiting foreign minister of Japan, which has promised to help Cambodia in election reforms, that "the two-third formula will kill the democratic process in Cambodia." The CPP had agreed to a CNRP proposal to make the National Election Committee (NEC) a constitutionally mandated body. But it has refused to accept a demand that the panel’s membership be endorsed by a two-thirds majority in parliament, insisting that it was sufficient for NEC members to be approved by just a simple majority. Hand-picked A simple majority would enable the CPP to continue retaining control over who is in the panel of the NEC, which oversees all elections in the country. It currently has its members hand-picked by Hun Sen’s government. Critics have complained it lacks independence. Responding to Hun Sen’s remarks, CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha said the party would not compromise on its demand, saying solid legislative support for the NEC panel would strengthen the country's democracy and serve the national interest. “Hun Sen realizes that if the NEC is not under his control, he would lose power," Kem Sokha said. "He will definitely lose the elections." He said that a simple majority would enable Hun Sen to cling on to power "his whole life." The 61-year-old Hun Sen, who has been in power for nearly three decades, has said that he plans to continue being in politics until he is 74. 'Revenge' Kem Lei, a board member of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said Hun Sen was reluctant to accept the CNRP proposal because he was worried of "revenge" by the opposition if CPP lost power. “We don’t have a peaceful power transfer mechanism and CPP is concerned of loss of power. This is about the revenge culture," he said. "The CPP is trying to protect itself.” “The best solution is to build a peaceful power transfer mechanism and Hun Sen and [CNRP president] Sam Rainsy must talk to have mutual trust." Lao Mong Hay, a Cambodian political commentator, said that a two-third majority endorsement for the NEC members would give greater credibility to the election body. “The more support from the National Assembly for [new NEC members], the better as the lawmakers are representatives of the voters.” he said.

Four Held, Curfew Declared in Mandalay City After Deadly Violence

HOME | NEWS | MYANMAR Four Held, Curfew Declared in Mandalay City After Deadly Violence 2014-07-03 Email story Comment on this story Share story Print story Print Share Comment Email myanmar-mandalay-july2014.gif Myanmar police stand guard on a street in Mandalay, July 3, 2014. AFP Myanmar authorities detained four people and imposed a curfew in the country’s second largest city Mandalay on Thursday after two consecutive days of anti-Muslim riots left two dead and more than a dozen injured. As hundreds of armed police patrolled the city to restore calm, President Thein Sein, in a radio address, called for stability and appealed to the people to avoid incitement of unrest. He did not directly refer to the latest Buddhist-Muslim violence besetting the country, which is emerging from decades of harsh military rule. The two people who died — a Muslim and a Buddhist — were not involved in the violence, reports said. The violence was triggered by Buddhist mob attacks on minority Muslim shops, homes and a mosque in Chan Aye Thar Zan township on Tuesday following unconfirmed reports that a Muslim tea shop owner raped a Buddhist woman. The next day, a Muslim man was on his way to a mosque when he was attacked by a mob and left dead in the street while a Buddhist man suffered the same fate as he went out to collect money that had been owed to him. Police said aside from the two deaths, 14 people were wounded during the nights of violence on Tuesday and Wednesday, which continued into Thursday morning. The curfew, covering all six townships in Mandalay, was announced Thursday by the local government, which asked residents to remain indoors from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and prohibited gatherings of five people or more during the restricted hours. Four detained Four people suspected of involvement in the riots have been detained, said Mandalay Chief Minister Ye Myint who met religious and community leaders Thursday to seek help in restoring calm in the city. “We will work on long term plans to take care of all citizens’ safety,” Ye Myint said. He said plans would be devised particularly to provide security to mosques. Mandalay is regarded as the country's monastic heartland and home to tens of thousands of monks, including Wirathu the leader of a controversial nationwide campaign known as the “969 Movement” which claims Myanmar’s minority Muslims are threatening the Buddhist majority. On Wednesday night, Buddhist mobs on motorcycles shouted anti-Muslim slogans in Chan Aye Thar township, triggering clashes with Muslims, a local official of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party told RFA. “They threw bricks and stones at Muslim homes. There were clashes and some people were hospitalized and some motorbikes were destroyed,” said Myo Naing, executive committee secretary for the Mandalay region branch of the NLD. A senior police officer in the capital, Naypyitaw, told Reuters news agency that charges of rape had been filed against the Muslim tea shop owner and his brother at a police station in Pyinmana, a town about halfway between Mandalay and Naypyitaw where the rape allegedly took place. Sectarian violence in Myanmar has left up to 280 people dead and another 140,000 homeless since 2012—mostly Muslims, according to rights groups. While most of the violence has occurred in western Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state, several incidents have occurred in the country’s central region, including a wave of arson attacks in Meikhtila city—about 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Mandalay—which left 43 dead and 13,000 homeless in March 2013. Muslims account for about 4 percent of Myanmar's roughly 60 million people. ‘Avoid instigation’ In his monthly radio address to the nation, President Thein Sein called on the people to avoid incitement of unrest, saying the country needed stability for reforms to succeed. “In order for reform to succeed, I appeal to all to avoid instigation and behavior that incites hatred among our fellow citizens,” he said. Reminding the people that Myanmar was a multi-racial and multi-religious nation, he said reforms he introduced since coming to power in 2011 would succeed only if the country is stable and united. The U.S. embassy in Yangon issued a message on its official Twitter feed on Thursday calling for calm. "Rule by law not rumor and mob action (is) essential for justice, stability and development," it said. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed the authorities for the worsening violence, saying prompt action should have been taken. She cautioned the public against trusting unsubstantiated reports. “The authorities should properly handle those people who are spreading rumors. Without rule of law, more riots will come,” she told RFA.

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