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Category: ASEAN

Cambodia’s Candlelight Party says commune election marred by widespread fraud

Editor010 mins

Nationwide elections for local councils were marred by fraud and irregularities, Cambodia’s opposition Candlelight Party said Monday while ruling out a formal protest against what the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) claimed was a sweeping victory. Though official returns from Sunday’s polls are scheduled for release on June 26, a statement issued by the National Election Committee (NEC) on Monday said the CPP received 5.3 million popular votes to win 9,338 out of the 11,622 commune council seats that were contested. The Candlelight Party received 1.6 million votes, winning 2,180 seats, with other parties taking up the remainder of votes and seats. Candlelight Party candidates and election observers said they were the victims of harassment and intimidation before and during the voting, and that the NEC, a purportedly independent agency that supervises elections in Cambodia, failed to take action to stop it. Nearly all polling stations across the country were closed and locked after 3 p.m., and officials prevented observers from monitoring the counting of votes at polling stations, they said. In some cases, election officials did not allow the counting of ballots at polling stations after they closed, but instead gave local authorities and representatives from CPP observer organizations access to them, they said. The Candlelight Party said the abuses amounted to vote-rigging. The party does not believe the results reflect the will of the people, but will not protest the returns, said Son Chhay, Candlelight’s vice president. “We have no plans to demonstrate, but we want to make our concern or the concern of the electorate heard about the irregularities that affect their will, and we ask for improvement,” he said at a press conference. NEC spokesman Hang Puthea disputed the Candlelight Party’s contention, saying the election process went smoothly and the results can be trusted. “Acceptance or disapproval does not depend on the political language of any political party,” he said. “On the contrary, many parties and national and international observers have expressed their appreciation for the management of the election process.” But Hang Puthea added that the NEC would accept all recommendations that yield better elections in the future. RFA could not reach CPP spokesman Sok Eysan for comment on Monday. On Sunday night he had called the election the “best one” ever without elaborating. “Pattern of threats’ Several observers though had noted heavy-handed tactics by the ruling CPP in the run-up to Sunday’s vote. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its concern over a pattern of intimidation and the arrest and imprisonment of some opposition party candidates. At least six Candlelight Party candidates and activists had been arrested and jailed before and during election campaigning. “We are disturbed by the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates ahead of communal elections in Cambodia on 5 June,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement Friday. The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) also registered its concerns with the election campaign, especially the persecution of Candlelight Party candidates. APHR member Maria Chin Abdullah, a Malaysian lawmaker, said it was impossible to hold free and fair elections in an environment where opposition politicians are persecuted. Political commentator Meas Nee, who visited a number of polling stations, told RFA that while he didn’t see any violence at polling stations there were other signs of voter intimidation. “But village and commune chiefs were present at the polling stations and were there to record the names of people who came to vote,” he said. “This could be interpreted in a way that conveys if you don’t vote for me, you will have problems.” Voters, many of whom are struggling with inflation after two years of economic hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, expressed disappointment with the results. “My vote is meaningful for my life, but I’m so frustrated because the result showed the opposite of my expectation,” Kim Channara, 49, who works at the Chea Sinath Garment Factory Worker in Phnom Penh, told RFA on Monday. Khuth Sokha, 42, president of the garment factory, said she was disappointed by the outcome and noted that just before the elections, CPP authorities distributed 20,000 riels (U.S. $5) and a krama, or scarf, to each citizen. “The government has in power for so long and has not made any substantial progress,” Khuth Sokha said. “Land disputes are widespread, so I want to see a change of new leaders who might make the situation better.” ‘Time to fulfill promises’ Kata On, spokesman for the government’s Human Rights Commission, said the election results must be respected. “The Cambodian People’s Party works for the interest of the people. We, the CPP, are of the people, by the people, and for the people.” For several voters, working for the people means controlling inflation in country. Chheang Sinath, a tourist tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh, told RFA that high gasoline and food prices in Cambodia have hurt his ability to earn a living and pay his bills. “We know that the result is that the Cambodian People’s Party won the commune elections, so please consider solving the high price of gasoline for us,” he said. “Nowadays, living is so difficult.” RFA could not reach Ministry of Commerce spokesmen Seang Thai and Long Kemvichet for comment. Vorn Pov, president of the Independent Association of Informal Economy, a union that represents tuk-tuk drivers and other service economy workers, said it members are becoming poorer amid the price increases. Once again, it’s the CPP’s responsibility to solve the problem, he said. “We see that the government, especially the ruling party, has won a landslide victory in thousands of communes, so it should be time to fulfill its promises made during the election campaign,” Vorn Pov said. Translated by Sum Sok Ry for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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New Australian PM pledges to help make Indonesia’s G20 presidency, summit successful

Editor09 mins

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged Monday to help host country Indonesia make this year’s G20 summit a success, including by attending the gathering, which controversially has both the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on the guest list. Australia’s new PM made the pledge during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, after he and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held talks and rode around the palatial grounds on bamboo bicycles, in a nod to their humble origins. Albanese, who took office two weeks ago, was on his maiden visit as prime minister to the giant neighbor next-door. “[D]eepening engagement with Southeast Asia is a priority for my Government,” he stressed in a statement read out to reporters. “I will work closely with President Widodo to help deliver a successful summit,” Albanese said, adding that international cooperation was needed “to tackle the many challenges we face in navigating the post-COVID global economic recovery.” Indonesia holds the 2022 presidency of the grouping of the world’s top 20 economies. The United States has urged Indonesia not to invite member-state Russia to the G20 summit, scheduled for November in Bali, because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  Jakarta so far has refused to disinvite Russia from the summit but has invited Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, as a guest. In March, U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukraine should be able to participate in the G20 summit, if the grouping did not expel Russia. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese interact with journalists at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, June 6, 2022. Credit: Indonesian Presidential Palace ‘Mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation’ Albanese also pledged closer cooperation with Indonesia on trade, security and climate change. “Indonesia is on track to be one of the world’s five largest economies,” Albanese said. “Revitalizing our trade and investment relationship is a priority for my government,” he said. Albanese added that the two countries were working to realize the potential of the Indonesia Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, a free trade agreement which came into effect two years ago. Albanese came to Indonesia with a delegation that included chief executives of major Australian companies, as well as Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrel. Jokowi, for his part, said that the “strategic partnership agreement” and the free trade deal with Australia provided a strong foundation for bilateral relations. “These two foundations are very important for the two countries to continue to strengthen mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation,” Jokowi said. Jokowi stressed the importance of expanding access to exports for Indonesian products to Australia, including cars. “The first shipment of completely built-up cars made in Indonesia to Australia was made in February and I hope that export access like this will continue to expand,” he said. Jokowi said he told Albanese that good bilateral relations could contribute to regional peace and prosperity. “International principles and laws must be consistently obeyed, strategic competition in the region needs to be managed properly to avoid open conflict, a culture of peace and strategic trust needs to be strengthened,” he said. Albanese also promised increased cooperation in the fields of defense, as well as maritime security and safety, amid China’s growing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea. Indonesia has on several occasions expressed concerns about a new trilateral security pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, known as AUKUS, which allows Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. In their respective statements, however, the two leaders made no references to AUKUS. Albanese stressed that his government would work closely with Australian Super Funds, one of the country’s largest investors, to explore investment opportunities in Indonesia. Ninasapti Triaswati, an economist at the University of Indonesia, said the visit provided an opportunity for Indonesia to strike business deals with Australian companies. “But it requires technical readiness on the part of the Indonesian side to be able to make cooperation contracts that benefit the Indonesian people,” Ninasapti told BenarNews. Ninasapti said she believed the presence of Putin at the upcoming G20 summit would not affect economic ties with Australia. “If Putin comes, the Australian government may leave the room, but CEOs of Australian private companies will still be interested in investing in Indonesia,” he said. ‘Strengthen partnerships in the Pacific’ Albanese also said his government was committed to deepening economic ties with Southeast Asian countries. “And we will deliver a comprehensive ASEAN Economic Strategy to 2040, to map current and future export and investment opportunities across key ASEAN markets,” he said. Albanese said Australia would give A$470 million (U.S. $338.55 million) to Southeast Asia over four years under Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programs, on top of A$200 million for its climate and infrastructure partnership with Indonesia. “We also agreed to strengthen partnerships in the Pacific, especially in the fields of climate, fisheries and agriculture,” he said. “True to my government’s ambitious climate targets, I want better access to affordable, reliable and secure clean energy right across our region, as we transition to a net zero world together.”

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Vietnam Communist Party expels health minister and Hanoi mayor for COVID test scandal

Editor07 mins

The Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) on Monday expelled the country’s health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi for their roles in a U.S. $172 million scandal involving overpriced coronavirus test kits, the party said at an emergency meeting of its Central Committee. Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh are the latest casualties of the one-party state’s crackdown on corruption, which has seen several high-profile arrests of government and private sector officials over the past few months. Long and Anh could face criminal charges for their actions in connection to the Viet A Technologies Company scandal, during which officials were paid off so that hospitals would use overpriced COVID-19 test kits. “It’s always a sign when the Vietnam Communist Party calls for an emergency session of its Central Committee,” Southeast Asia analyst Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, told RFA. “Expulsion from the party is in itself a major deal… No longer protected by their elite party status, their legal jeopardy just went up a few notches,” he said. “Now that the party’s inspection has concluded, they will now be passed on the prosecutors for trial and an almost certain conviction.” The company’s director-general, Phan Quoc Viet, faces charges of bribing health officials so that they would agree to overpay for the test kits to be distributed to hospitals and provincial Centers for Disease Control. Viet was able to make $172 million in profit and then re-channel $34 million into more bribes, AFP reported. The Viet-A scandal was uncovered at the end of last year as part of the Communist Party’s efforts since 2016 to get tough on corruption. The anti-corruption campaign, referred to as “furnace burning” by its architect, Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, has seen high-profile arrests of government officials over the past few months for their involvement in various scandals. For example, several Ministry of Health officials have been accused of accepting bribes for space on international rescue flights out of areas in the world heavily hit by COVID-19. Authorities have also discovered a number of training violations at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. The director of a military hospital was arrested for granting slots to unqualified applicants at the ASEAN Medical and Pharmaceutical College. Vietnam also recently arrested 19 people on charges of “violating regulations on asset management and use, causing losses and waste” at an agriculture company, and seven senior coast guard officials, including the commander, for embezzling funds Nguyen Ngoc Gia, an independent journalist, told RFA that corruption is more widespread than even the recent arrests would indicate. “I think the big reasons are that the rule of law doesn’t exist, the rule of virtue is just a formality, and the technocracy is too weak,” Gia said. “Meanwhile, culture and education, the two most important areas making up the soul of a nation, are widely manipulated by money. Therefore, it can be seen that the current appearance of morality is just hypocrisy,” said Gia. Totalitarianism and the one-party system have led to an overemphasis on money and power, Gia said. The Viet-A scandal was not as large as others, but the government is paying special attention, Abuza said. “This scandal seems to have stung the leadership a little bit more. In part there was the direct link between the firm and the senior leadership. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had egg on his face,” Abuza said. “Anti-corruption has been the hallmark of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s tenure. Trong has wielded anti-corruption as he believes that the country’s endemic corruption threatens the VCP’s legitimacy,” he said. “But he also has wielded it as a tool against political rivals. And many in the country will see this as just that: elite political infighting.” Trong suffered a stroke in 2020, so there are expectations that the third-term general secretary will step down before the term is up in 2026, Abuza said. “But as long as he believes that corruption is still reaching the senior most ranks, he’ll fight to stay on, convinced that others will take the issue of corruption as seriously.” Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Gunmen fire at cars on China-backed Lao expressway

Editor05 mins

Gunmen opened fire Sunday on traffic moving along a China-invested expressway in Laos, leaving one of three injured in the shooting in a coma in a local hospital, Lao sources say. Four suspects described by authorities as “bandits” and including both Lao and ethnic Hmong are now under arrest following the incident, which took place at about 12:30 p.m. at the Phou-Pha tunnel on the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Expressway, a public security official told RFA on Monday. The group may have been involved in a business dispute, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media about the case. “We have already arrested four suspects, who include both Lao and Hmong,” the official said. “Details of what happened are still unclear, and we are carrying out an investigation.” An official press conference will be held when the investigation ends, the official said. Meanwhile, security measures will be taken to ensure safety along the Vientiane-Vang Vieng expressway, and vehicles will be checked before entering, the official said. Seriously wounded in the shooting, a resident of the Lao capital Vientiane is now in a coma at the Lao-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Vientiane, where doctors are attempting to remove a bullet from one of his lungs, and family members are appealing for donations of blood, sources said. A family member contacted by RFA declined to comment on the case. A toll gate on the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Expressway , Dec. 27, 2020. Photo: RFA Lao residents concerned over safety issues on the major roadway linking the capital with Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination north of Vientiane, told RFA the gunmen had likely been involved in a dispute over drugs, with one source saying the shooters may have been under the influence of drugs themselves. “These young gangsters are all using drugs, especially methamphetamines. The police are always arresting them,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Other Lao villagers following the news said those injured in the shooting may have been involved in earlier disputes. “After reading about this incident on Facebook, it seems to me there may have been some conflict over drugs. I’m sure this must be what this was all about,” one source said, also declining to be named. Government authorities must now strengthen security along the expressway, especially by deploying more police officers along the road, said another local resident who often drives along the Vientiane-Vang Vieng route. “I usually see CCTV cameras on the expressway, but not that many police,” he said. Reached for comment, an official of the Laos-China Joint Expressway Development Co., Ltd., declined to speak to RFA reporters, but the company issued a statement Sunday reporting the shooting and saying reasons for the incident were being investigated by the police. Traffic was moving normally along the expressway, which began operations in 2020, by 5:35 p.m., the company said in its statement. Translated by Phouvong for RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Five people killed in Sagaing region township blazes

Editor03 mins

The charred bodies of a 79-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy were among five people discovered after military forces set fire to two villages in Myanmar’s war-torn Sagaing region, locals told RFA. The elderly woman was from Thargara village in Khin Oo township. The boy and three men came from Than Se Chaung village in Kani township. Residents told RFA the elderly woman may have been trapped after suffering a stroke when junta troops burned down houses on June 4. They say the blaze also killed cattle and destroyed 70 houses, agricultural machinery, motorbikes and 10,000 baskets of rice, being stored for food. Agricultural equipment and food supplies were also destroyed in the blaze. CREDIT: citizen jounalist. The bodies of four Than Se Chaung residents were found close to their village, near Nat Sin Gone at Nga Pyat village. They had been detained by the military a few days earlier. A local resident told RFA the four villagers, aged between 14 and 45, were killed after being taken hostage by troops. “They were sent to the frontline and were then killed as they did not do what the junta troops asked and commanded,” said the resident, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity. It was still not known how the four were killed. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Monday morning went unanswered. Most of Sagaing’s townships and villages have been affected by fierce fighting between junta forces and members of the People’s Defense Forces since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. RFA reported last month that nearly 6,300 homes in 19 townships had been burned down in the northwestern region over the previous two months. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun blamed the PDFs for starting the fires. RFA figures show that 414 people were killed in Sagaing region between Feb. 1 and Dec. 1 last year, 309 by the junta and 105 by PDFs.

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Australia protests to China after dangerous air intercept

Editor09 mins

A Chinese fighter jet dangerously intercepted an Australian reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea last month, Australia’s Department of Defence (DOD) said, but China’s state media stated it was “Western countries” who were in the wrong. A DOD statement said on May 26 a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon “was intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft during a routine maritime surveillance activity in international airspace in the South China Sea region.”  “The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew,” the DOD said, adding that the Australian Government had raised its concerns about the incident with the Chinese Government. Last week the Canadian government also expressed concerns over Chinese aircraft “buzzing” a Canadian surveillance aircraft in the East China Sea, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it “extremely troubling.” Chinese media rejected the accusations, saying Canada and Australia – members of the Five Eyes Western intelligence alliance – conducted “close-in reconnaissance and provocative activities” on China. The Global Times, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said reports on the Chinese intercepts “are not consistent with the truth.” On Monday China’s defense ministry said the PLA has taken reasonable measures to counter provocations by Canadian military jets that have been carrying out increased reconnaissance in the region. Spokesman Wu Qian described China’s response as ‘reasonable,’ adding that Beijing has made ‘solemn representations’ through diplomatic channels, according to Reuters. ‘Dangerous mid-air maneuvres’ The Australian DOD’s statement said that it has “for decades undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law.” Defence Minister Richard Marles told Australian media that the J-16 jet flew very close to the RAAF P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft, released flares and then “accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at very close distance.” “It then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminium, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft,” Marles told Australia’s Channel 9. “This maneuvre is dangerous and designed to provoke,” said Alexander Neill, a defense and security consultant based in Singapore. “Dispensing chaff is extremely dangerous,” Neill added, as the pieces could cause serious damage when entering the engine of the P-8. The Chinese interpretation of the event was very different.  The Global Times quoted Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military expert, as saying that “it is possible that the Australian P-8 used its jamming pod to lase the Chinese aircraft, triggering the latter’s self-defense system which is programed to automatically release the flares and chaff.” Earlier this year Australia accused a Chinese warship of pointing a military-grade laser at an Australian P-8A Poseidon in the Arafura Sea, north of Australia, posing great danger to the pilots’ safety. The RAAF has a fleet of 14 modern Boeing-manufactured P-8As that it uses for maritime surveillance. Canberra raised concerns with Beijing over the Feb. 17 incident but the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did not issue an apology, arguing that the vessel was fully complying with international law and Australia was “maliciously spreading disinformation” against China. In 2019 a similar incident happened in the South China Sea when Australian helicopter pilots, operating from the naval vessel HMAS Canberra, were forced to land as a precaution after a Chinese warship targeted it with a laser. “This maneuvre in May is similar to the one which downed a U.S. Navy P-3 back in 2001,” said Alexander Neill.  In April 2001 a Chinese F-8 fighter jet collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries II surveillance plane over the South China Sea, killing the Chinese pilot. The U.S. aircraft had to make an emergency landing on China’s Hainan island. “It seems the PLA  returned to using such dangerous techniques but dispensing chaff is even more serious,” the analyst said. A CP-140 Aurora, similar to the aircraft “buzzed”by Chinese jets over the East China Sea, in a Canadian Government file photograph  ‘Five Eyes’ Such events have become more regular as China ramps-up its campaign to back up territorial claims in the region.  At the same time the U.S. and its allies have also intensified activities in accordance with the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ initiative. In September last year Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States formed the AUKUS security alliance, which is generally seen as an effort to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Canberra was alarmed when China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April and sought to reach a multi-sector deal with some other Pacific island nations. “I would say this latest incident is part of a new coercive strategy to put pressure on Australia following the creation of AUKUS and also in response to pressures by Australia in the South Pacific,” Neill told RFA. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. are already members of the long-standing intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes. China has been accusing the U.S. and partners of conducting “provocative reconnaissance” on China. The South China Sea Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based Chinese think tank, alleged that last month the U.S. military performed 41 sorties of land-based reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea alone.

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Cambodia opposition decries intimidation as ruling party claims local election sweep

Editor07 mins

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party claimed a sweeping victory in nationwide elections for local councils on Sunday, a contest that rights watchdogs said was heavily slanted toward the ruling party and marred by intimidation and obstruction of the opposition. The voting for local councils in rural and urban precincts was seen as a test of support for opponents of the CPP five years after Hun Sen had the largest opposition party banned after a strong showing in the previous election. The National Election Committee has yet to release preliminary results, but said the ruling CPP was leading an election in which 77.91 percent, or about 7.1 million of 9.2 million registered voters turned out to elect 11,622 commune council members. “It’s been a successful electoral process with a calm environment, security, public order, no violence and no intimidation,” NEC President Prach Chan told a news conference after the polling stations closed Sunday afternoon. “The voters voted overwhelmingly — 77 percent voted. The preliminary results are showing the CPP is the leading in all provinces and municipalities,” said CCP spokesman Sok Ey San. “This is a big success for the CPP,” he said. People look for their names in the voters’ list at a polling station during local commune elections in Phnom Penh, June 5, 2022. Credit: AFP RFA has not independently confirmed the turnout and preliminary results. The official election results will be announced on June 26. “It was not a free and fair and just election,” said Thach Setha, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, the most prominent of 16 non-CPP parties competing. “There was pressure and intimidation,” he said, noting that the NEC was dominated by the ruling party, when the law stipulates a neutral body. Thach Setha said his party will file complaints with the NEC over the alleged election irregularities, including CPP village chiefs who violated the election law by sitting at the polling stations.  He said authorities arrested two of his election observers, releasing one later. Voters did not turn out in as great a number as in 2017 and many polling stations were quiet, said Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for the rights group Adhoc. “Fewer people went to polling station to find their names. And to the ballot counting stations, I didn’t see many people monitoring the process,” he said. “This shows that people didn’t actively participate in the process like the previous commune election,” added Soeung Sengkaruna. Kem Sokha, the former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who was arrested months before the party was banned in 2017, declined to vote on Sunday and was joined by many of his followers. “We didn’t vote because if we have voted it would been seen like we supported the CNRP’s dissolution,” said close Kem Sokha ally Khou Haingmeang. The former CNRP representative from Siem Reap said Kem Sokha, who is embroiled in a slow-moving treason trial on charges from 2017, also feared that getting involved Sunday could violate court orders banning political activities. On the last day of two weeks of campaigning Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Office criticized what it called “the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates.” “Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement. France-based opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who founded the Candlelight Party in 2005 before joining forces with the CNRP, said that while “these elections are worse than the previous ones in terms of transparency and honesty,” the party did well in the face of obstacles thrown up by the government. “Despite the continuous atmosphere of fear and intimidation in Cambodia, hope for democratic change at the ballot box has been revived by the Candlelight Party,” he said a statement. “Every seat won is a seat less for the autocratic regime of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 37 years,” said Rainsy, who has lived in exile in France since 2015 under threat of arrest on a raft of charges he and his supporters say are aimed at keeping him out of politics. Translated by Samean Yun. Written by Paul Eckert.

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Cambodians to vote in local commune council elections Sunday

Editor011 mins

Cambodians will go to the polls Sunday to elect local commune councils in what observers believe will be a test case of support for a rising opposition party after five years of a coordinated campaign by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his supporters to squash dissent. Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades. His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is expected to win in a landslide, as it is the only political party large enough to field candidates nationwide. Heading into Sunday’s vote, the United Nations Human Rights Office criticized what it called a “systemic shrinking” of political space in the country, leaving room only for the CPP. “We are disturbed by the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates ahead of communal elections in Cambodia on 5 June,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement. “Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning.  Four days before the election, at least six opposition candidates and activists are in detention awaiting trial while others summonsed on politically motivated charges have gone into hiding.” Throssell noted the government’s response to the last commune elections, five years ago. The Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) after it performed well in the local races in 2017, a decision that paved the way for the CPP to take all 125 seats in the National Assembly in the 2018 general election. Though the country is essentially now a one-party state, a new opposition party, the Candlelight Party, has entered the fray and will face its first major test on Sunday. The Future Forum, an independent think tank based in Phnom Penh, called the election a “litmus test” for the country. “The outstanding and primary concern of any election cycle set today is the absence of a viable political opposition,” it said in a report. “This in itself renders the anticipated outcome of such processes reasonably predictable. It is however crucial to note that, versus the 2018 cycle, there are a larger number of electoral observers, and the presence of an alternative vote for nearly all communes in the kingdom.” The elections will not have much effect on the balance of national power, as commune councils are concerned mostly with local matters. But councilors elected Sunday will vote on behalf of their constituents in 2024 elections for the Cambodian Senate. Election watchers are looking at the contest between the CPP and 16 other parties for 11,622 seats in 1,652 rural and urban precincts to find out how much support the opposition Candlelight Party can win in the atmosphere and after months of harassment from the ruling party. Members of parliaments in other Southeast Asian countries condemned “harassment and intimidation” suffered by the opposition during the campaign. In a statement released Friday, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) took issue with incidents of political bullying by local officials. “It is impossible to hold free and fair elections in an ongoing climate of persecution against the opposition … these polls cannot be regarded as an exercise in pluralism and democracy when the CPP led by Prime Minister Hun Sen is not allowing anyone who can challenge their power to campaign freely and safely,” said Maria Chin Abdullah, a member of the Malaysian Parliament and an APHR member. “The intimidation of the opposition we are witnessing now is nothing new. It is part of a long pattern in which Hun Sen and his party have maintained and increased their control over Cambodia, closing the space for opposition and rights defenders to dissent without fear of reprisal. This does not bode well for the future of democracy in Cambodia. The outcome of this local election will pave the way for next year’s national elections and will determine who will control the country’s overall political power,” Abdullah said. She urged neighboring countries to “maintain a critical eye” on Cambodia and not accept that Sunday’s elections would be a true democratic exercise, criticizing the elections as “another attempt by the CPP to legitimize its increasingly dictatorial rule.” Campaign draws to a close On the last day of the official two-week campaign Friday, the CPP and Candlelight Party held political rallies all over the country, with thousands in the capital Phnom Penh attending the rallies for both sides. Hun Sen’s son Hun Many attended campaign events in the capital, as CPP supporters including famous celebrities drove luxury cars in a convoy, hoping to sway voters with star appeal. Candlelight supporters drove their own convoy through the city, using megaphones to remind people to vote. Both sides reflected on the campaign period optimistically. “For the past 14 days, we have showed that we are better and more firmly situated than other parties,” Sar Kheng, who is the CPP’s vice president and the country’s minister of interior, said to supporters while leading campaign activities in the southern province of Prey Veng. “We have shown that the CPP is the only party can guarantee peace and read development,” he said. Candlelight’s vice president, Thach Setha, who led campaign activities in Phnom Penh Friday, told RFA’s Khmer Service that his party has received overwhelming support because the voters recognize their true need for democracy. He acknowledged that the campaign is supported mainly by donations from supporters. During Friday’s convoy, people cheering the party on provided campaigners with water from the roadsides, he said. “[The people] want change, and they want to tell the CPP that they want change, they don’t want to keep doing the same thing,” Thach Setha said. The campaign period was mostly peaceful, Hang Puthea, spokesperson for the country’s National Election Commission (NEC), told RFA. “Over the past 14 days, there was no violence or threats,” he said. The NEC received only 52 complaints during the campaign period. “The campaigns were helped with good security and order,” he said. But Kang Savang, a coordinator at the Committee…

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Food prices double in Laos as inflation grips economy

Editor09 mins

Runaway inflation in Laos has caused prices of food, gas and other essentials to nearly double over the past year, some even within the last month, sources in the country told RFA. Inflation in the country is closely related to the value of the kip relative to other currencies, due to the country’s heavy reliance on imports for most of its consumer needs. On Friday, U.S. $1 equaled about 13,950 kip, compared with 9,420 kip a year ago, for a depreciation of about 48%. The sudden rise in food prices is making life difficult, sources told RFA. “On Saturday, May 28, 2022, I gave 2,000 kip [$0.50] to my 12-year-old son to go to buy some eggs from a nearby store for his lunch,” a mother in the capital Vientiane, who like all other unnamed sources in this report, requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA on Tuesday. “At first, I thought that with the 2,000 kip, my son would be able to buy two eggs. But, when he arrived home with only one egg, I was surprised that the price of an egg has now doubled since late last year,” she said. Six months ago a pack of instant noodles in Vientiane’s Hatxayfong district cost 20,000 kip, now it costs 40,000, a resident there told RFA. “The price of everything is doubling,” she said. Pork in Pakse, a city in the southern province of Champassak, now costs 55,000 kip a kilogram (2.2 pounds), up from 30,000 kip, a resident said. “Food prices are going up every day. The government must solve the problem,” the person said. According to data from the Lao Statistics Bureau and RFA Lao, in just the past month, the cost to buy rice, beef, pork or eggs has significantly increased. Eggs have doubled in price. Inflation is not limited to food. The price of gas rose for the 13th time this year on June 1, according to the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Regular unleaded gas increased from 23,770 kip per liter ($6.46 per gallon) to 28,070 per liter ($7.64/gallon) Gas prices are so high that “a lot of people go across the Mekong River to visit [Thailand] and buy cheaper gas and other consumer goods,” a motorist in Vientiane told RFA. “We have to adjust ourselves to the new normal, in other words to change our lifestyle,” Another motorist told RFA “For example, I drive my car only when it’s very necessary and I sometimes drive to Thailand to buy cheaper gasoline, vegetable oil, fish sauce and other food items.”   A gas station owner in Thailand verified the trend. He told RFA that two weeks ago he noticed a sharp increase in customers from Laos. “Most of them buy consumer goods and fill their vehicle tanks with gasoline on their way back home,” he said. Public transportation costs are also rising. “Starting June 1, 2022, a Laos-China train ticket to the capital Vientiane will be 242,000 kip at the sale office counter and 262,000 kip at stores, up from 198,000 kip,” a ticket seller in Luang Prabang City, Luang Prabang Province, said. Train fares are out of reach for most people, a villager in the northern province of Luang Prabang told RFA. “Most people are suffering from severe gas shortage and inflation, and now there are high train fares too,” he said. “I want to see lower prices because everything is going up. Farmers in Laos have had to deal with a double-whammy of inflation and shortages of some products required to do their work. The combination has delayed plowing in the southern province of Attapeu, a provincial official told RFA. “These farmers are poor and unable to afford gas. They just sit and wait for gas prices to come down,” he said. Small businesses are also suffering in the harsh economic climate, a Vientiane businessman told RFA. “One half of all SMEs [small-to-medium enterprises] are dead. They can’t survive the high gas prices and lack of business. The other half is struggling.” The World Bank reported that inflation in Laos jumped to 9.9% in April this year from only 2% in January 2021. The bank recommended that the country stabilize the kip, push for more agricultural production, work to attract more investment and create more jobs. A Lao financial expert told RFA that the country must change how its economy has operated to survive. “One of the solutions would be that we should import fewer goods. We can’t afford to buy as much as before because we have less foreign money,” he said. “The other solution would be that we produce more domestically.” Sonexay Sitphaxay, governor of the National Bank of Lao P.D.R., told reporters on May 27 that the government was trying several approaches to solve its problems. “[We] are attempting to divert foreign currencies into the banking system from black market, punish money exchangers and manipulators, reduce the impact of inflation on society, negotiate with trade partners and convince them to accept the kip, and reduce the need of foreign currencies,” he said. An economist told RFA, “First for most, the government should stabilize the kip, increase foreign currency reserve and expand economy in a sustainable way.” But the recovery for Laos will take time, an Asian Development Bank employee said. “[It] is going to be slow this year and in the next several years because of COVID-19, the stronger U.S. dollar and the crisis in Ukraine,” he told RFA. “While the buying power of Laotians is lower, the Lao economy may start up again in 2-3 years.” Translated by RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Vietnamese journalist in failing health after 2 years in prison

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A Vietnamese journalist is in failing health after serving two years of a prison sentence for criticizing the country’s one-party communist government, RFA has learned. Prison authorities have rejected requests he be allowed to seek medical treatment outside his jail. Le Huu Minh Tuan, a member of the Vietnam Independent Journalists’ Association, was arrested on June 12, 2020, on a charge of “conducting propaganda against the state,” and is now serving an 11-year term at the Bo La Detention Center in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong province. Tuan had been held first at another detention center in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh district, where harsh conditions behind bars caused his health to deteriorate, his sister Na told RFA after speaking with Tuan on May 26 in the first family visit allowed to him since his arrest. “My brother is in very bad health. I couldn’t recognize him,” Na said, describing Tuan as emaciated and hard of hearing. “He has scabies, and he’s also malnourished as the food and living conditions where he’s being held are so tough.” Detention center officials have refused Tuan’s request to get medical care at an outside facility, though family members are allowed to send medicine to him inside the jail, Na said. Tuan had been kept in his cell all day while serving the first two years of his sentence at the Phan Dan Luu Detention Center in Binh Thanh, but now is allowed outside for 15 to 30 minutes each day at his new jail in Binh Duong, Na said. “However, the food there is horrible and has no nutrition at all,” she said. “They feed him only rice and a poor quality of soup without salt or other spices, and the rice itself is only half-cooked and mixed with sand.” The number of family visits allowed to prisoners at the Bo La Detention Center is restricted, and relatives can bring in only limited amounts of food, Na said. “For example, when Tuan ran out of milk and wanted to have some fruit, I went to the prison cafeteria to register to buy some for him, but was told I couldn’t do it,” she said. Tuan’s family had heard no news of him for the first two years following his arrest, not knowing whether he was alive or dead. They were finally told that he had been sent to the Bo La facility in Binh Duong on April 14, Na said. “Now we feel relieved, because we know we can visit him occasionally from now on.” Vietnamese independent journalist Pham Doan Trang is shown in an undated photo. Photo: icj.org Mother of jailed writer accepts award Another jailed Vietnamese writer, Pham Doan Trang, this week was awarded the 2022 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, with her mother, Bui Thi Thien Can, accepting the honor in Geneva, Switzerland, on her behalf. Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Can said she was proud of her daughter, who is now serving a nine-year sentence in Vietnam for “spreading propaganda against the state.” “[Trang] has been determined and persevering in pursuing a path that she fully understands is a dangerous and arduous journey,” Can said. “She has dedicated herself and fought tirelessly for democracy and human rights in Vietnam and for the freedom and happiness of the Vietnamese people.” Accompanying Can to Geneva were Tran Quynh Vi — codirector of the California-based NGO Legal Initiatives for Vietnam and owner of Luat Khoa (Law) Magazine — and democracy activist Will Nguyen. Independent journalists in Vietnam are still working but face massive challenges, Vi said in remarks following the award ceremony. “The good news is that in spite of Ms. Trang’s arrest, our newspapers are still published regularly and we have more and more contributors,” she said. “And the more they prohibit us, the more we want to work in the area.” Also speaking in Geneva, activist Will Nguyen called on citizens of Switzerland and other developed countries to alert their lawmakers and diplomats to Vietnam’s ongoing abuses of human rights. “I think we have a lot of leverage,” said Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American who was arrested for taking part in public protests in Vietnam in 2018 and then deported from the country by a Ho Chi Minh City court. “The more we look into this issue, the more likely it is that the Vietnamese government will treat its citizens with more respect,” he said. A prominent human rights activist and blogger, Trang was arrested on Oct. 6, 2020, and sentenced to nine years in prison on Dec. 14, 2021, on a charge of disseminating anti-state propaganda. The indictment against Trang also accused her of speaking with two foreign media outlets — Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corporation — “to allegedly defame the government of Vietnam and fabricate news,” according to a letter sent by 25 human rights groups calling for her release ahead of her trial. In addition to the Martin Ennals Award, Trang has also received the 2017 Homo Homini Award presented by the Czech human rights organization People in Need, and the Press Freedom Prize in 2019 from Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0