Hoping to regain its ability to run in future elections, the main opposition Candlelight Party asked Cambodia’s newly appointed interior minister for a meeting to clear a bureaucratic hurdle – reissuing the party’s original certificate of registration – that kept it out of July’s parliamentary vote.
“The ministry can’t create administrative obstacles,” Party Vice President Rong Chhun told Radio Free Asia, adding that he hoped party officials could meet personally with Sar Sokha, who was named minister last month after his father stepped down from the position he held for more than 30 years.
The ministry has received the request and will respond with its decision, deputy spokesman Touch Sokhak said, adding that the ministry doesn’t discriminate against any political party.
The Candlelight Party was blocked from running in the July election – won in a landslide by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party – on a technicality that many saw as politically motivated.
In May, the National Election Committee said it wouldn’t accept a statement from the Interior Ministry confirming the party’s 1998 registration, insisting it required the original certificate issued by the ministry.
But that certificate was lost during a 2017 raid by government agents on the offices of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which at the time was the leading opposition party.
Bureaucratic obstacles
The Candlelight Party dates back to the 1990s, when it was founded as the Khmer Nation Party. It was later renamed as the Sam Rainsy Party and merged in 2012 with other opposition parties to become the CNRP.
After the Supreme Court banned the CNRP in 2017, the Candlelight Party was revived and began organizing in every province and municipality, attracting many of the same supporters.
The party competed in the 2022 commune elections – something its supporters pointed to in May when the National Election Committee issued its decision.
If the ministry complies with the law, the ministry must reissue the certificate of registration, legal expert Vorn Chan Lout said. But that’s only if the ministry doesn’t receive political pressure from elsewhere in the government or the CPP, he said.
“It is not an issue of whether the Ministry of Interior works independently,” he said. “It will have the means to resolve the issue. But if the ministry thinks about political benefit, it will be difficult for the Candlelight Party.”
‘Frequent arbitrary interference’
Candlelight’s request for a meeting comes as a Cambodian NGO released an overview report on fundamental freedoms – including freedom of association – in the country.
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights tracked how freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association were exercised and controlled in 2022. It found restrictions to those freedoms in every province, with most instances occurring in Phnom Penh.
“The trends noted in 2022 were especially concerning as Cambodia was advancing into the 2022 Commune Elections and 2023 National Elections, a critical time where the exercise of fundamental freedoms is essential for free and fair elections,” the report said.
The report found multiple attempts by the government and third parties to hamper political opposition, as well as “frequent arbitrary interference with public assemblies.”
The government “appears to use laws to curtail civic space and restrict the exercise of fundamental freedoms, rather than to protect these rights,” it said.
The organization’s Fundamental Freedoms Monitoring Project based its report on 329 media monitoring incidents, 237 incident reports, a poll of 1,424 members of the public across 25 provinces, and a survey of 150 civil society organizations and trade union leaders.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster .