Deadlocked political talks ready to resume
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party has agreed to hold formal
talks on Tuesday with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.
The announcement comes more than a month after scheduled negotiations
were abandoned in early January after security forces targeted striking
garment workers and opposition supporters in the capital’s Por Sen Chey
district and at Freedom Park.
CNRP spokesman Yem Ponharith said yesterday that preconditions for the talks had already been negotiated with the CPP.
Backroom negotiations between the two sides, facilitated by Deputy
Prime Minister Nhek Bun Chhay, began the day after security forces
cleared protesters from Freedom Park.
“I think that the Cambodian People’s Party has also raised the
possibility of holding an early election, provided that we join the
National Assembly,” Ponharith said yesterday. “We will join parliament.
[But] we must have a pre-agreement presided over by the King.”
Ponharith added that the accord must also involve civil society groups and meet international standards.
CNRP president Sam Rainsy told hundreds of supporters in Preah
Sihanouk province yesterday that the negotiations between the CPP and
CNRP on Tuesday will focus on electoral reform.
“If we do not reform the electoral system, there will be more
election fraud, and if there is more election fraud, the people’s desire
will be ignored,” Rainsy said.
After the talks have concluded, Rainsy continued, a new election should be called.
“That’s why we decided to join the talks. Whoever has power or influence must join in the talks,” he said.
Sokha, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior and head of the
CPP’s negotiations working group, said yesterday that he could not
comment on the specifics of the talks until the two sides had met.
“We should wait to meet and negotiate, then [we] can talk. It is
progress, because the CNRP has been saying that they have the will, but
making speeches and issuing statements is no political will. We must
take action [to solve the crisis],” he said.
“Wait to see when we join the meeting who has the will to resolve the dispute, and who does not.”
He added that the opening of new talks showed that the opposition
respected a joint agreement between CPP and CNRP leaders signed on
September 19, 2013.
Political analyst Kem Ley, who was briefed on the closed-door
negotiations in early January by Bun Chhay, welcomed the talks, but said
he thought they would be “useless”.
“Political negotiations have been ongoing since the crackdown on
factory workers,” he said yesterday. “I appreciate that they will start
[formal] negotiations but, for me, they will be useless. This time, the
CPP has great power and the CNRP has very little power at the
negotiating table. An agreement will be reached soon, but national
issues will not be resolved.”
He added that the onus would be on the CNRP to lay out their political platform at the talks.
“For me, I think that the CNRP should bring their platform to the
table,” he said. “But the power and political culture of the CPP, the
patronage network, that will carry on.”
Hang Puthea, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial
Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said civil society
groups would welcome a place at the negotiating table, but he would be
satisfied if their recommendations were considered.
“It is not necessary [for us] to join the [electoral reform]
committee. [But] we want them to take our recommendations and consider
them thoroughly,” he said, adding that King Norodom Sihamoni would play
an important role in solving the deadlock.
However, Son Soubert, a spokesman for the Royal Palace, said the King
and Queen Mother would likely not be around to see a potential
resolution, as they are scheduled to go to China on Wednesday for
medical check-ups.
“Usually [medical trips] come at this time. Maybe they cannot have
the King here, but perhaps they can manage to sort out their problems
without having the King there,” he said.
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