NGOs to Boycott Workshop on Election Law

Dozens of NGOs are planning to boycott a workshop Monday to discuss the new election law, saying that the CPP and CNRP have not given them enough time to review the draft and that they do not want to give the event a veneer of legitimacy.

In addition to concerns over the lack of consultation time, Koul Panha, the director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), said Sunday that the new law contained provisions that would reduce the quality of future polls and give officials unprecedented powers to disqualify parties from entering elections and punish official observers. 

Deputy Prime Minister Bin Chhin and CNRP official Kuoy Bunroeun are set to host a “consultation workshop” at the National Assembly on Monday to discuss the new law with NGOs, but many groups say they are frustrated that the parties did not provide them with a copy of the law until Saturday, giving them only two days to review its content.

“At a meeting of NGOs from the Electoral Reform Alliance and NGO Forum on Friday, most decided not to go,” Adhoc president Thun Saray said Sunday. “It is not a serious consultation workshop. There is no time for discussion, and they did not provide the draft law until Saturday.”

The groups that will boycott include Comfrel, Adhoc, Transparency International Cambodia and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections.

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