ASEAN Parliamentarian: “The passage of this bill would mark the death knell for democracy in Cambodia"

Tin Sokhavuth

APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago who is also a member of the Malaysian Parliament. Photo supplied.

The amendments to the Cambodian Law on Political Parties were passed on Monday. These amendments give right to the Supreme Court to dissolve political parties in some circumstances. The new law also forbids inmate from being president, vice president, or member of the steering​ committee of any political party.

One day before the amendments were passed, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said that the proposed amendments by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), constituted a danger to the democracy in Cambodia.

“The passage of this bill would mark the death knell for democracy in Cambodia. We’re talking about a move that could turn the country into a de facto one-party state and completely undermine the legitimacy of elections only months away,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament, in a press release posted on APHR's website.

APHR added that the proposed bill included new clauses giving right to the Supreme Court to dissolve political parties for violating prohibitions that APHR considered as "vague".

"Among the proposed changes to the law include new clauses allowing the Supreme Court to dissolve political parties and bar party leaders from political activity for violating a series of vaguely worded prohibitions, such as threatening 'national unity' or the 'security of the state'," added the press release.

In response to APHR, Mr. Sok Eisan, spokesman for the ruling party proposing the amendments, told reporters on Tuesday that such claim was an interference in Cambodian internal affairs. And it is a violation of the ASEAN's constitution. He also said that the time will come to see if the democracy in Cambodia will die or not.

"We all wait and see whether the democracy in Cambodia will die or grow furthermore. But, in the meantime, some ASEAN's members have already violated Cambodian democracy while talking about democracy," said the spokesman.

In the same way, on Monday, a few hours after the amendments were passed, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a press release stating that the proposed bill was passed "with little public debate", and the amendments give the Cambodian government too much authority to restrict freedom of speech and/or legitimate activities of political parties in the kingdom.

"The amendments give the government broad authority to restrict freedom of expression and the legitimate activities of political parties and, under vaguely defined circumstances, to dissolve them," stated the embassy's press release.

For this matter, the embassy calls on the government to take all necessary measures to ensure that the upcoming elections in 2017 and 2018 will be free, fair, and transparent during which all political parties have equal right and opportunity to compete with each other.