Analyst: UN is happy to describe the problem, not to solve the problem

Tin Sokhavuth



The UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith, on Thirsday, issued a warning stating that civil and political rights in Cambodia are «deteriorating rapidly». This fact could lead to the question about the legitimacy of the upcoming general election next year in the country.

Mrs. Smith's statement came after the Cambodian Ministry of Interior filed a complaint last week to the Supreme Court asking the court to dissolve the opposition party CNRP, whose leader, Mr. Kem Sokha, is in custody, and whose seats in parliament should be distributed to other parties.

According to Mrs. Smith, the dissolution of the CNRP would affect the voice and choice of the Cambodian people who chose to vote for the CNRP - their voice and choice would be lost if the CNRP would be dissolved.

"The dissolution of the CNRP would affect Cambodians’ voice and choice at all levels of government, raising serious concerns about the representativeness of government. I echo the call made last month by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who urged the government to respect civil and political rights and fundamental freedoms," added Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. Smith added that what the ruling party CPP is doing regarding the amendments to the laws relating to political parties is suspicious to be under the guise of the rule of law.

"Rule of law is about more than the mere application of laws. All laws must respect human rights and must reflect the principles of fairness, justice and public participation. Otherwise, it becomes rule by law, not rule of law," added Mrs. Smith. "Modern Cambodia was established as a multi-party liberal democracy, respectful and protective of human rights. Its Constitution sought to prevent a return to a single-party state. Those who drafted the Constitution were all too well aware of the consequences of one-party rule."

Concerning this issued, an anonymous political analyst said that instead of describing the problem, the UN could help Cambodian people to solve the problem by giving proper recommendations. Everyone in this world knows very well that a big challenge in developing countries is the «weakness of the Rule of Law». For this reason, the UN should pragmatically show to the world how to strengthen the rule of law in a given time and place.

According to the political analyst, in Cambodia, the big challenge is the separation of powers or the «checks and balances» system. For example, if the Constitutional Council is independent, when the parliament passes a number of laws susceptible to be unconstitutional, opposition party could file a complaint to the council to revise the laws.

He added that in that case, if the UN thinks the ruling party in Cambodia has too much power to pass law, the UN could help Cambodian people to make the Constitutional Council completely independent for the council to have the ability to check the constitutionality of the passed law. Likewise, if the UN thinks the Cambodian court is not independent, just help Cambodian people to make it independent.