Ms. Kem Monovithya, daughter of the jailed opposition party leader Kem Sokha, on Tuesday, called on the international community to appeal to the UN to review and suspend Cambodian's membership if possible. She also made a proposal that the countries, who signed the Cambodia Paris Peace Accords, should make a formal request to the US government to send a group of fact-finding mission for an investigation and a possible talk with the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen to take place in order to restore the space for a liberal democracy continue to be rooted in the country.
In her speech in the discussion organized by the US and EU ambassadors to the UN on Tuesday in New York City, Ms. Monovithya said that the dissolution of the opposition party CNRP was a coup similar to which happened in 1997. Following this event, she asked the UN to discuss about this matter in their upcoming general assembly session in January next year.
"Number 1, I would propose that the Member States encourage that Cambodia's issue would be on their agenda of the General Assembly in January if possible. Number 2, I would propose that the Member States, especially those who signed on to the Paris Peace Accords, send a request to the US Secretary for a fact-finding mission, monitoring mission to Cambodia to assess the situation now, and to talk with the Cambodian authority to find solution in regard to the Paris Peace Accords. And number 3, I would request that the Member States request to the UN's bodies to review Cambodian membership at the UN [...]," said Ms. Monovithya.
In response to this panel discussion, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations issued a statement on Monday stating that the panel discussion was an act of arrogance and it was also the violation of Article 2 of the UN's Charter.
"The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia registers its strong protest against such panel discussion which is politically motivated with the clear intent to mislead international public opinion. The Permanent Mission considers this arrogant and disrespectful behavior as a serious interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which runs encounter to the principle of respect for sovereignty and non-interference as stipulated in Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations," read the statement.
According to Ms. Kem Monovithya, leading member of the permanent committee of the dissolved opposition party CNRP, the theme of the discussion was «Devolution of Democracy in Cambodia.»
Three guest speakers from Cambodia - Ms. Monovithya herself, Mr. Pa Ngoun Teang, founder and executive director of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, Mr. John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch - were presented in the discussion as eyewitnesses of the current situation in the country.
"With Cambodian National elections coming in June 2018, it is important to ensure that the fundamental rights of freedom of assembly, free association and of the press be upheld and that genuine competition in a multi-party democracy be seen as the necessity that it is," read the announcement of the panel discussion.
However, on Wednesday, in his speech to 16,118 garment workers from 14 factories in Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that there was no way that the already dissolved opposition party CNRP could be restored. And the talk with former CNRP members is also closed. According to the premier, once the CNRP was dissolved, its members became outlaw.
"Your uncle [I] just want to send a message that «YOU» [CNRP's members] are not banned from using your political rights. You should create new political party to compete [with other parties]. But, they mock your uncle [me] instead [...] don't expect that the already dissolved party could be restored. Wait and see, make a trace on a stone [in remembering of what I just said]," said the premier.
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