Re: "Long live democratic Cambodia!"

This is the racism of the Cambodian people. They can't accept that their
society too has diversity. They seem to think that people of different
ethnics such Vietnamese and Chinese are not welcome in Cambodia even though
their families were born and raised in Cambodia.
This is a pure racism. As you just read the message, they considered
themselves as nationalists. What kind of nationalists are they?
Self destruction and division?

"George Moore" wrote in message
news:b217d9bd.0308011047.4cf9bc39@posting.google.c om...
> www.phnompenhpost.com
>
> Vietnamese lose vote as race card played
>
> Picture [An ethnic Vietnamese woman is led away from a polling booth
> in Kandal province after being prevented from voting by the mob behind
> her]
>
> By Michael Coren and Chea Chou
>
> A mob of Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) supporters blocked as many as 100
> ethnic Vietnamese from voting at Wat Champa in Kandal Province on July
> 27. District security officials, outnumbered and unwilling to
> intervene, stood by as demonstrators stole identification cards and
> expelled the Vietnamese from the polling station.
>
> Many of the would-be voters fled in terror. A few, after struggling
> with the hostile crowd, gave up casting their ballots. Hapless
> election officials could only escort harried residents from the crowd
> of more than 70 people, mostly young men.
>
> "I was finding my name in the list when they came and grabbed away my
> voting card," said Gvian Yiang Chourng, who lives in the nearby ethnic
> Vietnamese village of Chrouy Ampul. "I was born here in Cambodia, and
> my grandparents as well. Why can't I vote?"
>
> The chief of the village, Guien Trong Vay, 77, said it was the first
> time in ten years he had not voted. He estimated that just ten out of
> more than 100 registered to vote in the village had successfully cast
> their ballot.
>
> "I went to vote at 8 a.m.," he said. "I tried to go but I was blocked.
> They grabbed me by my neck."
>
> SRP officials who arrived on the scene were unapologetic.
>
> "We cannot blame these young people," said Chan Cheng, Kandal
> province's leading SRP candidate and a member of the steering
> committee. "They are the real nationalists in Cambodia. That's what
> Cambodian people should do. We should not be afraid of doing the right
> thing for the country."
>
> Opposition leader Sam Rainsy denied any association with the
> demonstration and claimed that "anyone can pretend to be SRP
> supporters."
>
> "The SRP wants to distance itself from this demonstration," Rainsy
> said shortly after the incident. "We cannot be associated in any way.
> We have to denounce violence to prevent violence."
>
> He said he had ordered an investigation, but failed to explain why
> several demonstrators later arrived at party headquarters on election
> day brandishing as many as 30 voting cards and identification
> documents taken from Vietnamese residents in Kandal. Witnesses said no
> action was taken against them.
>
> Police were guarding the polling station claimed National Election
> Committee (NEC) rules mandating buffer zones meant they were unable to
> act. District governor, Sot Ya, standing at the entrance to the
> station, told the Post that if he sent in more security, "someone will
> accuse me of threatening people".
>
> Although several ID cards were confiscated by police guarding the
> station, and six demonstrators briefly detained, the mob was not
> deterred. They were finally dispersed after two heavily armed columns
> of gendarmerie arrived from the Ministry of Interior at the request of
> the NEC. By that time, however, voting had nearly closed.
>
> Critics
>
> International observers repeatedly cited the SRP and Funcinpec for
> inflammatory rhetoric against ethnic minorities. ANFREL accused them
> of "antagonism against ... Vietnamese" contrary to "the spirit of
> democracy". The International Republican Institute also noted their
> "irresponsible use of rhetoric inciting ethnic tensions".
>
> Both Funcinpec and the SRP maintain that officials from the ruling
> Cambodian People's Party (CPP) stacked voter lists with Vietnamese
> citizens. Election monitors reported that the parties campaigned on
> the promise to deport illegal Vietnamese.
>
> Koul Panha, the head of election monitoring NGO Comfrel, said the
> charges were a long political tradition of playing on fears about
> ethnic Vietnamese.
>
> "During the election campaign, the media use a lot of aggressive words
> to campaign against Vietnamese in Cambodia, especially the opposition
> and Funcinpec media," said Panha. "It has been like this for a long
> time."
>
> In the 1993 national election, former Foreign Minister Prince Norodom
> Sirivudh, currently the Funcinpec front-runner for Kandal province,
> told the Post his party ran on an anti-Vietnamese platform, so, "of
> course we won".
>
> Racial violence also marred the 1998 election period in Phnom Penh.
> Four Vietnamese were beaten and killed, two in front of Funcinpec's
> headquarters.
>
> To deflect charges of racism, both parties portray the issue of
> Vietnamese immigrants as historical and political rather than racial.
> Many Khmer consider the ethnic Vietnamese as illegal residents,
> regardless of their lineage.
>
> Estimates of how many ethnic Vietnamese live in Cambodia vary because
> official figures were withheld. Authorities did not release figures in
> the 1998 census for questions such as 'birthplace' and 'mother
> tongue', leaving the official number of ethnic Vietnamese in doubt.
>
> Rainsy has pegged the number at "more than 1 million", or roughly 10
> percent of the population. Others claim it is as high as two million,
> while the government insists it is only 100,000.
>
> Voting rights
>
> Whatever the figure, election monitoring organizations reported that
> both the SRP and Funcinpec mounted campaigns to disqualify voters with
> Vietnamese backgrounds. Comfrel said party officials filed 94
> complaints with the NEC to remove more than 15,000 ethnic Vietnamese
> from voter roles. The NEC rejected most of the complaints.
>
> The controversy centers on what makes a Cambodian citizen.
>
> "There is no formalized naturalization process," said Dominic Cardy of
> the National Democratic Institute (NDI). "It ends up becoming a
> political football. I hope whoever wins the election takes it upon
> themselves to make it clear who is Cambodian."
>
> He said the confusion created opportunities for politicians to "whip
> up ethnic prejudices".
>
> The Law of Nationality defines who qualifies as a citizen. For
> example, any child born to a parent of "Khmer nationality/citizenship"
> may claim citizenship, as may anyone born in Cambodia whose parents
> are "living legally in the Kingdom".
>
> But it is not clear what constitutes legal residence. There are
> numerous inconsistencies in the application of the law. NDI attempted
> to hold a conference on the matter this year, but participants refused
> to attend citing political concerns.
>
> "It's a big issue, and no one wants to talk about it," said Cardy.
>
> But SRP supporters at Wat Champa in Kandal on election day were eager
> to weigh in on why ethnic Vietnamese were unfit to vote.
>
> "A lot of Vietnamese want to interfere in Cambodian politics," said
> Bun, 42. "We will not allow this to happen. If we don't block them,
> the CPP will win."
>
> As time ran out on the 3 p.m. voting deadline at Wat Champa, shouts
> went up.
>
> "We cheer because it's time to close the ballot box," said Hang
> Makara, 23. "Our job is done. We are happy since we can block these
> Vietnamese. We want justice in that."
>
> Amid the clapping, a boy cried, "Long live democratic Cambodia!"
>
> Phnom Penh Post, Issue 12/16, August 1 - 14, 2003
> © Michael Hayes, 2003. All rights revert to authors and artists on
> publication.
> For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact
> Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
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