Cambodia

In Cambodia, the International Republican Institute (IRI) provides training to major political parties, and supports the Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC), which promotes greater activism by youth in their communities and in the political process. IRI also supports the development of independent media through Voice of Democracy (VoD) radio network and 93.5FM. which promotes independent free media.

Political Party Programming

IRI’s training program for political parties focuses on internal party democracy, party youth wings and policy development. IRI promotes the decentralization of internal party structures to make political parties more responsive to their members. In September 2007, with IRI’s support, the Sam Rainsy Party completed an internal reform initiative that culminated in Cambodia’s first-ever internal democratic election to choose national party leaders. IRI has since begun working with other Cambodian parties to encourage them to adopt similar structural changes to decentralize power and decision-making to grassroots leaders and activists.

IRI has been conducting political party training in Cambodia since 1992. IRI has continually provided political training and worked to foster democratic principles in Cambodia since then.

Public Opinion Research

Since January 2004, IRI has sponsored national surveys of Cambodian public opinion. The surveys measure attitudes toward democracy, gauge party and leadership approval and identify the most pressing issues facing Cambodia as identified by the citizens.

Political parties used results from the January 2007 poll to develop party platforms and develop better messages in advance of the April Commune Council elections. Future polls will help the parties better address issues important to the Cambodian public as the parties campaign for the July 2008 National Assembly elections.

Youth Leadership Development

IRI supports the YCC, a coalition of five major student and youth organizations, whose goal is not only to educate, but to encourage responsible civic action and to equip young people to be active participants in civil society. YCC’s programs focus on conducting training seminars and encouraging advocacy.

As a creative new way to reach more youth in Cambodia, IRI conducts blogging trainings. Each session focuses on using simple and existing technology to exchange ideas, report on provincial government activities and track the success of the YCC Youth Network. While access to the Internet is still limited in Cambodia, the training also involves discussions on how to increase awareness about blogs through newspaper coverage and radio. IRI’s blogging program was featured in an edition of Wired Magazine, Blogs Taking Off in Cambodia.

Several times each year, IRI organizes a youth festival in a provincial town to motivate and teach young people about the impact they can have on their government and society. IRI’s first festival in Battambang focused on youth leadership, highlighting the success of youth in drawing attention to the arrest of human rights activists, resulting in their eventual release. Subsequent youth festivals were held in Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng, and Takeo provinces.

Independent Media

The VoD is the only locally-run and completely independent source of news on Cambodian radio. VoD programming is aired two hours daily on five radio stations across the country. The hour-long News Bulletin provides updates daily and a variety of other programs explore current issues in-depth. IRI has supported the VoD since its creation and provides technical expertise along with funding. VoD Director Pa Nguon Teang, was among the activists arrested and imprisoned in January 2006 on defamation charges.

Commune Councils

The 2002 commune council elections were the first opportunity for Cambodians to elect their local leadership. These elections, though marred by violence, proved a starting point for the decentralization of Cambodia's government.

In 2004, IRI created an innovative program to train newly elected leaders. Commune Councils: A Democratic Approach to Local Governance taught commune councils principles of transparency, decentralization, participatory government and accountability.

Citizens’ Rights Advocacy

In October 2002, IRI supported the launch of Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR). Led by Kem Sokha, former head of the National Assembly Human Rights Commission, CCHR helped to build a democratic and tolerant society by empowering citizens through human rights education and democracy promotion. CCHR’s programs broadly supported participation in political life and uncensored political expression.

At the request of communities, CCHR arranged public forums throughout Cambodia to give all citizens the opportunity to address their elected local and national officials. Topics frequently discussed include local issues, corruption and political intimidation. On December 31, 2005, CCHR's President Kem Sokha and VoD Director Pa Nguon Teang (along with three other prominent human rights activists) were arrested and imprisoned on defamation charges. After a combined domestic grassroots and international response drew attention to the arrests, the activists were released in mid-January 2006.

In May 2007, VoD was spun off from CCHR into a separate organization. Now led by Ou Virak, CCHR continues to be a distinctive and aggressive advocate for human rights in Cambodia.

To help victims of illegal land grabs in the rural northeast and southwest Cambodia, IRI worked with the Cambodian Legal Education Center (CLEC), a local nongovernmental organization with a strong record promoting legal reform and freedom of expression. IRI’s work with CLEC helped victims effectively exercise their free speech rights and stand up against unlawful evictions.

In May 1993, the United Nations sponsored Cambodia’s first parliamentary elections, providing hope for an end to the suffering initiated by the regime of Pol Pot in the 1970s and continuing with the occupation by Vietnam.

In 1993 the royalist Funcinpec party (FCP) received a plurality of votes, but ultimately formed a coalition with the Cambodian Peoples’ Party (CPP) under threats of renewed national upheaval. Power sharing was lopsided, as the CPP maintained total control of provincial governments and key ministries. In 1997, CPP leader Hun Sen seized control of the government and continued his rule of the country.

In the 1998 parliamentary elections none of the parties garnered the required two-thirds majority needed to form a government. With the intervention of King Norodom Sihanouk and the international community, the post-election stalemate was broken when a coalition between CPP and FCP was formed in November 1998. The coalition placed Hun Sen solely in charge of the government. Sam Rainsy, former FCP finance minister under the 1993 government, who had been removed from office by Hun Sen, led the sole opposition party, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).

A key domestic political development in recent years has been the implementation of commune elections in February 2002. Despite high hopes for the elections, they were characterized by violence and implemented under a deeply flawed election framework.

In 2003, Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey Governor and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, led IRI’s election observation team for the third parliamentary elections since 1992. IRI deployed 15 teams to observe the final day of campaigning, the voting process and the vote count.

The long-ruling CPP won a plurality of votes, but failed to reach a majority. To prevent CPP from forcing one party into a coalition, the royalist FCP and the democratic opposition SRP joined to create the Alliance of Democrats (AD).

Despite months of prolonged negotiations with the CPP, the AD was dissolved in the summer of 2004, when Funcinpec assisted CPP in amending the Constitution to install a new government. FCP and CPP members voted for the creation of a joint government, without further discussion. As a result, all leadership and ministerial seats were assigned to CPP and FCP members. SRP does not currently hold any parliamentary committee positions or ministries.

The controversy surrounding the constitutional amendment destroyed the AD and the relationship between FCP and the SRP. SRP leader Sam Rainsy and human rights activist Kem Sokha were accused of defaming Prince Ranariddh following their criticism of the deal. Lawsuits were filed against both by FCP in an effort to remove Sam Rainsy’s immunity, which he held as an elected member of the National Assembly. In February of 2005, the National Assembly voted to remove Sam Rainsy’s immunity along with two other members of his party, one of which was arrested and subsequently tried in a military court where he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Sam Rainsy was forced to flee the country and remained abroad until he returned to Cambodia on February 10, 2006.

As Cambodians move forward, IRI’s work will continue to make political parties more representative, political rights more respected, youth more involved, and alternative opinions heard more widely. As the country opens to democratic practices the expectation of ordinary Cambodians are increasing and they are demanding their voices be heard.

Political Overview

Head of Government: Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodian Peoples' Party

Type of Government: parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy

Suffrage: universal, age 18

Elections Calendar

Program Overview

Focus of Program: political party development, public opinion research, youth leadership development, independent media

Funding Source: United States Agency for International Development