Whitman to monitor Cambodia elections

June 24, 2003

She's been the governor of New Jersey and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush.

Now Christie Whitman has a new assignment: election monitor in Cambodia.

Whitman will lead a delegation of independent observers to watch over the politically troubled nation's parliamentary elections July 27.

The International Republican Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., and chaired by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), announced yesterday that it has given Whitman the assignment. McCain monitored Cambodia's first democratic elections in 1993.

Human rights groups have reported that this year's election season has already been marred by intimidation, violence and murder of opponents of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which also dominates the nation's broadcast media.

Whitman announced her resignation from the EPA last month after a rocky 2 1/2-year tenure, saying she wanted to spend more time with her husband, John, on their farm in New Jersey. Whitman, who finishes her work in Washington on June 27, was unavailable for comment yesterday, her office said.

Thayer Scott, a spokesman for McCain's group, said Whitman will spend about a week in Cambodia. He said the group has not finished naming the rest of the team. In the past, the organization has enlisted U.S. election officials, congressional aides, campaign aides and even members of Congress as observers. Whitman will oversee the operation and issue a report on the fairness of the election.

"She'll observe and visit some polling stations, some facilities. She'll certainly get on the ground and see how things are going," Scott said. "We're pretty happy that someone of Whitman's stature has put the time and effort into this."

The State Department has provided $8.5 million in election aid to Cambodia, some of which is funding the International Republican Institute's efforts.

In a visit last week to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with opposition leaders before official talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen. Later, Powell said he talked to Sen about "the need for parties to have access to the media and all the other instruments of free, open and fair elections."

Although McCain's group receives federal funding, it is not an arm of the federal government, nor does it take positions on U.S. foreign policy. Like the National Democratic Institute, which has ties to Democrats, it seeks to provide impartial observers in emerging democracies throughout the world.

The United Nations sponsored Cambodia's first democratic elections in 1993 after the nation suffered through nearly two decades of civil war. Hun Sen staged a coup in 1997 and remained in power after the 1998 legislative elections, which independent observers said were fraught with fraud and violence.

This year, 6.2 million people are expected to vote in the elections to choose a new legislature, which will then appoint a government to run the country for the next five years.