Interior minister Sar Kheng chairs a meeting on election security on Monday. INTERIOR MINISTRY
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng instructed all members of the police force and civil servants to maintain their neutrality and protect all legal political activities and candidates of all political parties during the campaigning for the upcoming commune council election while emphasising that government officials must not use state resources for political activities.
He said that these rules were in place to ensure that the elections will be free, fair and just according to the principles of democracy and without any threats, intimidation or violence taking place.
Sar Kheng made the remarks at a meeting to disseminate inter-institutional plans regarding the review of the voter list and other work related to elections attended by national and sub-national officials via video conference on March 28.
He said that there are many locations that the police must secure and protect during the election process, but due to an inadequate number of police officers and military personnel available for the duties he was permitting village security guards to assume some of these support roles to maintain security for the elections.
He said that the many elections that Cambodia has successfully organised over the years demonstrated the Kingdom’s political will and its commitment to good governance, which would only increase with the continuation of the policy of decentralisation and wider distribution of authority and responsibilities at the grassroots level.
Sar Kheng said that decentralisation and a larger role for local authorities would help with strengthening Cambodia’s multi-party liberal democracy, increase the nation’s respect for human rights, strengthen the rule of law and boost national development.
“The purpose of the Permanent Security Command for Elections is to take action to prevent, tackle and combat every trick that might be used in any attempt to destroy or disrupt the electoral process in all forms.
“We will ensure a quiet and neutral political atmosphere so that the elections take place in a free and fair manner according to the principles of democracy – without threats, intimidation or violence and a guarantee of the full safety and security of all parties involved with total equality,” he said.
Minister of National Defence Tea Banh – who also attended the meeting – said that it was important to prepare for the necessary tasks in the run up to the commune council elections this year and for other elections in the future.
He added that the capital and provincial unity commands were ready to go to polling stations or other relevant locations to provide security during the election. He urged that training be carried out for the police and military forces on duty for the election to ensure total compliance with the law and avert any lawsuits, which can often happen as part of the election process.
“It is very necessary that the officers have a deep understanding of all aspects of the law and decrees in order to properly implement them. We have seen incidents in the past and there have been lawsuits so we must be certain to comply with the law fully,” he said.
National Election Committee (NEC) Chairman Prach Chan said that the interior ministry and defence ministry had established an inter-institutional plan for reviewing the voter list and registrations to be used for the upcoming election this year and the elections in 2023 and 2028.
He added that during this period, these three institutions have a lot of work to do to uphold the constitutionally-mandated multi-party liberal democracy in Cambodia by guaranteeing safe, secure, non-threatening, non-intimidating, non-partisan and non-violent elections.
“We aim to maintain security, safety, political stability and a good pre-election environment during and after the national and sub-national elections,” he said.
