Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Group Calls for Overhaul of Repressive, Antiquated Prostitution Law

Posted: 30 Jul 2013 08:53 AM PDT

Burmese girls prepare for work at a massage parlor in the Chinese border town of Jiegao. (Photo: Getty Images)

RANGOON — A sex workers' rights group is calling on Burma's government to reform a 60-year-old prostitution law in order to decriminalize the practice, end harassment of sex workers and provide them with better health care access.

The Sex Workers in Myanmar Network (SWIM) called for an overhaul of the antiquated law during a two-day meeting in Rangoon, where some 80 sex workers from across Burma had gathered to learn about their rights, prevention of abuse and safe sex practices.

"Our current law has oppressed sex workers, not protected them. The government needs to reform this law," said Hnin Hnin Yu, SWIM's chairperson.

"We found that some sex workers were arrested at hotels after they provided sex services, or they were arrested on the street while officers pretended to be customers," she said.

Burma's Suppression of Prostitution Act 1949 provides punishments for sex work, soliciting or keeping brothels, making it one of most repressive laws on sex work in the region.

A 2012 UN study, said penalties for soliciting sex work in Burma "may include imprisonment for between one year and three years, and female sex workers may be detained in a 'prescribed center.'"

Burmese sex workers, the study found, "are subject to extortion, arrest and incarceration which is continual and systematic," adding that sex workers are also vulnerable to contracting HIV/Aids because of a "lack of access to safe workplaces and lack of access to services."

Burma has one of the highest HIV/Aids rates in Southeast Asia and SWIM called on the government to do more to protect sex workers' health and introduce better care for HIV-positive workers.

"Sex workers need medical treatment to protect their health and they have a right to be protected if they are being abused," said Hnin Hnin Yu.

Government health clinics only provide antiretroviral (ARV) medication to HIV-positive patients if they live in one place for an extended period of time, she said, explaining that HIV-positive sex workers often struggle to get treatment as their job requires them to frequently move to different parts of the country.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that less than 20 percent of HIV-positive sex workers in Burma are able receive ARV drugs.

SWIM was formed in 2011 and this week's workshop was co-sponsored by UNAIDS and Australian public health organization the Burnet Institute Myanmar. Several dozen civil society organizations also attended the event.

Hnin Hnin Yu urged the government and Burmese society to end discrimination of sex workers and recognize their rights, saying they are among the most vulnerable and poor women in the country.

"No one wants to be a sex worker unless they are hungry for food. Many women became sex workers because their families are going hungry," she said.

However, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun told Parliament earlier this month that the government was not planning to amend the Suppression of Prostitution Act.

He said authorities had prosecuted people in 1,956 prostitution cases in 2011, 3,226 cases in 2012 and 640 cases so far this year.

The minister was replying to questions by lawmaker San Thar Min, who has been advocating for an overhaul of the repressive law.

San Thar Min told participants during the workshop on Tuesday that she would keep pushing for an amendment of the act. "I will continue to address this issue. The people have the right to gain protection and right to health care," she said.

Fiber Fix Brings Burma’s Internet Back Up to Speed

Posted: 30 Jul 2013 08:38 AM PDT

A map of the subsea Internet cable SEA-ME-WE-3 and its landing points around the world. Burma is No. 21. (Photo: Creative Commons)

A problem with the on-land fiber optic cable near the Irrawaddy delta city of Pyapon was to blame for recent severely slowed Internet connections that left Burmese netizens gasping for bits of digital air for more than a week.

According to Myo Swe, chief engineer of the Information and Technology Department at Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), repairs were completed early Tuesday evening. Over the next two days, MPT will carry out additional tests to ensure that the Internet is back up to its regular speed.

MPT is currently the sole provider of telecommunications services in Burma.

Previous announcements from MPT had stated that the undersea fiber optic cable known as SEA-ME-WE-3, Burma's only undersea Internet link, was damaged off the coast of Irrawaddy Division on July 21. But international Internet engineers contacted by The Irrawaddy over the last couple of days said no outages were seen on the international cable, and on Tuesday MPT confirmed that the problem was located in the ground fiber cable 2.5 miles from Pyapon.

The MPT official said the state-owned company did not know how the cable was damaged, but once damaged it was only able to transmit 40 percent of its usual capacity.   Technicians and engineers from MPT carried out all of the repair work.

China Unicom and MPT recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring one more subsea Internet connection into Burma. Together they plan to build a link from the undersea fiber optic cable known as SEA-ME-WE-5 to Mandalay and up into China.

On the whole, Internet speeds in Burma remain relatively slow compared with connection rates worldwide. The Internet penetration rate for Burma in 2011 stood at less than 1 percent of the population, according to the OpenNet Initiative, although these rates perhaps do not fully account for all usage at local Internet cafes.

Burma’s Parliament Approves Anti-Corruption Bill

Posted: 30 Jul 2013 05:31 AM PDT

A session of Union Parliament in Burma's capital, Naypyidaw. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

Burma's Parliament has approved an anti-corruption bill, almost a year after it was first proposed and reviewed by the legislature.

The bill was approved with a slight majority of votes during the legislature's session on Friday, despite some objections from President Thein Sein, with 291 votes in support and 211 votes against.

Once ratified, the law will require all officials in the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government to declare their assets, and those found to be corrupt will be charged by an anti-corruption commission. The law will also require members of the anti-corruption commission to declare their assets, a provision opposed by the president.

"I agree with the MPs suggestion that the commissioners must declare their assets," Thein Nyunt, a lawmaker from the Lower House representing the New National Democracy Party, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

The declaration of assets was a subject of great debate among lawmakers last year, when a member of the country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) raised the proposal.

Burma is widely considered to be one of the world's most corrupt countries. Despite public outcry over corruption, bribery is often employed as a tool for securing key project tenders or winning legal battles.

"Our country's law enforcement must be effective—it is a priority," said Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the National Democratic Force. "Action should be taken regardless of race, religion or rank."

He said graft had deep roots in the government but became worse after the 1962 military coup.

"It is important to change the people's mindset and create an environment where people can be freed from bribery," he said.

Last month, Burma's Vice President Sai Mauk Kham called for greater anti-corruption efforts during a workshop in Naypyidaw to promote transparency.

"Much needs to be done to actually implement the law," said Phone Myint Aung, a lawmaker from the Upper House.

According to the 2008 Constitution, lawmakers are not required to follow the president's recommendations when approving a bill.

Floods in Karen State Displace More Than 7,000

Posted: 30 Jul 2013 02:59 AM PDT

Hlaing Bwe town in Karen State was severely flooded on Monday. (Photo: Nandakyawthu Soe / Facebook)

Heavy rains have caused flooding along the Salween River in southern Burma's Karen State and more than 7,000 people have evacuated to higher ground, local officials said on Monday.

Authorities in Hpa-an and Myawaddy districts said the river had burst its banks and inundated large parts of Hpa-an, Hlaing Bwe, Kyar Inn Seik Kyi, Myawaddy, Paing Kyone and Kyondo townships.

About 30 relief camps have been set up on higher ground in order to provide shelter to 7,795 people whose homes have been flooded, according to officials.

Karen State Social Affairs Minister Chit Hlaing said water levels in the Salween had risen rapidly and passed danger levels this weekend. "The water level now is at over 850 cm and has gone beyond the danger mark," he told The Irrawaddy.

"We are currently taking care of flood victims with all our means. We have more than 10 million kyat [US$ 10,000] leftover funds from last year's donations. We provide each of them with a small amount of rice and egg rations. We have also opened clinics in the camps to care for their health," Chit Hlaing said.

From Saturday to Sunday, water levels in the Salween River rose rapidly, increasing with 49 cm in just 24 hours, government newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported, adding that on Sunday water level were already 4 cm above danger levels.

The Meteorology and Hydrology Department warned that water levels would continue to rise until Tuesday, as heavy rains continue.

On Monday night, new 24-hour rainfall records were set in Kawkareik Township, Karen State, and in Monghsat Township, Shan State, which received 10.94 inches and 5.04 inches of rain, respectively, the newspaper reported.

The heavy rain and flooding have reportedly resulted in closure of some schools in Hpa-an Township and landslides along the roads through the Dawna mountain range, which connect the towns of Myawaddy and Kawkareik.

"We are now taking necessary measures to clear the road, which was blocked by landslides, while also taking care of food for flood victims in our area," said Tint Wai Thon, the administrator of Myawaddy District on the Burma-Thailand border, where nine camps have been established.

In the meantime, thousands of people in Thai border town Mae Sot, located opposite Myawaddy, have been evacuated due to flooding of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River.

Thai newspaper The Nation reported that flooding in Mae Sot district was the worst in 20 years. It said Burma-Thailand border trade in the area had been halted for four days, leading to a loss of business worth US$40 million.

Farmers’ Efforts to File Case against Ex-Aide of Military Strongman Denied

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:47 PM PDT

Maj-Gen Soe Shein, third left, holds the arm of Snr-Gen Than Shwe in Shanghai in 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

Local authorities in Naypyidaw's Lewe Township have yet to open a legal case against a general who allegedly threatened a group of farmers at gunpoint early this month, according to the would-be plaintiffs.

Maj-Gen Soe Shein—once the personal assistant to Burma's former military supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe and currently serving at the Ministry of Defense—arrived at farmland in the village of Intaingtha in Lewe on July 5 and demanded that farmers there leave immediately.

"He aimed his pistol at us and said he would shoot if we didn't leave the farmland right away," Aung Than Oo, a farmer working at the time the general made the threat, told The Irrawaddy. "So, two of my workers and I got scared and ran. We even forgot to grab our rice packs."

The farmers later went to the local police station in Intaingtha but were denied the opportunity to file a case and were told to instead submit it directly to the township court, according to another farmer who accompanied them. The court also refused to take the complaint and asked the men to go to the township police station, where they faced another rejection, he said.

"We tried to file the case at the local police station for two days but were not successful," the farmer said. "We went to the court but were not allowed to do so because we didn't have any authorized letter. We even went to the office of the national police chief located in Naypyidaw, which didn't do anything and [authorities] only recommended that we go back to the Lewe police station."

Sandar Min, a member of the Lower House of Parliament from Naypyidaw's Zabuthiri Township, told The Irrawaddy that the farmers had come to see her after their attempt to file a case against Soe Shein had failed. The parliamentarian said she drafted a complaint letter and suggested that the accusers send it to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of Burma's armed forces.

"Since they were denied by police stations, I asked them to submit a complaint letter to Min Aung Hlaing for further action," said Sandar Min, adding that if no action was taken within two weeks, she would continue to work on the case.

On July 11, Soe Shein told the Myanmar Times newspaper that he had repeatedly warned farmers not to cultivate his land.

"I'm always warning them not to [cultivate the land]," he told the Myanmar Times. "I own that land officially. But they kept doing it so we wanted to intimidate them a little bit."

Aung Than Oo contends that the land in dispute, where the farmers have worked for about 20 years, belongs to him and others. Personal aides of Soe Shein came and marked the land months ago and told the farmers cultivating it that the general would buy it, he said.

"They said they would give 150,000 kyat [US$150] per acre for my land and 300,000 [kyat] per acre for the land next to mine," recalled Aung Than Oo. "They also said we can ask for more when Soe Shein comes. So, we agreed and a date was set in June for selling our land but they never showed up on that day. Instead, they came later and planted plum trees on it without our knowledge."

He added that although farmers have worked the land for generations, they did not have any evidence to prove their ownership.

Burma’s Press Council to Submit Bill to Lower House

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:37 PM PDT

Journals for sale in Rangoon. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burma's interim Press Council will try to bypass the government and submit its press bill directly to Parliament, following uneasy negotiations over the bill with the Ministry of Information.

Press Council member Zaw Thet Htwe said arrangements were being made to submit the bill during the current Parliament session with the help of an acting lawmaker.

The Press Council, an interim body comprised mostly of Burmese journalists and some government-appointed members, met last Wednesday in Naypyidaw with officials from the Ministry of Information and lawmakers from the Lower House's committee on sports, culture and public relations development. They discussed the bill, which aims to define reporters' rights, promote media ethics and boost overall press freedom for journalists and journal publishers.

"We mainly discussed the 17 points from the media bill, drafted by us, that the Ministry of Information disagrees with," Zaw Thet Htwe, a sports journalist, told The Irrawaddy. "Because the Ministry of Information doesn't agree with those points, it will not submit the bill to the Lower House. So we decided to submit the bill via a certain lawmaker or certain committee."

He declined to specify which lawmaker or committee would assist the Press Council, but said the 17 points under contention would soon be announced to the public.

Ye Htut, the deputy minister of information and President Thein Sein's spokesman, could not be reached for comment. In recent weeks he has said that 17 points of the Press Council's bill failed to meet international standards and that without amendments, the ministry would not be able to submit the bill to the Lower House for consideration.

Also on Wednesday, prior to the meeting with ministry officials, members of the Press council reportedly met with the Upper House's deputy speaker and lawmakers from the bill committee.

Parliament is also considering another media bill, known as the Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill, which focuses on Burma's publishing industry. The bill was passed by the Lower House but has been criticized by press freedom watchdogs because it grants the ministry broad powers to issue and revoke publication licenses.

Press Council members have threatened to resign if the Upper House passes the publishing bill in its current form. In the meeting last week in Naypyidaw, they reportedly asked ministry officials to amend a provision in the bill that calls for the creation of a "registration officer" in the ministry who controls licensing.

Palaung Rebels Set for Peace Talks With Government

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:27 PM PDT

TNLA soldiers are seen on the frontlines in this photo posted on July 7, 2013. (Photo: TNLA / Facebook)

A rebel group representing the minority ethnic Palaung in northern Shan State says it will hold peace talks with the government this week.

The Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), the political wing of a rebel armed group known as the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), will meet with the government's chief peace negotiator, Minister Aung Min from the President's Office, on Wednesday in Shan State's Muse Township.

"This is our first time meeting since we had informal talks in November 2012," Mai Aung Ko, a spokesman for the group, told The Irrawaddy on Monday, adding that PSLF general secretary Lt-Col Mai Phone Kyaw would lead the rebel group's delegation. "We expect to continue holding dialogues to work toward genuine peace."

The peace talks follow renewed clashes between the TNLA and government troops in northern Shan State last week.

The director of the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), Min Zaw Oo, declined to comment on the upcoming talks with the PSLF. "We cannot say anything yet because our MPC has not yet released a press statement," he said.

A detailed agenda of the meeting has not yet been revealed, but drug eradication efforts will likely be raised. "We will discuss how to collaborate for the anti-opium campaign," Mai Aung Ko said.

The TNLA has been engaged in drug eradication efforts in the east Burma state by destroying opium fields. Burma is the world's second-largest producer of opium after Afghanistan.

The Palaung army is about 1,300 soldiers strong and has been engaged in guerilla warfare against the government for decades. It is believed to have an alliance with the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), which is connected to the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N).

Since early last year, hundreds of clashes have been reported between the TNLA and government troops. In June, clashes between both sides displaced several thousands of residents in Namkham, Mongtong and Kutkai townships.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, the PSLF and the TNLA said other leaders representing the Kachin, Karen, Mon, Shan and Wa ethnic minority groups would join the peace talks this week as observers. The statement said the chief minister of Shan State would attend the meeting, along with officials from rebel armed groups and the government military.

Burma Calling Out for Indonesia’s Telkom

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:21 PM PDT

A woman waits for customers at a "public call office" in Yangon on May 27, 2012. Just a few million out of Myanmar's 50-plus million population have mobile phones and access to an as-yet extremely limited system. (Photo: Reuters)

JAKARTA — Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Indonesia's biggest telecommunication company, has won a tender to manage Burma's international networks.

"The trust given by the Myanmar government is the result of our team's hard work on the ground in Myanmar. This will be an opportunity to show Telkom can be aligned with other big international operators," Arief Yahya, president director of Indonesia's state-controlled Telkom, said in a statement on Friday.

Telkom has been tasked with modernizing Burma's information and communications technology facilities following years of neglect during a period of military government that attracted international sanctions.

Arief said Burma, which is in the process of economic liberalization, would provide business opportunities, which Telkom was seeking to tap into by opening a representative office in the country.

"This proves Telkom's seriousness in getting a foothold in Myanmar's emerging market," Arief said.

In April, Telkom missed out on two telecom licenses after Burma's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology shortlisted 12 bidders. Telkom was not on the list.

Telkom's expansion into Burma follows a call by State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan last year for companies under his watch to aggressively pursue opportunities in the fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations member.

Cement-maker Semen Indonesia is another company that has heeded the call, setting aside US$200 million to buy a plant.

Telkom, via Telekom Internasional, a subsidiary that handles the company's business overseas, has expanded into Hong Kong, East Timor, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.

It has also set its sights on markets elsewhere in Asia, and in the Middle East.

In Hong Kong, Telkom offers "Kartu As 2 in 1," a customized SIM product launched via Telkom Internasional Hong Kong last October. The SIM card contains both Indonesian and Hong Kong numbers.

According to Hong Kong's 2011 census, there were 137,403 Indonesians, 1.9 percent of the population, living in the territory.

In East Timor, Telkom is investing $50 million to establish GSM and 3G telecommunications operations.

Last year the company secured a license to run telephony services for three years in the country.

Telkom is seeking a 60 percent market share in East Timor.

In Australia, Telkom is looking to enter the call center outsourcing business, while in Malaysia, it has established subsidiary Telekomunikasi Indonesia International.

The company was officially incorporated on July 2, according to Telkom's recent unaudited financial statement.

Telkom has long had a working relationship with Singapore's SingTel. The cooperation is an extension of the joint venture in Indonesia via Telkomsel, Indonesia's biggest mobile phone operator, which is 65 percent owned by Telkom and 35 percent by SingTel.

Telkom reported a profit increase of 13 percent, to Rp 10.1 trillion ($986 billion), in the first half as its business expanded and revenue climbed.

The Bandung-based company posted a 9.4 percent increase in revenue to Rp 40.2 trillion in the first semester.

Shares in Telkom fell 2.2 percent to Rp 11,400 in Monday trading in Jakarta.

This article was cross-posted from The Jakarta Globe.

Indonesians Angered over Hard-Line Ramadan Raids

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:49 PM PDT

A member of the Islamic Defenders Front hardline Muslim group stands guard while other members hold a mass prayer during a pro-Palestinian rally outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta. (Photo: Reuters)

JAKARTA — The head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization called Monday for the disbanding of a hard-line Islamic group after a pregnant woman was killed in a car accident during illegal raids to curb prostitution during the holy month of Ramadan.

The Islamic Defenders Front, known by its Indonesia acronym FPI, has a long record of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies and attacking rival religious groups.

"Their attitude does not reflect the teachings of Islam," said Aqil Siradj, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Muslim organization. "We called on the government to disband the group that did this vandalizing."

He said he regretted that the government has remained silent as hard-line groups shuttered Christian churches, attacked their worshippers and torched Ahmadiyah and Shiites mosques, which they consider heretical.

The latest incident occurred July 18 in Central Java's Kendal town. About 50 FPI supporters attempted to raid an area they believed was allowing prostitution. While fleeing the scene to escape an angry mob of local residents after vandalizing businesses, one of their vehicles hit a couple on a motorbike, killing a pregnant woman and injuring her husband.

In a separate raid, supporters of the group vandalized a liquor store in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province in eastern Indonesia.

Even though arrests have been made in both cases, it has thrust Indonesia's weak law enforcement under the spotlight and sparked anger online and in local media, with many denouncing the group.

"My position is very clear, we will not forgive any form of intolerance," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a rare condemnation last week. "This has to be prevented so that no other organization, including the FPI, engage in any more violence."

The hard-liner group responded by releasing a statement calling Yudhoyono a "loser" and a "disgrace to Muslims." Two days later amid growing pressure, its leader, Riziek Shihab, released an apology for the accident and pledged that the group would expel any member who engages in violence.

Prominent rights activist Hendardi from Setara Institute, a watchdog for interfaith tolerance, said Monday that the controversy raises further questions about the commitment of the National Police, whose leaders have repeatedly vowed to crack down on raids carried out by the group.

"It seems that the police are not serious and there's a reluctance to take legal action against FPI," said Hendardi, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

An online petition calling for FPI to be disbanded had been signed by more than 41,000 people on Monday.

However, police spokesman Rianto said authorities were not authorized to do so.

Indonesia, home for 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other country in the world but is secular with a history of religious tolerance. In recent years, however, an extremist fringe has grown louder.

Black Waves of Oil Washing onto Thai Resort Beach

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:40 PM PDT

Thai soldiers in white biohazard suits take part in a clean-up operation at Ao Prao Beach on Koh Samet, Rayong, on July 29, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha)

BANGKOK — Streaks of crude oil marred the beach on a popular tourist island in Thailand's eastern sea despite attempts to clean up a spill from a leaking pipeline, officials said.

Tourists were warned to stay away as black waves left inky globs on Samet Island's once-serene white beaches Monday while hundreds of workers in white jumpsuits labored to scrape the sand clean and remove oil from the water.

Oily streaks about 300 meters wide marred the shore of Prao Bay on the island that is one of the most popular beach destinations for Thai and foreign tourists in the Gulf of Thailand, Rayong Deputy Gov. Supeepat Chongpanish said.

He said authorities closed the bay as 300 workers attempted to remove the oil from the white beach and the water.

"The top priorities right now are to get rid of the oil on the sand and the seawater, and to make sure the spill doesn't spread to other shores," Supeepat said. "This is a very beautiful, white, sandy beach, so we want to make the spill go away as soon as possible."

About 50 tons of oil spilled into the sea off Rayong province on Saturday morning from a leak in the pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical Plc, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company PTT Plc.

It is the fourth major oil spill in the country's history, Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal said.

Provincial authorities declared the nearby area a disaster zone, and those affected will receive immediate assistance.

"The black waves started rolling in since last night and by the morning the beach was all tainted with oil," said Kevin Wikul, the assistant front desk officer at a resort in Prao Bay. He added that some guests requested early check-outs Monday.

The company said it detected a leak when crude oil from a tanker moored offshore was being transferred to the pipeline, 20 kilometers from a refinery in Map Ta Phut, one of the largest industrial estates in Southeast Asia.

The company said in a statement that it has flown in oil spill management experts and a plane from Singapore to remove the crude oil. Thai navy vessels also joined the cleanup efforts.

Authorities said it would take some time to assess the environmental damage.

"The spill is definitely having an impact on the environment, but we have not detected any deaths of marine animals yet at this point," provincial Gov. Wichit Chatphaisit said. "PTT will have to take responsibility for the damage this has caused."

He said pollution control department officials had expressed concern about the effects of the chemical used to clean up the spill.

PTTGC apologized and said the cleanup will likely be completed within three days.

"We acknowledge this incident has damaged our reputation and we will not let it happen again," CEO Anon Sirisaengtaksin told a news conference.

In 2009, another PTT subsidiary was involved in the Montara oil spill, one of Australia's worst oil disasters, in the Timor Sea off western Australia.

Cambodia Election Challenge Raises Fears

Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party makes a point as he addresses reporters at his party’s headquarters in Phnom Penh. His party on Monday rejected election results given by the government. (Photo: Reuters / Pring Samrang)

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s opposition leader rejected the results of a weekend election showing a win for the long-time ruling party, raising fears of post-poll instability and setting the stage for a new showdown with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The challenge by opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who returned from exile last week to campaign for his Cambodia National Rescue Party, comes despite his party’s relative success in Sunday’s polling, in which the opposition made its biggest gains in years.

Provisional results from Sunday’s voting showed the opposition capturing 55 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won 68 seats, or a majority of 55 percent.

Rainsy — who had earlier vowed mass protests if the voters’ will was denied — called for an independent investigation into allegations that as many as a million people may have been deprived of their right to vote, among other irregularities.

He said the challenge was not a bargaining chip to get into government but instead a sign that his party was "interested in rendering justice to the Cambodian people to ensure that the will of the Cambodian people not be distorted or reversed."

The rejection of the results raised the specter that Cambodia might return to a previous pattern of post-election instability that has several times led to political gridlock and turned violent.

If the opposition party boycotts the assembly, it may be impossible for Hun Sen to legally form a government.

Rainsy did not specifically threaten a boycott, but election experts pointed out that the constitution says a quorum of 120 assembly members is needed to open a parliamentary session, raising the possibility that an opposition boycott could leave the country without a fully functioning government.

Cambodia faced a similar situation most recently after its 2003 election, when Hun Sen’s party failed to win enough seats to legally form a government on its own. The deadlock was broken only after 11 months and violence in the streets. But Hun Sen faced a divided opposition then, while his opponents this time are united.

Other polls in recent decades have been followed by confrontations and violence.

After his party ran second in UN-sponsored elections of 1993 — the culmination of a process to end decades of civil war after the Khmer Rouge’s murderous 1970s regime — Hun Sen insisted on being named co-prime minister. He then ousted his partner in government four years later in a bloody coup.

Recent years’ elections have mostly had a peaceful aftermath because Hun Sen’s party, which controls most levers of power, won decisively over a divided opposition. But the strong showing of the more-united opposition this year may embolden Rainsy and his allies.

Hun Sen has not spoken publicly since the election. At 60, he has a reputation as a wily survivor, starting with his defection from the Khmer Rouge to Vietnam, which after invading to oust the radical regime installed him first as foreign minister and later as prime minister.

Rainsy, 64, has long been the thorn in Hun Sen’s side. He spent the Khmer Rouge years in France and served as finance minister in the government elected in 1993, but was kicked out from his party and his post for his outspoken anti-corruption stand.

He founded his own party in 1995, and two years later Rainsy narrowly escaped being killed in a grenade attack on a rally he was leading.

Rainsy said shortly after polls opened Sunday that his party would wait before deciding what to do about the alleged irregularities, but added that if it was clear the voters’ will was being denied, "definitely, there will be protests."

The opposition’s challenge could be mostly bluster. Hun Sen’s party dominates nearly all the state bureaucracy and the courts, which will almost certainly affirm the CPP victory. It was unclear what the opposition would do if its complaints were not sustained.

On Monday, the US called for a probe into irregularities into the election.

"We are concerned by numerous reported irregularities in the electoral process," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington. "We have consistently called on the Royal Government of Cambodia to address systematic flaws — systemic flaws such as problems in the voter registry and unequal access to the media. We call for a transparent and full investigation of all credible reports of irregularities."

The United States and other countries had expressed doubts before the election about its fairness, but are unlikely to pursue the point with enthusiasm. They have accepted results of past elections with much more open intimidation and violence, and will likely regard this year’s results as a major step forward.

The opposition could nonetheless cause a lot of mischief by refusing to take its seats. Hun Sen could seek to open parliament through a legal loophole, though such a move would support charges of unfairness and autocratic behavior.

He could also simply try to wait out his opponent as head of a caretaker government. The position would be awkward, but also preserve the status quo, which leaves him in power.

Rainsy’s party and nonpartisan groups charged that the ruling party used the machinery of government and security to reward or pressure voters. They also said that voter registration procedures were badly flawed, possibly leaving more than 1 million people disenfranchised.

The combined opposition had held just 29 seats in the last assembly. It was a precarious foothold — they were kicked out on highly technical grounds by their ruling party colleagues just before campaigning began.

But with many younger voters participating in this election, the opposition apparently gained seats with their support, analysts said.

"The run-up to elections has shown the emergence of a young generation, which rather than prizing stability as their elders, conceived of the elections in terms of ‘change or no change," noted Astrid Norén-Nilsson, a Cambodia scholar from the University of Cambridge.

She added that Hun Sen will need to learn to work with the opposition. "Otherwise, there is a real possibility that a politically polarized population will raise the risk for social tension and social unrest."
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