Cambodia faces U.S., EU action after banning opposition

PHNOM PENH:  The United States stopped election support for Cambodia with a promise of more “concrete steps” and the European Union threatened vital trade preferences after the main opposition party to Prime Minister Hun Sen was banned.

But China said it supported Cambodia in following its own path, making no criticism of the government led by the former Khmer Rouge commander who is one of Beijing’s most important allies in Southeast Asia after more than three decades in power.

The ban on the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), decreed by the Supreme Court at the government’s request, followed the arrest of its leader for treason. Kem Sokha is accused of plotting to take power with American help.

 

Hun Sen’s critics called the CNRP dissolution an attempt to steal the



election and the death knell for democracy. Western donors have spent billions of dollars since 1993 trying to build a multiparty system following decades of war.

“On current course, next year’s election will not be legitimate, free or fair,” a White House statement said, promising to take “concrete steps”.

The first of those was to end support for the Cambodian National Election Committee ahead of the 2018 election, it said. In April, the U.S. embassy announced a $1.8 million grant to assist local elections in 2017 and next year’s general election.

In Brussels, an EU spokesman said the election could not be legitimate without the opposition and noted that respect for human rights was a prerequisite for Cambodia’s access to EU trade preferences under its “Everything But Arms scheme.”