Cash, Oaths, Holy Water: The Quest by Cambodia's Ruling Party to Identify True Supporters

[geovalin]

TACHES COMMUNE, KAMPONG CHHNANG PROVINCE, CAMBODIA — 

The ruling Cambodian People's Party has seemingly never had a firmer grip on power.

The CPP dominates government administration, the military and the judiciary, and has eliminated or outlasted all of its political opponents.

 

But its apparent supremacy masks a serious and growing problem: The more control the party exerts, the less certainty it has about whether anyone truly supports it.

 

As it moves to further consolidate its power in the run-up to the July general election, the government is preying on some superstitious segments of the population and manipulating the trust many villages place in local officials. And as this plays out, the government has drawn international concern due to the continued detention of Kem Sokha, the leader of the political opposition, the subsequent flight of opposition leaders, and a crackdown on nongovernmental organizations and media.

 

On Tuesday, after a U.S. delegation met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn in Manila, on the margins of the East Asia Summit, the White House issued a statement expressing "strong concerns about recent steps that challenge the country's democratic progress, including restrictions on the free press, civil society, and the political opposition."

 

 

 

On the ground

Here in Taches, a group of rice-farming villages bisected by a new national highway, Duch Thuon embodies the contradiction facing the CPP, where it can wield its influence more directly than in urban areas.

 

The 66-year-old used to support the ruling party, but a decade ago began backing the opposition after becoming angered by government corruption.

 

But when his village's deputy chief and a CPP-aligned councilor came to his home last month and asked him which party he would vote for, he knew the right answer.

 

"The party that gives life," he told the visitors, using a politically correct term for the CPP.

Nationwide, the CPP has worked for decades to blur the boundaries between itself and the state. Projects paid for by state funds or external donors are often attributed to the CPP's largesse. Villagers are told, repeatedly, that the party "gives life."

 

Given that military officials and local leaders who control access to state services are also CPP affiliates, citizens may find it hard to reveal their true political preferences when asked.

 

 

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