EU suspends funding for Cambodian election

 

A man rides a motorcycle past the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring/Files

 

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The European Union has suspended funding for Cambodia's 2018 general election because the vote cannot be credible after the dissolution of the main opposition party, according to a letter sent to the national election committee on Tuesday.

 

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the country's highest court last month at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen after the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha for alleged treason.

 

"An electoral process from which the main opposition party has been arbitrarily excluded cannot be seen as legitimate," read the Dec. 12 letter reviewed by Reuters.

 

"Under these circumstances, the European Union does not believe there is a possibility of a credible electoral process."

 

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-12

Sounds    reasonable.  But  watch  for compensatory  increased  funding  in  other  areas  in  favour  of  international   corporate  interests!

It  is  not  so  much  about  how  you  skin  the    cat as  it  is  about  the  number   of   cat  skins !