Contact: John McAuliff 1-212-760-9903 Catharin Dalpino 1-202-338-0241

355 West 39^th Street ground floor New York, NY 10018 director@ffrd.org www.ffrd.org

Fund for Reconciliation and Development

Press Release

International Volunteer Observers (IVO)

Cambodia Election Field Report #4 July 27, 2003

Election Day Peaceful

Voters lined up at crack of dawn for polls that opened at 7:00 am throughout Cambodia; most had already voted by noon. The weather cooperated, at least in the capital city of Phnom Penh, and a festive atmosphere prevailed, as it had in 1998. Reports from our IVOs in the countryside have yet to come in, but we have heard informally from Cambodia’s second city, Battambang and from Kampong Speu that the election went peacefully and correctly in those areas. Though it was thought that heavy rain and flooding may disrupt voting in some remote communes, the National Election Committee confirmed that all 12,826 polling stations opened on time. In Phnom Penh, a small homemade bomb exploded across the road from FUNCINPEC headquarters, causing no damage and reportedly slightly injuring one person, and two unexploded devices were removed from the park in front of the Royal Palace. There are no convincing explanations for these events -- they could hardly be called intimidation as they were reported only after most people had voted.

It is estimated that some 80 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots in Phnom Penh; foreign observers including IVO visited a variety of polling stations in several disparate areas, from Russey Keo, where there are significant Cham and Vietnamese minorities, to middle class Svay Prey Commune, to the rural southeast corner of the city. We met agents of all political parties and several observers, both foreign and Cambodian; most, including the President of NICFEC, thought the process was going very well. Rumors, as usual, were rife, with one unsubstantiated report of ballot box theft in Phnom Penh. The NEC confirmed that one voter was arrested for trying to take a ballot out of a polling station in Phnom Penh; he claimed to be taking it to his wife waiting outside. Our observation of the polling stations indicated that voting officials were well trained and carried out their duties throughout the long, hot day with zeal, good humor and professionalism.

We observed the closing of the first station we had visited in Russey Keo, and followed the securely sealed and packaged ballot box and polling materials to the counting station at a local high school, where they will be kept overnight. The boxes will be under the surveillance of party agents and local observers who will remain with them through the night. Counting commences at 7:00 am Monday and is expected to be completed about noon. By late afternoon or early evening, we should have a preliminary idea of the outcome in terms of raw votes; official results and a determination of seats will take some days.

In the meantime, there are likely to be complaints, requests for recounts, etc., and we expect that the NEC will be more forthcoming than in 1998 in satisfying the most serious of these. Nonetheless, veteran observers foresee accusations of fraud, intimidation and violence, leading to demonstrations in the days following the election, by both losers and winners.

DGL

The Fund for Reconciliation and Development is coordinating a team of International Volunteer Observers (IVO) to assist the July 27 National Assembly elections in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The team, comprising 36 observers, is headed by Mr. D. Gordon Longmuir, former Ambassador of Canada to Cambodia, and author of this report.