The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “stay and keep ruling” plus 9 more

Hun Sen will just stay and keep ruling. Who's going to call him to account? The King? No.

In striking down a Defence Support Section decision not to pay for a legal consultant's travel, a Khmer Rouge tribunal judge has accused the unit of a "pattern" of inadequately respecting the rights of the potential defendants in the embattled Case 004.

"The [UN administrative judge], having reviewed the other requests and related decisions, finds it apparent that the Head of DSS ... discloses a pattern of failing to properly and thoroughly take into consideration the totality of rights attached to [the suspect] at this stage of the proceedings," reads administrative judge Rowan Downing's filing, which was made public July 22.

Cases 003 and 004 have both been repeatedly opposed by government officials, who have made it clear they will not allow them to proceed.

Downing went on to say that the DSS chief "in this matter, displayed, at least, an appearance of prejudice and bias," and called for the issue to be settled by someone else.

The pattern Downing referred to, Case 003 defence lawyer Göran Sluiter said yesterday, began when the DSS rejected an earlier travel request, and then a subsequent request for funding for a preliminary investigation into matters pertaining to his client's defence.

"Our worry is that we have not been in a position to prepare our defence, and at a later stage, we may not be given that position at all ... and before you know it, your client's rights are seriously violated," he said.

Sluiter added that he is considering refiling the request for investigation funding.

Michael Karnavas, a former attorney in Case 002 who is awaiting confirmation to represent a client in Case 003, also said that his dealings with the DSS "have been at times very trying, if not exasperating".

"We experienced no problems in Case 002; our relations were excellent," he said in an email. "Regrettably, that can not be said for Case 003.

"There have been a series of obstacles and incidents which can not be dismissed as mere innocent coincidences," he continued. "Everything is at a snail's pace, as if the objective is to purposely delay."

Court spokesman Lars Olsen declined to comment on the matter, saying it was still under consideration.

Four days after the close of a hotly contested election, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador met with Prime Minister Hun sen to pass on messages of congratulations and receive assurance that the opposition's claims of having legitimately beaten the ruling party were unfounded.

Bu Jianguo, who was appointed last month, presented her credentials to Hun Sen yesterday and pledged that the warm bilateral relations between the countries would continue in the wake of Sunday's elections, the premier's spokesman, Eang Sophalleth, said.

Hun Sen, in turn, offered a warm welcome to the ambassador and said he was convinced that the formation of the new government and the National assembly would move ahead even should the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party boycott, Sophalleth said.

"China will continue to support Cambodia in all circumstances in order to help this country towards development \and better living conditions for its people," Sophalleth quoted Bu as telling the premier.

Bu also conveyed best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on the re-election of Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which saw its first-ever decrease in
the number of seats held, winning only 68 based on preliminary results. The CNRP has contested those results and said its own preliminary figures put its party in the lead, while Sam Rainsy has called for Hun sen to step down.

Speaking to reporters at the Peace Palace following the meeting, Sophalleth said Bu expressed confidence that under Hun Sen's leadership, Cambodia would continue to prosper in all fields. In reply, said Sophalleth, Hun Sen said he believed the relations between the two nations would grow stronger.

The meeting took place just a day after China handed over 1,000 guns and 50,000 bullets, a long-promised donation.

Though the ruling party and China enjoy particularly close ties, said analyst Kem Ley, there was little to suggest that largess or influence had trickled down.

"I think that the Chinese assistance to the ruling party has no impact on all the Cambodian people, if we look at the result of election. Therefore, both the ruling party and the opposition party have to be careful when making decisions because the voters are watching this issue," Ley said.

Nearly a decade ago, Meng Chor inherited a rooftop rental agreement with a telecommunications firm after buying a property on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard.

For $300 a month over a 10-year lease, the contract allowed the company that later became Mfone to keep the cell tower on top of his building. The tower is one of more than 1,000 across the country, most located in the provinces.

It was a good deal. All Chor had to do was sit back and collect the money.

But when the company went bankrupt in January, five months before Chor's lease expired, the payments abruptly halted. He said no one consulted him. One day, workers arrived to remove a battery from the tower, leaving a thin, 15-metre-high skeleton on his roof, lifeless, strapped down tight from all four sides.

"It does not matter for me whether to renew the contract or to stop, but I just want to have a clear discussion," he said, adding that without a new contract and resumed payments, he wants the tower dismantled and removed from his building.

He's not alone.

Mobile towers litter the skyline of Phnom Penh; and much like the overcrowded telecommunications market from whence they sprang, their differences are not so easily distinguishable from one provider to the next, blending in to the clutter of the capital's rooftops.

Though invisible to the naked eye, the Mfone towers remain dormant, put to sleep, waiting to be sold off in bankruptcy proceedings and woken by a new provider.

The homeowners who rented space for them have not been paid since the company collapsed.

"I just wait and see," said an Mfone rooftop lease holder in Tuol Kork district who declined to be named.

The property owner's 10-year lease was renewed in October, and bumped to $500 a month from the original agreement of $300. Not one of the new payments has arrived.

Those with rented rooftops are a microcosm of the Mfone case. With creditors lying in wait for more than $160 million in dues, the challenge for Mfone bankruptcy administrator Ouk Ry is finding an interested party to purchase the towers, one of the failed telco's most expensive assets. Asked about the value of the towers, Ry said it's "what the market determines".

On the one hand, existing telecommunications companies don't need the added infrastructure because they have their own, said Kevin Der Arslanian, an analyst at China Market Research group.

"Towers sit side by side, and buying back most towers serves no purpose to the other operators," he said.

But with more than 70 per cent of the towers in the countryside, Der Arslanian says bargains could be had.

"Mfone might have towers in unique locations that offer coverage in regions where other telcos have patchy networks," he said.

Representatives for mobile providers qb and Smart declined to comment on their potential interest. Beeline and Mobitel did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Where the property owners who let space to Mfone stand in the pecking order of post-bankruptcy payouts is hard to say.

Their individual claims pale in comparison to Mfone's largest single creditor, Chinese telco provider Huawei, which is claiming $65 million.

Ry, the administrator, said that leaseholders had initially been notified about the process after the bankruptcy and via announcements in the local press. With over 1,000 creditors, varying from scratchcard sellers and the rooftop owners to large technology providers like Huawei, a nine-member panel has been established to represent all claimants at creditor meetings.

In theory, all creditors can stake a claim. In reality, they might not get what they want.

As for rooftop lessors, "once we find a buyer, we will definitely contact them", Ry said.

Former Mfone employees were the first to be paid on July 24, and even they were allotted only 10 per cent of the $4.4 million they demanded.

Ry said then that the employees would be paid the remaining 90 per cent of what they were owed upon the sale of the towers. On Wednesday, he said he was close to finalising deals with potential buyers and should know more in a few weeks.

The sooner the better for tower holders.

"They called us to have a meeting, but nothing has been solved so far," said the homeowner in Toul Kork district. "They need to solve the problem for us."

Recriminations swirled as residents of Kandal province's Sa'ang district who blocked unfamiliar voters from casting their ballots at a polling station said local authorities have been visiting their homes and writing down their names, without saying why.

According to resident Ly Meng, protesters in Sa'ang district's Sa'ang Phnom commune had simply wanted to ensure that elections were "fair". A district official, however, said yesterday that those blocked from voting had been properly registered, and that he suspected the demonstrators were strangers.

"We do not prevent people from voting. It is because many new faces turned up to vote, and also Yuon came to vote," Meng said, using an at times racially charged term for Vietnamese. "Because of such irregularities, we proposed to them to close the [polling] station."

Since then, village guards have been compiling a list of people involved in blocking the so-called newcomers, Meng added, but would not divulge why.

Villager Tat Samuon also defended the decision to block the poll, and said he suspected the list was targeting villagers "for their arrest, because on Election Day they arrested one person, but he was released".

Sa'ang Phnom district governor Kim Chankiri, however, maintained that newcomers had proper documents, and had registered to vote in the area because they worked there.

"I think the banning was deliberate, because the voters are from the outside, not people from the village. This is systematic incitement to make trouble during the election," he said, adding that those who started the protest were the real strangers.

Chankiri said he did not know why a list was being made, but that he had seen a copy, and "so far, we do not know the people whose names were listed".

Kim Hong, chairman of the provincial election committee, said that despite having 258 registered voters, the station saw only 86 cast a ballot before the disruption forced the poll to close. Hong added that he had left it to the parties to file complaints.

Acleda Bank users withdrew an estimated $4 million in cash from ATMs on Sunday evening as tensions mounted over the results of the national election and triggered fears of instability, an analyst with ratings agency Standard & Poor's said.

The volume, confirmed by Acleda, was two to three times higher than the average daily amount.

"Our understanding was that it was a knee-jerk reaction on Sunday evening, where people were withdrawing cash and stocking up on food in preparation for unrest and disruption of services," Ivan Tan, a credit analyst with S&P in Singapore, said in an email yesterday. "Those fears were unfounded and it appears that the situation has stabilised for the banking sector for now."

The ratings agency released a statement on July 30, two days after the election, saying it was holding Acleda's credit rating at B, or stable, because the withdrawals were limited compared to the bank's liquid assets.

Acleda, with 170 ATMs across the country, is Cambodia's biggest bank, and was therefore the most impacted, S&P said in the statement. As of June 30, the bank held $1.5 billion in deposits.

S&P did not have figures for other banks in Cambodia as it only rates Acleda.

Most of the withdrawals took place in Phnom Penh, which was the scene of isolated rioting and an increased police presence on Sunday. Long lines formed at ATMs, and prices for basic food staples were jacked up.

While the atmosphere has calmed, the outlook is uncertain. According to early results, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won by a narrow margin, and though the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party won a stunning 55 seats in parliament, up from 29, its leaders are calling for an investigation into alleged irregularities on voting day.

The eventual findings of the probe, which was welcomed by Prime Minister Hun Sen during his first post-election appearance on Wednesday, won't be known in the near term.

The ratings agency said that "in a less-likely scenario of sustained withdrawals due to continuing protests, the bank may have to rely on the central bank for liquidity".

Acleda president In Channy said his officials were concerned, but prepared, pointing out that when withdrawals jumped, ATMs weren't emptied out.

"Most of the customers, they withdrew only the small denomination," he said. "It wasn't empty of cash, we had plenty of riel, because they don't demand the riel then. And we had plenty of $100 dollar bills."

ONE TV launched as Cambodia's first digital TV provider in September to great fanfare, and saw a 20 to 25 per cent growth in customers every month. Vice CEO Vora Ouk wants ONE TV to be a role model in digital TV for Cambodia as the country shifts to a new network platform. Ouk sat down with the Post's Laura Ma at the ONE TV office to discuss the provider's plans.

What were some considerations behind bringing digital TV to Cambodia?
It was a logical choice to start ONE TV. As we're in an ASEAN country, we had to switch from analog to digital TV in the next few years. In choosing the system, we decided on a DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) transmission system and a set-top box because we already had the infrastructure and content in place from the Royal Group. Considering Cambodia's frequent rain showers, DTH (Direct-to-home satellite system) would not be suitable for us to invest in. Satellite capacity is also very expensive and the signal can be unstable when it rains.

What were some of the big challenges when starting ONE TV?
TV channels and human resources. Not all TV channels are ready to move from analog to digital because they're lacking finance and technology. The Cambodian government has actually delayed the target [to change to digital TV] for Cambodia until 2018 because we don't have the same level of affordability to switch by 2015 like other ASEAN countries. Also, we didn't have very [well-trained] people from the beginning. Most of our recruits are from the telecom industry, because mobile networks are very similar to the digital television systems. There's no broadcasting school or training available for digital television, so we had to retrain and coach them in the digital television industry.

How does ONE TV compare to cable TV?
We offer more flexibility in our packages, in terms of price and content. Our packages range from $4 for 27 channels to $10 for 66 channels. The box at the moment is $26. Cable TV packages tend to have limited variety and costs. We are better able to manage our programs because they are digital. Offering programs like HBO gives us an edge because other providers don't have that. At the moment we have 68 channels, by October we will have 80 channels. Our set-top box is unique because it has simple built in games and a Karaoke channel. ONE TV is also much easier to set up; it's a plug-and-play technology. Next month we are offering free delivery service and free installation of the set-top box. We also have a different payment approach that is more convenient compared to traditional paid TV. We use pre-paid systems like Wing, scratch cards and banks like Acleda to buy top-up service.

What is your service coverage?
We can accommodate coverage for 70 per cent of Cambodia, in nine provinces. Not only are we the first on terrestrial network, ONE TV is the only nationwide company. In using the set-top box, our service is more reliable than cable because it's less likely to lose signal from blackouts. We are improving the quality of coverage as well by adding more transmitters in Phnom Penh.

How is ONE TV doing on the market?
Since launching in September 2012, we have had some very strong achievements. We are growing approximately 20-25 per cent every month, which is faster than we expected. We are gaining on existing operators, who have been around for more than 15 years. I can't disclose a number, but we are in a good position of growth. We target the mass market with affordability, so our market is growing.

What will you be offering in the near future?
We are starting a VAS, a Value Added Service, in October. It will allow customers to chat over TV as a one-way push communication. It's not a two-way interactive TV yet though. Viewers would be able to subscribe to a newspaper, for example, and view it on their TV. They can also use the set-top box account, like a phone number, to send messages that will show up on the receiver's TV.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia will be embarking on two major initiatives beginning next week at its spacious, newly built headquarters complex.

The first is a table tennis technical course funded by the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Solidarity Commission from August 5-16, with the International Table Tennis Federation naming Egypt's Ahmed Dawlatly as the expert instructor in charge.

As development officer of the African Table Tennis Federation and also in his capacity as an accomplished coach, Dawlatly has been actively taking part in most of the ITTF Development Programmes for the last several years, including training stints in some of the war-torn African countries under the joint auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the ITTF.

"It is a timely boost for table tennis in Cambodia as we prepare to send some of our players to China for training ahead of this year end's SEA Games in Myanmar. This course will also be very helpful to our coaches and officials," NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun told the Post yesterday.

"We are fortunate to have an expert like Ahmed Dawlatly sharing his expertise and vast experience with us."

Sports medicine lessons offered to coaches
It has been nearly three years since Cambodia hosted a regional seminar on Sports Medicine and Science. Among the elite panel of field experts attending that seminar in Siem Reap was Joerg Teichman, a German sports therapist who had spent three decades in Southeast Asia and is currently with the National Institute of Sports Medicine in Malaysia.

He is now offering a voluntary service to the NOCC to help national team coaches get a good grasp of sports medicine and its applications during a two-day discourse next Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is worth recalling that Teichman had joined hands with Cambodia's Dr Suy Ravuth in conducting a three-part workshop for the participants of that regional seminar, placing a loaded emphasis on the importance of this special branch of sports.

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During his two-day clinic at the NOCC headquarters next week, Teichman, who is bearing his own expenses for the trip, will impart to the participants useful lessons on first aid for some of the frequent injuries players suffer in action.

"Giving an injured player first aid is crucial. The common injuries during play are to the knee, elbow or ankle and during these two days, Joerg Teichman will demonstrate to our national coaches some of the latest techniques in dealing with those injuries without delay," Vath Chamroeun said.

"We are thankful to Joerg Teichman for sparing his time and effort and coming forward on his own to help us out. We will make sure that every national coach takes advantage of this rare opportunity."

Free from the large crowds that have shadowed him since his royal pardon and return from self-exile last month, opposition leader Sam Rainsy led a delegation into the Royal Palace yesterday, where he emphatically expressed his support for the monarchy – but did not talk about the election, party officials said.

It was Rainsy's first meeting with King Norodom Sihamoni since the pair met in Beijing about two years ago, his wife and Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker-elect Tioulong Saumura said last night.

"The main topic was thanking the King for the pardon ... and stressing that the position of the party is that the throne is a symbol of national unity," Saumura said, adding the delegates had also paid respects to the memory of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk.

The delegation, which also included deputy president Kem Sokha and lawmakers-elect Mu Sochua and Son Chhay, had expressed to the King and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath that they believed the monarchy should be strengthened, she added.

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"The stronger it is, the better it is for the stability of the country."

CNRP senior official Ho Vann, who also attended, said the delegation had not talked about the election it claims to have won, but that Sokha had told the King and Queen Mother that his party had huge support.

"Mr President [Rainsy] also told the King he is determined to defend the throne that is a symbol and soul of the nation, defend our territory to assure peace, and help people live happily," he said, adding that the royal response had been respectful pleasantries.

The CNRP's sentiments were consistent with Prime Minister Hun Sen's calls for peace and calm on Wednesday when he welcomed a joint committee investigation into alleged election irregularities during Sunday's ballot, which the ruling Cambodian People's Party claims to have won by 68 seats to 55.

The palace visit also raised questions about what – if any – role the King has in brokering a deal with the two major parties if a political deadlock ensues during or after a called-for joint investigation.

Earlier in the week, Son Soubert, an adviser to King Sihamoni and president of the Human Rights Party, ruled out the King's involvement in such a review.

"I don't think it's the constitutional role of the King," he told the Post. "He may intervene if there is a problem with security, but it's not his role in this kind of matter.

"I think the two parties have to sort out the problem because the CNRP has requested a review and many people are not happy."

But independent analyst Kem Ley pointed out that Sihanouk set a model of king-as-mediator during the Paris Peace Accords, and that it was not impossible to imagine his son might be called upon to play a similar role.

"[The King] always plays a political compromise. So the first step [in this case] would be to find these irregularities [through a committee] and both parties compromise.... If they cannot compromise, they both need to involve the King."

Sihamoni's father, Sihanouk, was a revered figure, a "god-king" to many over a long public life in which he regularly juggled regal and political roles.

"Sihanouk consolidated options and raised the best options," Ley said. "He did not follow the CPP or the opposition. He just presented his option, after [calling on] many experts and diplomats."

Sihamoni, however, studiously avoids politics, and his rare speeches in public are invariably neutral.

But because he is respected on both sides of politics, many would like to see him hold talks to calm things down if a deadlock ensued and turmoil loomed, Cambodian Center for Human Rights president Ou Virak said.

"It's exactly the role of the King to bring about unity and reconciliation," he said. "It's a perfect role to play in a tense situation; [when] the country could be polarised, I think he would be able to talk to both sides and calm things down."

But keeping the peace and brokering an outcome to a fierce struggle for parliamentary power are two different things.

Carlyle Thayer, professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales, believes an opposition boycott of parliament, which must hold its first session 60 days after the poll, would result only in the CPP continuing its rule.

If that happens, "Hun Sen will just stay and keep ruling," he said. "Who's going to call him to account? The King? No."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DAVID BOYLE

The 2013 National Shorinji Kempo Championships kicked off yesterday at the Dambol Touk indoor hall of the National Sports Complex.

The four teams entering practitioners at the four-day tournament include National Shorinji Kempo Club, Shorinji Kempo Youth Club, Shorinji Kempo Mondial Club and The Place Shorinji Kempo Club.

A total of 56 males and 15 females will contest various standard and weight categories in the Japanese martial art, with individual combat events for both genders as well as kata forms (moves performance) events in men's and women's singles, pairs and mixed pairs.