Phnom Penh September 8:  The 2nd Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) workshop on communication started here Wednesday amid high hopes of learning through mutual sharing of experiences.

Participants at this year’s workshop being held with the theme “Media in electoral campaigns’, expressed their desire to learn from each other and take back home some good media lessons.   The participants in this three and half-day workshop have come from Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore Burma and Pakistan.

The workshop is being facilitated by Dr. Ronald Meinardus the Friedrich Naumann Foundation representative in Philippines. John Coronel, the Executive Director of CALD Secretariat in Manila is assisting him. The workshop has been designed to create interaction of media practitioners of different member parties of CALD and thereby enhance media campaign managing skills of all the participants.

As CALD is an organisation of political parties working in Asia for liberal and democratic ideals, many of the participants were looking at the workshop to somehow come out with strategies that could help them win elections in immediate future. Indeed a tall order but seeing this group of enthusiasts, who knows they may actually do. Already many liberal democratic parties in South East Asia have won elections. Taiwan and Korea being shining examples. In Thailand they are well positioned to give a tough fight to the ruling party. 

Others were more interested in learning the processes through which they could design and create winning media strategies.

Going by the spirit of CALD the participants were also eager to network as indeed the Asian liberals and democrats need to continually interact with each other and support each other’s work with exchange of ideas and experiences.  The participants also expected that with this interaction they would be able to understand better the politics within Asia, where each country provides a unique set of circumstances.

Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy Party is hosting this workshop.  The party is one of the active members of the CALD network and has always been eager and willing to be a host for such events that provide an opportunity for free exchange of ideas for the member parties of CALD.

The participants also appreciated the democratic struggle of Sam Rainsy Party in some difficult circumstances in the country. (Aniq Zafar)

The Dinner Thoughts: The Cambodian democracy is in peril

Phnom Penh September 9: The leader of the opposition in Cambodia Mr Sam Rainsy told a gathering of Asian Liberal democrats, that the Cambodian democracy is in great trouble due to the undemocratic practices of the Cambodian Peoples Party and Phun Sin Pek coalition government.

Mr Sam Rainsy was the Guest speaker at a dinner hosted by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for the participants of 2nd CALD Communication workshop and correspondents of international media based in Phnom Penh.

Mr Rainsy said that though his party secured the highest total of the votes polled, FUNCINPEC that polled less than his party had got more seats in the parliament and said that the electoral system in Cambodia did not reflect the true representative character of the nation.

He said that CPP is comprised of old Khmer Roughs and it seemed that they were continuing the old policies in a different manner.

Mr Rainsy said that though some positions in various democratic institutions are entitled to his party but the government deprived them of these positions making the system a mockery. He said that the membership in the parliamentary committees is a must for the survival and continuity of the democratic system.

He further added that number of political killings had taken place in Cambodia recently and international human rights groups should focus their attention to this appalling situation in Cambodia. 

Mr Sam Rainsy said that CALD and other international organizations were a great source of strength to the Cambodian democrats and because of this they regime could not act in an extremely arbitrary manner.

Later the leader of the opposition also responded to the questions raised by the participants of the workshop who expressed keen interest in the ongoing democratic struggle of the Cambodian people.  (Kamal Nissanka)