Cambodia National Rescue Party

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; Khmer: គណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ, UNGEGN: Kônâbâks Sângkrŏăh Chéatĕ, ALA-LC: Gaṇapaks Sanggroaḥ Jāti [keanapaʔ sɑŋkruəh ciət]) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party.[6]

Cambodia National Rescue Party
គណបក្សសង្រ្គោះជាតិ
AbbreviationCNRP
PresidentKem Sokha
Vice PresidentsEng Chhai Eang
Mu Sochua
Pol Hom
FoundersSam Rainsy
Kem Sokha
Founded17 July 2012
Registered9 April 2013
Banned16 November 2017
Merger ofSam Rainsy Party
Human Rights Party
Norodom Ranariddh Party
Succeeded byCambodia National Rescue Movement
Khmer Will Party[1] (self-declared; not legally)
Candlelight Party (unofficial)[2]
Youth wingCNRP Youth[3]
IdeologyLiberalism
Liberal democracy
Civic nationalism
Populism
Anti-Vietnamese sentiment[4][5]
Political positionCentre
International affiliationLiberal International
Regional affiliationCouncil of Asian Liberals and Democrats
Colors 
Slogan"សង្គ្រោះ បម្រើ ការពារ" (English: "Rescue, Serve, Protect")
Party flag
Website
https://nationalrescueparty.org/ (defunct)

The party believed in the strengthening of freedom and human rights, institution of free and fair elections, and defending Cambodia's "national integrity". It became the sole challenger to the Cambodian People's Party after the 2013 election. Its official motto was "Rescue, Serve, Protect" (សង្គ្រោះ បម្រើ ការពារ Sângkrŏăh, Bâmreu, Karpéar) and the logo for the CNRP is the rising sun.

Party leader Kem Sokha was arrested in September 2017, after which the party was in danger of being dissolved, allegedly for being part of a foreign plot to overthrow Prime Minister Hun Sen.[7][8][9] The case was heard by the Supreme Court of Cambodia which is headed by Chief Justice Dith Munty, a member of the ruling CPP's permanent committee.[10]

On 16 November 2017, the Supreme Court ruled to dissolve the CNRP. Charles Santiago, Chairman of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, called "the final nail in the coffin for Cambodian democracy".[11] As a result of the ruling, all CNRP office holders, including 489 commune chiefs and 55 MPs, lost their positions and had their seats allocated to other parties. Additionally, 118 senior party officials were banned from politics for five years.[12] About half the party’s former MPs, including its vice president Mu Sochua, had already fled Cambodia before October out of fear of arrest by the ruling party.[7] The forced dissolution of the party prompted condemnation and calls to reverse the decision from the international community.[13]

Party platform

The 7-point policies of the CNRP:[14]

  1. A pension of 40,000 riels or US$10 a month for old people aged 65 and over.
  2. A minimum wage of 600,000 riels or US$150 a month for workers.
  3. A minimum wage of 1,000,000 riels or US$250 a month for public servants.
  4. Guarantee of prices for farm produce (the lowest price of rice is 1,000 riels or US$0.25 per kilo) and of markets for it.
  5. Free medical care for the poor.
  6. Equal opportunity of the young to receive quality education and to have employment.
  7. Lowering the prices of fuel, fertilizers, electricity, and interests on loans.

Policies
Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy discuss merging parties in Manila, Philippines.

Domestic policy

The domestic policy of the CNRP promoted national reconciliation by banning discrimination, patronage and nepotism based on a set of principles:

  • Non-violent struggle and peaceful resolution of problems.
  • Respect and observance of human rights.
  • Address the issue of illegal immigration through effective enforcement of the nationality law and the immigration law.
  • Social justice with the state’s guarantee of human rights, freedoms and equal opportunities in the political, economic and social life.
  • Pluralistic liberal democracy where power belongs to the people.
  • Sustainable development putting emphasis on production for export, competitiveness and preservation of national resources.
  • Propose a referendum for same-sex marriage.[15]

Economy

The CNRP advocated a free market economy based on economic liberalism.

  • Competition and equitable development.
  • Production for domestic products for consumption and exportation.
  • Promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises and the creation of confidence for foreign investment.

Education, youth and employment
  • Human resource development with equal access to education.
  • Quality and high standard education.
  • Technical and professional training to equip the youth with high skills.
  • Introducing student loans and scholarship plans for higher education.
Vice President Kem Sokha and other party officials meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Healthcare
  • Universal health care
  • Clean water, hygiene, and sanitary systems.
  • Reform of the health care system by improving the expertise and ethics of medical staffing, provisions of adequate medicine, and medical equipment.

Agriculture

The CNRP called for the raising of living standards for farmers through the provision of adequate farm land and utilization of farm technology, competitiveness, improvement of the quality of farm produce, search for markets for farm produce, and fixing the interest on farm loans to one percent per month.

Women's rights

The CNRP believed in empowering all women to strengthen the foundation of Cambodian society through equal participation in all spheres of public and private life by guaranteeing opportunities to achieve women's financial security, social welfare, land, education, health, justice, and politics.

Regional strength
Results of the 2013 Cambodian general election, provinces won by the CNRP shown in blue, shaded according to vote share.

  Majority   Minority

No.ConstituencySeats wonPopular votePercentage
1Banteay Meanchey
2 / 6
64,73225.33%
2Battambang
3 / 8
162,52738.09%
3Kampong Cham
10 / 18
457,81951.10%
4Kampong Chhnang
2 / 4
96,20839.30%
5Kampong Speu
3 / 6
186,86746.92%
6Kampong Thom
3 / 6
115,88040.46%
7Kampot
3 / 6
125,32041.64%
8Kandal
6 / 11
366,05655.76%
9Kep
0 / 1
4,16520.84%
10Koh Kong
0 / 1
11,01725.12%
11Kratié
1 / 3
59,77441.68%
12Mondulkiri
0 / 1
4,24417.50%
13Oddar Meanchey
0 / 1
21,96826.96%
14Pailin
0 / 1
8,95932.57%
15Phnom Penh
7 / 12
382,88057.68%
16Preah Vihear
0 / 1
19,19922.42%
17Prey Veng
6 / 11
287,77849.95%
18Pursat
1 / 4
48,21723.98%
19Ratanakiri
0 / 1
7,82114.59%
20Siem Reap
2 / 6
140,73735.58%
21Sihanoukville
0 / 1
30,55834.95%
22Stung Treng
0 / 1
6,96214.94%
23Svay Rieng
2 / 5
99,60033.04%
24Takéo
4 / 8
236,68645.73%
Total
55 / 123
2,946,17644.46%

Support base

The CNRP's support base was in the urban populated areas; in rural villages whose livelihood is affected by the land grabbing crisis, and young post-Khmer Rouge baby boomers.

List of party leaders
No. Name Term start Term end Deputy
1 Sam Rainsy 17 July 2012 11 February 2017 Kem Sokha
2 Kem Sokha 2 March 2017 16 November 2017 Eng Chhai Eang
Mu Sochua
Pol Hom

Organization

Executive Committee

Standing Committee

Election results

General election
Election Leader Votes Seats Position Government
#  % ± # ±
2013 Sam Rainsy 2,946,176 44.5 Increase15.9
55 / 123
 Increase26 Steady 2nd CPP

Communal elections
Election Leader Votes Chiefs Councillors Position
#  % ± # ± # ±
2017 Kem Sokha 3,056,824 43.8 Increase13.1
489 / 1,646
 Increase449
5,007 / 11,572
 Increase2,052 Steady 2nd

See also

References
  1. "Khmer Will Party seeks to rope in 3M voters before national poll".
  2. "How the Candlelight Party Can Restore Political Pluralism to Cambodia". The Diplomat. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  3. Buth, Kimsay; Meyn, Colin (27 September 2016). "CNRP Youth Leader Resigns Ahead of Reforms". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  4. "Anti-Vietnamese sentiment boils in Cambodia". UCANews. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  5. "Cambodia's opposition leader plays racist card". Deutsche Welle. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  6. Vong Sokheng and Bridget Di Certo (17 July 2012). "Parties to form Cambodia Democratic Movement of National Rescue". Phnom Penh Post. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  7. "Cambodia's government asks the courts to abolish the opposition". The Economist. 12 October 2017.
  8. "Interior Ministry files complaint to dissolve CNRP". The Phnom Penh Post. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  9. "CPP rewriting rules again, with amendments planned to political laws to redistribute CNRP seats". The Phnom Penh Post. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  10. "Cambodia's main opposition party dissolved by Supreme Court". Reuters. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  11. Pengly, Horng (14 November 2017). "Live blog: Supreme Court rules to dissolve CNRP". Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  12. Reid, Jenni (16 November 2017). "Breaking: Supreme Court rules to dissolve CNRP". Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  13. "US calls on Cambodia to 'undo' opposition party ban". Digital Journal. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  14. "7-point policies of the CNRP". Cambodia National Rescue Party (in Khmer). CNRP. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  15. Vichea, Pang (1 June 2017). "Parties open to gay marriage". Retrieved 16 November 2017.
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