Cambodia closes its national polling day with doubtful India’s ink

Phnom Penh: Up to 3 pm of Sunday 28 July, Cambodia has fulfilled its task to conduct the national election for the five-year term of the new government after a busy and free campaign for a month but it leaves untruth of the finger ink imported from India.

At polling stations in Phnom Penh capital and many other provinces were reported that unarmed security forces as well as national and international observers stayed on guards while some others were patrolling on the streets. Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy of the Cambodian National Rescue Party was also seen to drive from one polling station to another in Phnom Penh capital.

Many voters interviewed by a group of Cambodia News reporters at different ballot stations after their voting said that they were really happy with no fear to freely choose their government leaders for the next five years.

However, the finger ink imported from India for the election was suspected that it is removable within a few hours and such case, observers said individuals who have their duplicated names in the voting lists can vote twice or more.

In late afternoon on 26 July, the final day of the one-month election campaign, the National Election Committee (NEC) conducted a press conference at its office by inviting some NGO observers to test the ink in order to make sure that the ink was unique and unrecoverable up to a week.

But in the morning of 27 July — the white day — a group of independent NGOs held a press conference at the office of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) showed the evidence that the ink tested by NEC earlier was removable.

Reading a joint statement on the ‘Evaluation of the Environment before Election Day”, Adhoc president Thun Saray]said that the Civil Society Alliance expressed concerned over the ink as it is removable. The conference also showed a video clip indicated that a COMFREL worker who tested the ink himself at the NEC office could remove the ink from his little finger very clean.

COMFREL Executive Director Koul Panha also called on the immediate meeting between NEC and all political parties but said that the meeting could not be done as the election would come the next morning.

Speaking at the conference with the presence of nearly one hundred national and international journalists, observers and citizens, Koul Panha said irregularity could happen since some voters have their same names in different voting lists and stations while the number of printed ballot papers is more 27% than the total 9.675.453 voters. He said the duplicated names have been in the the provinces where the number of the parliament seats is higher.

Standing and made his comment in the press conference, a Cambodian man who claimed he represented the India embassy said that the embassy was really unsatisfied when hearing that the ink from India could be removable.

Koul Panha told the conference that he had learnt how to clean the ink from the finger from the people and that the liquid that can clean the ink is cheap and easy to find in market.

On facebook today, voters posted and shared video clip on how to clean the ink from their fingers after voting.

There is no any comment or reaction from NEC on the ink and it will conduct a press conference to conclude the polling day at 6 pm today. Cambodia News Staff