Cambodian opposition promises change for Cham Muslims

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH

The leader of Cambodia’s opposition party has promised to address land disputes affecting the country’s Cham Muslim communities should his party be successful in the 2018 national elections.

According to the Phnom Penh Post on Friday, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy and his deputy, Kem Sokha, this week travelled to Kampong Chhnang province to join Eid al-Adha celebrations and deliver a number of speeches.

The report said Rainsy vowed to change what he called "a culture of greed", policies that benefit powerful business people and corporations, and to address land disputes in a fair manner.

“What we can guarantee 100 percent is the 2018 national election. In this election, the government will be changed, the top leaders changed, the national policy changed,” the Post quoted Rainsy as saying.

It is not the first time this year that Rainsy has courted the Cham vote, which has traditionally been cast in favour of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

In February, he held a forum with Cham villagers in Tbong Khmum province, during which he acknowledged “a change in the mindsets of all Cambodians, including the Cham”, with regard to their political affiliations.

Land rights are a hotbed issue both socially and politically in Cambodia, and certain Cham communities have been affected by evictions and alleged encroachments onto their land.

In May, around 300 Cham villagers scuffled with Vietnamese border guards over a tract of land they claimed as their own, but said had been illegally cordoned off as belonging to Vietnam.

Vietnamese border issues have been repeatedly raised by the CNRP since its establishment in 2013. In July of that year, the party contested the national elections, causing a dispute with the CPP over the outcome of the vote that resulted in 10 months of political deadlock.

Last month, the United Nations loaned the Cambodian government a trove of original maps in order to put to rest allegations that demarcation of the border with Vietnam was improper in places.