Battle over Foreigners Begins
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) on Friday threatened to file lawsuits against foreigners who illegally obtain Cambodian national identity cards on the same day the Interior Ministry released the findings of its partially completed 18-month census of foreigners in the Kingdom.
In a press release on Friday, the party said it wanted the Justice Ministry to release a list of foreigners with Cambodian citizenship and investigate each person to make sure they obtained it correctly. The party also plans to have observers monitor voter registration drives and will appeal if any complaints or irregularities arise.
The statement came after the National Election Committee (NEC) said foreigners with Cambodian IDs can vote even if they cannot speak Khmer. Article 8 of the Law on Nationalities says foreigners can only request naturalization if they can speak and write Khmer.
The opposition has said this claim by the NEC is a thinly veiled reference to Vietnamese people living in Cambodia. During previous elections, the opposition has claimed the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was using Vietnamese people both in the Kingdom and near its borders to boost vote counts for their side.
The CNRP and other civil society organizations said they hoped the government would make sure that any Vietnamese nationals trying to vote in the next elections had the proper documents that had been legally obtained.
NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said the opposition can file complaints against any foreigners found to have received nationalization papers illegally.
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28768/battle-over-foreigners-begins/
