P'Dho - Change

The Cambodian Spring Against all Odds

The Women Strategy

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Holding up #7 of the opposition

After intense campaigning throughout Cambodia that took over twelve months - from the mountains of MondulKiri, to the former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge in Samlot, and in the big towns, the 2013 general elections produced the final result we all aimed for: P'dho.

Against all odds, change was delivered to the people when over 6 million voters went to the poll last Sunday 28 July and the united opposition-the Cambodia National Rescue Party won the trust of the people. We had no luxury cars. We had no access to state media. The international community did not give us the slightest chance but we maintain the same strong determination that Cambodia needed a new beginning.

Confronting the big guys and the police on their side

"We won" Sam Rainsy-opposition leader at rally to contest election results

Results are being contested as the ruling party claims they won majority of the votes. The UN is called upon to observe the investigation of electoral irregularities filed by the CNRP on behalf of 1.2 million voters who could not vote.

The Cambodian Spring Platform: Women's Lives

Opposition campaign flyer

- Moving Forward with Women-for Women

For over two years, I left my comfortable life in the city of Phnom Penh to establish my new base in Battambang in the North West. From the beginning, our teams used traditional methods of campaigning, going from door to door to deliver the message for P'dho that centered around social and economic justice. The hard reality of the lives of our workers, land grabs, fair wages, access to free health care and education were the issues for our campaign. The ruling party did not have a platform. The prime minister who ruled Cambodia for 34 years asked people to : pity and to love him and to vote for him. His sons with graduates from West Point appealed for NO Change.

The campaign in the city https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.611926863733.1073741833.223200117&type=1&l=43f9c7b827

Our Targets: Women Voters

Women at market place

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I lead the teams to small and remote villages. I looked for the unsung stories. I learned the songs of the villagers. I kept the issues visible at local and global level. The aim was to empower the women at the grassroots. Our teams were formed in every village and town. We dropped the seeds for democracy. We built partnership with women's groups and we made it very clear that each Cambodian woman and man held their destiny in their hands: the secret vote. We worked on the fear factor. We gave the microphone to any woman who wanted to speak truth. And thousands stories were told on the opposition radio program : "Moving forward with Women-for Women"

Figure 1Fixing battery for the loudspeaker

During the 30 days that all parties were officially allowed to campaign, I targeted small markets where every single woman in each village gather to sell their home-grown products and the catch of the day.

It was important to arrive at the right moment which was the peak time and as early as possible. Our team was limited to five with a loud speaker mounted on a moto-cycle and in remote areas, the loudspeaker was on a bicycle.. The speech could not be longer than 10 minutes and right to the point. I always chose the smallest stall and had a "conversation" with the woman who tended it. I directly asked for the profit she made a day and how she could survive with it. Heads turned and it was the magic moment when it felt like the entire busy market came to a stop to listen to our "conversation". I knew I connected with the hundreds of female voters and I had to use the remaining time to deliver the solutions of the opposition party. We always ended the

speech with a song. I would lead the team to another corner of the market.

I never knew how I connected with the voters because of the level of fear. Rarely voters would signal to us that they would vote for the opposition because they knew of the presence of the secret police and the market owner who usually are on the side of the ruling party. Sometimes our team got challenged by the supporters of the ruling party and I had to control our members from responding. Sometimes I had to use the electoral law to protect our "tuft" as each party was assigned certain areas or days for the campaign. We successfully won a complaint in one small commune when our rally was disrupted by the commune chief. It was a sweet victory for our team as each success helps the villagers deal with fear. Justice is so hard won in Cambodia.

At a market place

Social Media

What amazed me the most were the young women in the city who defied cultural norms and values that teach them to be obedient, to not speak in public and to return home before dust. These young women of the Cambodia Spring use social media to express their thoughts, to debate and to further defy the culture of silence. In youth concerts, at rallies across the country, they took to the stage and expressed themselves in music and in songs of hope, of courage and of their love for their nation. These same young women engaged in a widespread social media exchange in which they recorded and reported incidents of irregularities and challenged older male candidates on issue related to gender justice.

P'Dho! Change! Chneas! Yes, We Can!

"They call me Ms. Facebook and I am proud of it because I think time has come for Cambodian women to hold their own destiny", says LG, my 24 year-old self-appointed assistant and leader of the youth campaign.

LG and the youth rally

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DJ RoZeth

My "body guard"

The young women's defiance of culture and traditions amazed me and brought tears to my eyes, as I could vividly see their determination to shape the future of Cambodia. Throughout the campaign, a young woman was assigned by the youth committee to be my bodyguard. She took the task and performed it with honor by riding behind my truck in the middle of the hot sun or in the rain. She was given a second task on election day to represent the opposition at her polling station. When the opposition #7was announced as winner at her polling station, she broke down and we embraced, sensing that we were, at long last, in the midst of a Cambodian Spring.

Election day https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.541387069242195.1073741845.514227245291511&type=1

Counting ballots

The July 28 election gives good reason to believe that our country is ready to leave behind this period of rule-by-strong-man.  Across the nation, women's groups are organized and are politically active and are calling out for a true embrace of democracy.

I am thankful to the women of the Cambodian Spring for my re-election and for changing the quality of politics in Cambodia. Six other women in my party got their seats in parliament. The opposition party has never been stronger in modern Cambodian history.  

Mu Sochua at a campaign rally

The members of the opposition party are embracing this new, happier, political era in contemporary Cambodian history with gratitude, with humility towards the past and the future, and with the intention to work as hard as possible to serve our women. We hope to have the support of the international community.   While Hun Sen may think he won the election, he will be removed from power soon enough by the youth who look into their future and not into the past.  The opposition is prepared to lead the country into a newer, happier, more modern, more democratic, more connected age.

The Cambodian Spring came after years of a rough winter that lasted 34 year. As Cambodian women, we cherish the rebirth of our nation as we know we can P'dho.

Interview on Time Line-ABC TVhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-17/cambodian-opposition-celebrates-leaders-return/4827190

Mu Sochua- A Cambodian MP, human rights advocate, activist, and one of Cambodia’s leading female opposition figures within the recently formed Cambodia National Rescue Party.