Niem Chheng and Ananth Baliga
The Phnom Penh Post, Fri, 10 June 2016
The Victory Intelligent Standard Association issued an apology on Wednesday to the National Election Committee for accusing the body’s senior staffers of corruption during the transfer of its employees from independent contractors to the government’s fold.
Ros Sarom, director of the group, which claims the membership of 10,000 intellectuals, government officials and NGOs, apologised to the NEC President Sik Bun Hok, admitting that his accusations had affected the reputation of the election body and its staffers.
“I would like not to describe or talk about this anymore. I hope the NEC brings success to the nation,” he said, when contacted yesterday.
Sarom had filed the complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit on June 2, but it was thrown out by ACU boss Om Yentieng earlier this week for lacking evidence.
The complaint stems from a royal decree in February, which changed NEC staffers’ employment status from contract-based to full-time government officials, with Sarom alleging that lower-level contractors got higher government positions after the change.