Election Blues

With the election violence all over the world... Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mongolia.. Mongolia? Yeah, really... I was a little reticent about being here during elections on the 27th of July. That's tomorrow as I write this.
As it turns out, it's not violence that the elections bring here, but instead a standstill of any sort of official activity. I don't mean that on election day the government offices are closed. No, I mean that for about a month, possibly more, before the elections you simply can't get anything done that might involve dealing with the government. As it's been explained to me, during the time before the elections, all low to middle level officials in the entire country have to start their bribing campaigns in order to keep their jobs past election day. Now, I've not yet seen any real, concrete examples of this type of corruption, but everyone jokes about it. Very funny. Ha ha.
My first experience with this election obstacle was on day 2, dealing with El Capitan in Kampot Province. That would be July 13th. He basically told us he'd be very busy until the election. Local opinion (wisdom?) is that he had to go around to all of the Commune leaders in his area and collect their bribes, which undoubtedly consist of bribes from Village leaders. Then he has to make sure he has enough to bribe his bosses. Yes, there's alot of responsibility that comes with being a CPP official. Again, this is all based on what I've been told. I have not seen this kind of corruption with my own eyes, so it could be wrong.
On a side note, a few days after I got here there was an article about a journalist who was very anti CPP who was leaving the Olympic Stadium one night after some event and was gunned down along with his son.
m-hmm
On another side note, Hun Sen's government has undertaken a massive construction project to build a massive pump for the city on the bank of the Tonle Sap branch of the Mekong River to keep flooding down during the rainy season.
So, back to my story...
El Capitan tells us that we probably won't be able to get anything done with this process (see earlier posts) until after the elections. Great... that's 2 weeks away. Two weeks of those kids going to sleep with stomach pains and dirty water and no school and I don't even want to think about it. Five kids who have to wait on election day.
So, then Hin Dan, the director of the school in the countryside, tells Sam that the bricks for the school will likely be cheaper before the election by, as he estimates, $1000 in all. I have no idea why this might be. Perhaps no one is building until after the election because of uncertainty and the brick yards want to sell what they have now? Who knows. So I suppose that's one thing about the elections that's favorable. Hooray. The board of directors gives that plan a hearty thumbs up, by the way, but that saga doesn't end there... more on that in another post.
The next big thing we need to work on is getting Chibodia registered in Cambodia as a foreign INGO (International Non Governmental Agency). Great. No problem. There is a lawfirm in town run by Americans. Perfect. So, we put on our 'let's pretend it's not the tropics' clothing and head out to meet with the attorney. She's from the US, born in Alabama and she was almost, she says, born in Texas but for the good luck of her Air Force father being transferred. I'm so amused. So, we talk about business for a while until, you guessed it, "most of this is going to have to wait until after the elections". Great. That's a week and a half from now (at the time of the meeting). We can't go forward at all. Well, it gives us time to put together our proposal and other necessary paperwork... I think actual sitting-down-and-working time on that totals to about 7 hours. Good thing we had a week and a half...
Now, It's hard for me to give you an impression of the general attitude of the country without going on for pages and pages, but don't think it's repressed or 'Soviet' around here. Not at all. In fact, election day is basically a holiday here. MANY businesses are closed, no alcohol can be sold, and the next day, Monday this time (maybe always) is a national holiday. Maybe that's why such a large percentage of Cambodia's population votes as compared to America, where companies barely tolerate the law requiring them to let us come in late after voting. Go America!
Oh, and another thing, you can't buy alcohol on the day before or the day of election. Probably a really good idea... but I only say that becauswe we already had a case of Beer Lao at the house. I like to be prepared. We went to the supermarket this evening to stock up since everything will be closed tomorrow, and driving there we almost thought that half of the city must have gone on vacation. We would shortly discover that, no, they were still here, they were just ALL in the Lucky supermarket. ALL OF THEM.
I often have minor anxiety issues at the supermarket... heh... I'm amazed I didn't collapse. It was insane. Lucky has a parking garage that no one ever uses because it costs 1000 riel (that's about 20 cents or so). The street in front was packed. Sam said "Oh, no one ever parks in the garage. No problem".... packed... but we get a place on the very top. We go shopping... nothing to report other than the massive crowds. Then we get back out onto the streets. They're back. Everyone. It's crazy driving with packed streets as usual, just 30 minutes later. Very weird.
I don't know what it is, but something tells me that Hun Sen is going to win a fourth term... it's just a feeling
So, supposedly everything will be back in full swing... Tuesday? I'm doubtful. I wonder how long it will take to tally the votes.
Stay tuned.....