🇵🇭 Second time a charm for De Lima

Hello friends!

A quick whip around the region this week of things we missed while the Thailand election dominated our thoughts, dreams and timelines. 

I had the total fortune to join Ben Raue on his podcast the Tally Room looking at elections around the region. He’s a big-time elections fan so I was very grateful for his primer on how the electoral system itself works. Listen here and subscribe on your preferred podcast app.

We haven’t gone into the Timor-Leste parliamentary elections at all. They’re on this Sunday but my brain is fully Thailand, so apologies for that. Luckily, friend of the letter Parker Novak has a great write-up here in Lowy Institute’s Interpreter that’ll keep us up to date. 

Crack in and see you next week!Erin Cook

🇵🇭 Two strikes, is she almost out?

A strong step towards freedom for former senator Leila de Lima after a court acquitted her on the second of three charges that has seen her imprisoned since 2017. This charge relates to allegations — from Rodrigo Duterte, no less — that she had taken payments from drug kingpins during her time as Justice Minister in the Aquino government. She is challenging a third charge which, if acquitted, will finally see her released.

Former Duterte president spokesman Harry Roque said the ex-prez was not involved in the criminalisation of de Lima during an interview on One News Wednesday night. “A former politician who was a victim of a witch hunt of Leila de Lima was behind her prosecution,” he said. Ahhh, yeah right, de Lima lawyer Dino de Leon reckons. “It is hard to believe what Roque is saying, that Duterte did not have any involvement here,” he said on the same programme, as per Philippine Star.  

Roque is really hoping everyone has forgotten the 15-year beef between de Lima and Duterte. Good try. 

It’s a “glorious day,” de Lima told reporters outside the court on Friday, as per Al Jazeera. Their piece is a great long one that has more context on the background to this whole long, sorry saga if you’re trying to catch up! Likewise, this one in the Atlantic from Timothy McLaughlin digs into the de Lima-Duterte wars. 

🇲🇲 Help is a long time coming

Cyclone Mocha smashed across Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday. Although it was the better part of a week ago, there’s still a lot we don’t know yet with information trickling through. This collection of photos from Al Jazeera shows how awful and scary the storm must have been. 

The National Unity Government put the death toll at 435 as of Wednesday, but that is expected to increase dramatically as rescue efforts continue and telecommunications come back online, as per Democratic Voice. 

While the enormous refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, was thankfully spared much of the destruction, Rakhine State took a battering. Military leaders declared a state of emergency there with locals telling BBC about 90% of the capital Sittwe has been affected. “It is like a broken city,” local resident Hla Tun told Al Jazeera. “Many vulnerable households will not be able to build their houses again. This is the farming season, but it is gone.”

United Nations efforts to roll out much-needed emergency supplies have been hamstrung by junta travel restrictions, CNN reports today. “Humanitarian actors have made clear that the need to secure travel authorisation is impeding their response to the cyclone,” said Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar.

“Travel within Rakhine state is restricted with the exception of Sittwe, the state capital. Permission is always necessary. All aid agencies are required to apply for travel authorizations to implement activities one month prior to travel,” Paul Brockmann, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ operations manager for Myanmar, told CNN. 

Reuters spoke with residents in affected areas who say they’ve been virtually abandoned and worry “for not having food, purified water and emergency treatment. There are no ... search and rescue teams.” 

🇰🇭 Lights out for Candlelight

The National Election Committee officially rejected the opposition party’s registration on Monday in Phnom Penh, citing the paperwork issues we discussed a couple of weeks back. (That is, original paperwork was seized during a raid on party offices and the NEC refused to reissue the documents)

According to Camboja News, the party has until the end of the month to appeal and, as the outlet notes, Candlelight was able to contest last year’s commune elections despite the paper issue so we’ll see how that goes. 

Candlelight spokesperson Kimsour Phirith told the AP the party intends to file a complaint about the ruling to the Constitutional Council. It’s an uphill battle, according to the wire: “Cambodian courts are widely considered to be under the influence of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government and his Cambodian People’s Party.”

“The Hun Sen regime once again shows its utter disdain for the principles of democracy and unwillingness to compete in free and fair elections. If it wants the world to take the results of the July election seriously, the Cambodian government must halt all efforts to hamstring its opponents and ensure a space for all parties to participate,” Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights board member Kasit Piromya, said in a statement Tuesday. Tell ya what, APHR is flat out this month.