Grassroots Democratic Party គណបក្សប្រជាធិបតេយ្យមូលដ្ឋាន | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Yeng Virak [1] |
| Founder | Kem Ley [2] , Yang Saing Koma [3] , Sam Inn [4] |
| Founded | 2 August 2015 |
| Headquarters | No. 38, Street 1972, Phumi Pongpeay, Sangkat Phnom Penh Thmey, Khan Sen Sok, Phnom Penh |
| Ideology | Khmer nationalism Grassroots democracy Populism Republicanism |
| Political position | Centre |
| Colors | Green |
| Commune Council | 5 / 11,572 |
| Website | |
| http://www.gdpcambodia.party/ | |
The Grassroots Democratic Party, or GDP, (Khmer : គណបក្សប្រជាធិបតេយ្យមូលដ្ឋាន was founded on 2 August 2015 by former non-government organization (NGO) leaders, intellectuals and community leaders from more than 10 communes of Cambodia. The key founding members of GDP are Dr. Kem Ley (assassinated on 10 July 2016) [5] , Dr. Yang Saing Koma, Mr. Yeng Virak and Dr. Sam Inn.
The original ideas behind the founding of the GDP were as follows:
Khmer or Cambodian is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism. The more colloquial registers have influenced, and have been influenced by, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, and Cham, all of which, due to geographical proximity and long-term cultural contact, form a sprachbund in peninsular Southeast Asia. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the Mon–Khmer family, predating Mon and by a significant margin Vietnamese, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of Chenla, Angkor and, presumably, their earlier predecessor state, Funan.
The official logo of the party is triangular representing “bottom-up democracy.” The logo has four colors: green, blue, red and white. The official color of the party is green, representing grassroots democracy and sustainable development.
The core values of GDP are:
The vision of the party is “All Cambodian citizens living in dignity and the country has full national sovereignty.”
The mission of the party is “To nurture good leaders and building democratic foundation for the whole nation.”
The party has adopted the following internal principles:
The national structure of the GDP:
The current national leaders of the GDP are:
The GDP participated in the local elections held on 3 June 2017 by competing in 27 communes, winning five seats in 3 communes. The average results in 27 communes indicated that GDP ranked third after the two main rivals (CPP and CNRP), but in Pate commune GDP ranked second, receiving the same number of seats as CPP (CPP - 2, GDP - 2, CNRP - 1).
Following the dissolution of CNRP, the GDP did not accept any re-allocation of CNRP seats.
The GDP will participate in the national election held on 29 July 2018 and will compete in all 25 constituencies. The party will present itself as the new alternative and the new hope for all Cambodians.
The GDP’s political platform consisting of 125 key policies which are presented in the “Green Book.” The 125 policies are classified in national reconciliation and unity policies, national building policies, national protection and security policies and international cooperation policies. As part of the national reconciliation and unity, the GDP will create solidarity government by inviting all political parties with National Assembly (NA) seats to form super nation building councils by inviting all former top national political leaders to be members.
For the election campaign among the general population, the GDP has summarized the key nation building policies in a one page format which is known as Sor 5 policies, the Khmer acronym for five sectors, including: economy and jobs, health, education and youth, social welfare and public services and democratic governance. Among the 125 policies, 15 policies have been selected for the general campaign:
Economy and jobs
Health care
Education and youth
Social protection and welfare
Public services and democratic governance
It is important to note that the party will meet again in June 2018 to decide the next step in the process of participation in the election, including the election of the top candidate or Prime Minister (PM) candidate.
The GDP recognizes that one of the factors for free and fair elections is to ensure that there is a sufficient number of election observers at all polling stations, including both independent observers (national and international observers), as well as observers recruited directly by the GDP.
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