Early 2002 saw Cambodia's first ever local elections to select village and commune level representatives, an important step in bringing grassroots democracy to the country. Even with national elections since 1993, the CPP continued to monopolise political power at local and regional levels and only with commune elections would this grip be loosened. However, the commune elections were only really a warm up for the country's third national election in summer 2003.
. The elections of July 2003 saw a shift in the balance of power, as the CPP consolidated their grip on power and the Sam Rainsy Party overhauled Funcinpec' as the second party. It was to be coalition time again, but this time the politicians wouldn't even sit down and talk. Funcinpec and the

 LIFE'S A RIOT

 What should have been a smooth run-up to the 2003 elections got a little hot, as parts of Phnom Penh burned in the so-called anti-Thai riots of January 2003. Historically relations between Thailand jj and Cambodia have been a little strained, for reasons that shouldn't need spelling out if you 3 have made it this far in the History chapter. Allegedly, a famous Thai soap star claimed Angkor | Wat belonged to Thailand, and this spread like wildfire through the Cambodian media. Prime ; Minister Hun Sen announced that said actress wasn't worth a patch of grass upon which Angkor 3 Wat was built. Within days the Thai embassy was up in flames and countless other Thai-owned * businesses were severely damaged, including the Royal Phnom Penh Hotel and Camshin, the •; mobile phone company owned by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Rumours spread faster than the fires as to how this happened and many observers feel it was | politically motivated to oust the popular governor of Phnom Penh Chea Sophara - even though | he was out of town at the time, he was the only one to take the fall. He had annoyed the Thais \ by building a new road to the Cambodian border temple of Prasat Preah Vihear and annoyed | Prime Minister Hun Sen by becoming too popular with the people. There had to be a certain * amount of high-level collusion in planning the demonstrations, as had this been an anti-CPP rally, I it would have been brought to an end in minutes. Most likely, someone powerful engineered the I demos, but severely miscalculated the mood of the street, which rapidly got out of control. The Cambodian government agreed a compensation package for the damaged property and slowly but surely relations began to heal.

Sam Rainsy Party formed another of their 'til death do us part' alliances and negotiations began for a tri-party coalition. After nearly a year of false starts, Funcinpec ditched the Sam Rainsy Party once again and put their heads in the trough for another term. The political impact of these machinations remains to be seen, but it looks like Funcinpec are on a one¬way ticket out of the political scene and future contests will be between the entrenched CPP and the upwardly mobile Sam Rainsy Party.