PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s newly returned opposition leader yesterday applied to be reinstated as an electoral candidate in order to stand against strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen in polls this month.
Sam Rainsy, who was greeted by huge crowds on Friday after his return from self-imposed exile in France, was removed from the electoral register late last year and is unable to run as a candidate in the July 28 polls unless parliament amends the law.
He is seen as the main challenger to Hun Sen.
In a letter to the president of the National Election Committee (NEC), Rainsy asked whether it was possible to find a way “to reinstate my name in the voter list of NEC and the official list of MP candidates”.
He is asking to contest in southern Kandal province where Hun Sen is also standing as a candidate, according to the letter.
Rainsy, who returned after receiving a surprise royal pardon this month, has already hit the campaign trail to spearhead his party’s efforts to end Hun Sen’s nearly three decades in power.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia on Friday the French-educated former banker warned that demonstrations might break out if he is not allowed to stand.
“If I can’t participate, after the elections all the Cambodian people will protest and the whole international community will condemn the result and regard this as a sham election,” Rainsy said.
Neither Rainsy nor officials from his Cambodia National Rescue Party could be reached for comment. Tep Nytha, NEC’s secretary general, said he was unable to say immediately whether or not Rainsy would be reinstated.
AFP
