PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s opposition yesterday rejected the results of closely fought weekend elections and called for an investigation into “serious irregularities”, saying it was robbed of a victory over Premier Hun Sen.
Invigorated by the recent return from exile of its leader Sam Rainsy, the newly united opposition made significant gains in Sunday’s polls, which independent monitors also criticised as flawed.
It was the worst election result for the ruling party since 1998.
Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) announced late Sunday it had taken an estimated 68 out of the 123 seats in the lower house, against an increased 55 for the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The 60-year-old premier, who has been in power for 28 years , is regularly accused of ignoring human rights and muzzling political freedoms.
The CPP had 90 seats in the previous parliament, so if confirmed the result would mark the loss of 22 seats, despite the exclusion of Rainsy who was barred from running.
“This is now a two-party political system which I think is a healthy development,” said Jackson Cox, an analyst at the consultancy firm Woodmont International.
“There’s a clear message here that people want to be listened to,” he added.
The CNRP called for an urgent UN-backed investigation into allegations ranging from the removal of 1.25 million names from the voter lists to the addition of more than one million “ghost names” and about 200,000 duplicated names.
“We don’t accept the election results... There are too many irregularities with far reaching implications,” Rainsy told a news conference.
“We’re not seeking to bargain with the government. What we want is to render justice to the Cambodian people so their will is not distorted or reversed as before,” he added.
The CNRP said that overall the ruling party had won by only around 200,000 votes, so without the alleged irregularities the opposition would have finished first.
Dozens of supporters gathered at the opposition headquarters to protest.
Other concerns cited by rights groups included that the ink used to mark voters’ thumbs to ensure they did not vote more than once could be easily washed off.
The poll body denied there were any irregularities.
AFP
