Opposition leader Sam Rainsy celebrated reaching 1 million “likes” on his Facebook page at a press conference yesterday, crediting it with powering his party’s election campaign last year and its subsequent post-poll protests.

The millionth like occurred on Sunday.

“Amongst the 1.4 million Facebook accounts in Cambodia, 1 million people [71 per cent] have liked my page,” Rainsy said. According to data from social media analyst Social Bakers, however, more than 130,000 of Rainsy’s Facebook fans come from abroad.

A 56-slide presentation hailed the page as a “unique public forum”, adding that it had “forever revolutionised Cambodia’s political game”.

Rainsy also boasted that his page was on par with that of world leaders such as former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s page (which has never been confirmed as official) is just shy of 600,000 likes, and the fifth-most popular Cambodian page.