Cambodia’s Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Hun Sen (centre) and his wife Bun Rany (behind) prepare to cast their votes during the general elections at a polling station in Kandal province, outside of Phnom Penh, on Sunday. TANG CHHIN Sothy/afp
Caretaker Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday thanked voters for his party’s landslide election victory and claimed the turnout of over 80 per cent showed the people desired to vote and that the poll was free of pressure or intimidation.
His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) claimed on Tuesday that it had won all 125 parliamentary seats.
Issuing a preliminary report on the elections, the CPP said it would control 100 per cent of the National Assembly. Its spokesman Sok Eysan said its National Assembly lawmakers would be announced in September.
Hun Sen, who has been prime minister for more than 33 years, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday that he considered the election to be a liberal, multi-party and democratic one, which was the people’s greatest wish.
“Cambodia has successfully decided the nation’s fate through a free, just, and fair election with the preliminary result showing 82.89 per cent of registered voters showed up,” he wrote.
He said the Cambodian people showed their “highest will” by exercising their freedom to choose lawmakers “freely, with no pressure or intimidation,” Hen Sen posted, adding that over 90,000 observers monitored the elections.
Finally, he expressed his gratitude to those who supported the CPP, which he said would “promote democracy and strengthen the country’s rule of law”.
Graphic by Than Veasna and Leang Phannara
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Tuesday claimed there were three reasons why the CPP won.
He wrote on his Facebook page: “The CPP has party leaders whom people believe in, it has the right policies, and can follow through on its promises.”
The Grassroots Democratic Party (GDP) Tuesday also issued a press release saying that it “did not send enough election observers, and without enough [of them] from civil society organisations, we cannot conclude if the voting figures are correct or not”.
Sam Inn, the GDP’s secretary-general told The Post that if the ruling party has exclusive control of the National Assembly, it will cause the system of governance to become worse.
“The path towards real democracy is now more difficult and bad governance will be worse,” he said.
Lao Mong Hay, a political analyst, described the election differently from the prime minister.
“Cambodia has ceased to be a pluralistic liberal democracy ... since the dissolution of CNRP and the reallocation of its seats in the National Assembly,” he wrote in a message to The Post.
