Saturday, June 04, 2022

Cambodians vote in local polls as revived opposition vies for seats

Sat, June 4, 2022


Cambodians voted in local polls on Sunday as a revived opposition party attempted to dent Prime Minister Hun Sen's decades-long grip on power ahead of national elections next year.

Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving leaders, has ruled Cambodia for more than 37 years and turned the nation into a one-party state at the 2018 general election, winning every parliamentary seat.

Critics and rights groups have accused him of creating a climate of fear by locking up scores of political opponents and activists.

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) -- which won 44 percent of the popular vote in previous local elections in 2017 -- was forced to forfeit its positions after a court dissolved the party later that year.

Scores of opposition figures have since fled the country, while others have been arrested.


Opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was arrested and jailed for more than a year, is facing a treason trial, while CNRP co-founder Sam Rainsy is living in France to escape convictions he says are politically motivated.


Sunday's vote in 1,652 communes, or village clusters, will take the country's political pulse ahead of the national elections in 2023.

Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) made a show of strength in the capital Phnom Penh on Friday with a massive parade of cars, trucks, motorcycles and tuk-tuks greeted by flag-waving supporters.

A total of 17 political parties are running in the local election, with more than 11,600 positions up for grabs -- the majority of which are presently controlled by the ruling party.


But all eyes are on the performance of the Candlelight Party (CP) -- founded by Rainsy in 1995 -- which has registered candidates to contest nearly all communes and has been gaining strong support.

- 'last hope' -

"The Candlelight Party is the last hope for the people, although we are suffering from intimidation and threats, and political harassment," party secretary-general Lee Sothearayuth told AFP.

UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said she was disturbed by patterns of obstruction targeting opposition candidates ahead of the poll.

She warned that the CP "faces a paralysing political environment" after at least six candidates and activists were arrested in the run-up to the vote.

The CP is well-positioned to attract supporters and is the only party that "poses a realistic threat" to Hun Sen's CPP, according to Sebastian Strangio, an expert on Cambodian politics and the author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia".

"A strong opposition showing would demonstrate that the popular discontent with CPP rule continues to simmer beneath the surface of Cambodian politics," he told AFP.

CPP spokesman Sok Eysan downplayed the threat, telling AFP that his party would "overwhelmingly" win.

"The whole glass has already broken. So these small pieces of glass are not strong," Sok Eysan said, referring to the opposition movement.

An estimated 9.2 million people are registered to cast ballots on Sunday.

suy/lpm/lb/smw/cwl

Cambodians vote in local election amid intimidation, threats


 
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) supporters drive motorbikes during the last day of campaigning ahead of the June 5 communal elections, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 3, 2022.

Cambodian People's Party (CPP) supporters participate in a rally during the last day of campaigning ahead of the June 5 communal elections, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 3, 2022.

Buddhist monks walk near three-wheeled pedicab drivers who wait for their costumers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 3, 2022. 
(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

SOPHENG CHEANG
Sat, June 4, 2022

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodians headed to the polls Sunday in local elections that are their first chance to vote since the ruling party of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen swept a 2018 general election that was widely criticized as unfair.

Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party is certain to sail to easy victory again following what the U.N. Human Rights Office charged Thursday was a pattern of “threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates.

"Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning,” the agency said. It added that at least six opposition candidates and activists were in detention four days before the polls, awaiting trial, while others summonsed on politically motivated charges had gone into hiding.

Cambodia's delegation at the U.N. Geneva offices said in a statement that the criticism was “erroneous, politicized and selective.” It said “all political parties, including opposition ones, have fully exercised their rights in line with the laws and registered schedules without any threats and obstruction.”

Hun Sen and his wife cast their ballots Sunday morning in Kandal province near the capital, Phnom Penh.

Hun Sen, an authoritarian ruler in a nominally democratic state, has held power for 37 years. He has said he intends to stay in office until 2028 and has endorsed one of his sons to succeed him.

His party is the only one to field candidates nationwide in all 1,652 communes. Its only serious rival, the Candlelight Party, has candidates in 1,632 communes, and the royalist FUNCINPEC Party has challengers in 688 communes. There are a total of 82,786 candidates from 17 political parties with 9.2 million registered voters.

The local elections are held a year ahead of the general election, and are regarded as a test of the parties’ strength.

In the last communal elections in 2017, the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party made an unexpectedly strong showing, which led Hun Sen’s government to crack down on it as well as independent media. The party was dissolved by the Supreme Court on a charge of treason, widely seen as politically motivated, and the free press was driven out of business or cowed into submission.

Without the Cambodian National Rescue Party on the ballot, Hun Sen’s party was assured of victory in the general election the following year.

Several Western nations imposed sanctions on the government after concluding the 2018 election was neither free nor fair. The harshest measure came from the European Union, which withdrew some preferential trading privileges.

The dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, whose sitting members were also ousted from their political posts, remains banned, with most of its top leaders in exile.

The Candlelight Party is now seeking to challenge the ruling party by rallying its former supporters, though its activities have remained severely curtailed.

The original Candlelight Party was founded in 1995 by Sam Rainsy, the main political rival of Hun Sen, and later folded into the Cambodia National Rescue Party. Sam Rainsy, faced with legal harassment, went into self-exile in France, and the co-founder of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, Kem Sokha, is currently being tried on a thinly supported treason charge.

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