Bangkok, July 24, (dpa/GNA) – Long-time prime minister, Hun Sen, and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), have retained power as expected in Cambodia’s parliamentary election on Sunday.
Party spokesmen Sok Eysan, spoke of a “landslide victory” late on Sunday evening. According to preliminary results, the CPP will win at least 120 seats in the 125-member National Assembly, the Khmer Times newspaper reported on Monday citing the election commission.
However, Hun Sen had no competition to fear thanks to massive repression in the run-up to the election.
The 70-year-old has been in power in the South-East Asian kingdom for almost 40 years, making him one of the longest serving prime ministers in the world.
The only opposition party with a real chance, the Candlelight Party, was not allowed to participate in the vote. The Constitutional Court had banned its admission in May, because of an alleged technical error in the registration process. Numerous party members have been detained, and others have fled abroad.
Almost 10 million people went to the polls on Sunday. Voter turnout was around 84%. This was mainly due to the fact that Hun Sen had the electoral law changed a few weeks ago, making calls for an election boycott or attempts to invalidate a ballot paper punishable.
Hun Sen uses the high voter turnout to legitimize his hold on power.
Before the election, Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, compared Cambodia’s election to the political workings of other de facto one-party states, saying it was “comparable to kinds of ‘elections’ seen in North Korea, Vietnam, or Venezuela.”
“Cambodia is destroying the remnants of democracy, in favour of a hereditary dictatorship,” Robertson tweeted, calling the vote a “farce.”
For years, Hun Sen has been building up his eldest son, 45-year-old General Hun Manet, as his successor. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV channel, Hun Sen now said it is possible that his son could take over as prime minister, in just a few weeks.
GNA