PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s ruling party declared on Sunday (Jul 23) it was on course for a “landslide” victory in an election where all meaningful opposition to long-time ruler Hun Sen was eliminated before polling day.
The 70-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre has ruled since 1985 and faces no real contest in this vote, with opposition parties banned, challenger candidates forced to flee and freedom of expression stifled.
His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is expected to retain all 125 seats in the lower house, prolonging his grip on power and paving the way for a dynastic succession some critics have compared to North Korean politics.
The only serious opposition party was disqualified on a technicality in the run-up to the polls and it will be a surprise if any of the 17 other small, poorly funded parties win seats.
“We are winning a landslide,” CPP spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP around two hours after polls closed, with counting underway.
He later told AFP the party had won “between 78 and 80 percent of the votes” according to its own count.
Some provincial results are expected to trickle in overnight, though the final tally of seats will not be officially confirmed for several weeks.
More than 9.7 million people were registered to vote in the seventh election since the United Nations first sponsored polls in 1993 after years of conflict – including the genocidal Khmer Rouge – left the country devastated.
Over the last 30 years, what hopes the international community might have had for a vibrant multi-party democracy in Cambodia have been flattened by the juggernaut of Hun Sen’s rule.
Voter turnout recorded at around 9.00 pm (1500 GMT) was 85 per cent and Hun Sen said this showed support for opposition groups had collapsed.
“The Cambodian people won’t let the cheating groups destroy the country,” he wrote on his official Telegram channel.
With victory for Hun Sen all but assured, eyes will turn to Hun Manet, his son and anointed successor, after the veteran PM said he could hand over power within a few weeks.
“We have exercised our civil right and responsibility and right… of citizens to vote to choose the party we love to lead the country,” the 45-year-old scion told reporters after casting his ballot.
Many wonder whether Hun Manet, educated in the United States and Britain, might bring change to the country – though Hun Sen has made it clear that he intends to keep pulling strings even after his son takes over.
Asked by AFP what he planned to do for Cambodia when he became prime minister, Hun Manet replied: “I have no comment on that.”
Rights groups have condemned the election, with a 17-strong coalition saying on the eve of polling that the ballot was of “profound concern”.
Source: CNA
