DPA
Phnom Penh - The Cambodian National Election Committee (NEC) said the run-up to Sunday's election had been the least stricken by violence the country had seen, a representative said Saturday.
That statement came despite a history of violence and unrest during elections, which began again in 1993 and are held every five years.
NEC representative Em Sophath told a press conference that his organization had received fewer than half the complaints it had investigated at the last national election in 2003 since the one- month campaign period began.
'Even the opposition Sam Rainsy Party campaigned until midnight before (the election curfew),' Sopath said, referring to the 48-hour blackout on political news enforced by the NEC which began Saturday.
However, earlier in the day, prominent New York-based human rights group Human Rights Watch issued a statement claiming threats, intimidation and unequal media access had hurt the Cambodian opposition.
'Elections in Cambodia under existing conditions devalue the process,' Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch Asia director said.
'Election observers from genuine democracies would never accept at home the CPP's grip on the media or the fear and intimidation faced.'
Despite an ongoing police investigation, it blamed the CPP for the murder of opposition journalist Khim Sambo earlier this month, saying the killing 'appears to have been timed? to have the maximum chilling effect.'
It also accused the CPP of making 'lucrative offers of high-paying government positions' to coerce key opposition officials to defect and threatening those who did not prior to the vote.
However it conceded there had been a decrease in violence compared to previous elections.
The CPP, already in control of 73 seats, is touted to take up to 80 of 123 seats nationally Sunday and thousands of international observers have arrived to monitor polls.
That statement came despite a history of violence and unrest during elections, which began again in 1993 and are held every five years.
NEC representative Em Sophath told a press conference that his organization had received fewer than half the complaints it had investigated at the last national election in 2003 since the one- month campaign period began.
'Even the opposition Sam Rainsy Party campaigned until midnight before (the election curfew),' Sopath said, referring to the 48-hour blackout on political news enforced by the NEC which began Saturday.
However, earlier in the day, prominent New York-based human rights group Human Rights Watch issued a statement claiming threats, intimidation and unequal media access had hurt the Cambodian opposition.
'Elections in Cambodia under existing conditions devalue the process,' Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch Asia director said.
'Election observers from genuine democracies would never accept at home the CPP's grip on the media or the fear and intimidation faced.'
Despite an ongoing police investigation, it blamed the CPP for the murder of opposition journalist Khim Sambo earlier this month, saying the killing 'appears to have been timed? to have the maximum chilling effect.'
It also accused the CPP of making 'lucrative offers of high-paying government positions' to coerce key opposition officials to defect and threatening those who did not prior to the vote.
However it conceded there had been a decrease in violence compared to previous elections.
The CPP, already in control of 73 seats, is touted to take up to 80 of 123 seats nationally Sunday and thousands of international observers have arrived to monitor polls.
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