Cambodia's strongman PM seeks to extend grip on power

By Suy Se | AFP News – July 28 ,2013

 Sam Rainsy, leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), speaks to the media during a press conference in Phnom Penh, on July 27, 2013. Rainsy denounced signs of voter fraud on the eve of elections and labelled Prime Minister Hun Sen a "coward" for not allowing him to participate

 

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany show their inked fingers at a polling station during the general election, in Kandal province, on July 28, 2013

 Polling station officials put up a sign in Phnom Penh, on July 27, 2013, a day before Cambodia goes to the polls. After nearly three decades in power Cambodian strongman Hun Sen no longer bothers with election campaigning, but an opposition rejuvenated by the return of its leader from exile is battling back

 Officials put up posters and announcements outside a polling station in Phnom Penh, on July 27, 2013, a day before Cambodia goes to the polls. After nearly three decades in power Cambodian strongman Hun Sen no longer bothers with election campaigning, but an opposition rejuvenated by the return of its leader from exile is battling back

 

Cambodians voted on Sunday in elections expected to extend strongman premier Hun Sen's 28-year rule in the face of alleged poll irregularities and the exclusion of the opposition chief.

The former Khmer Rouge fighter turned prime minister appears so confident of victory that he did not even bother to personally campaign for the parliamentary election.

Galvanised by the return from exile of their leader Sam Rainsy, his political foes have injected some rare competition into the race.

But the opposition has also decried signs of voter fraud and warned a Hun Sen win will be "worthless" without Rainsy's participation.

The French-educated former banker returned to Cambodia on July 19 from self-imposed exile after receiving a surprise royal pardon for criminal convictions which he contends were politically motivated.

But he is barred from running as a candidate since the authorities said it was too late to add his name to the electoral register.

"If the prime minister wants to keep his position he must be brave enough to confront me," Rainsy told reporters on the eve of the vote.

"It's very unfair and shows that the current prime minister is really a coward," he added.

His Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) said it had uncovered irregularities such as tens of thousands of duplicated voter names that would allow some people to cast ballots twice.

"More people will vote for us," Rainsy said. "But I suspect the ruling party, knowing this, will cheat more, will cheat like mad."

Local poll monitor the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia alleged that up to 1.25 million people who are eligible to cast ballots are not on the voter lists.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has warned the vote will be anything but free and fair, highlighting alleged manipulation of voter rolls and campaigning by senior security forces officers for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

"The process has been manipulated to ensure victory for the ruling party," said HRW Asia director Brad Adams.

While the government denies the allegations, CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP the party was confident of another landslide.

"We expect to keep an absolute majority," he said.

Polls opened at 7:00 am (0000 GMT) and close at 3:00 pm, with about 9.6 million people registered to vote -- more than one third of whom are below the age of 30.

A smiling Hun Sen kissed his ballot and dropped it into the box at a polling station at a teacher training school in the town of Ta Khmao near the capital Phnom Penh.

First in line to vote there was 87-year-old Yim Hor Eam who described it as a "historic day".

"I voted for peace for the country. If we make a wrong decision, the country will be in danger, will be destroyed," he told AFP, without revealing who he supported.

Hun Sen oversaw Cambodia's transformation from a nation devastated by the "Killing Fields" genocide era to become one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies.

The 60-year-old premier -- who has vowed to rule until he is 74 -- is regularly accused of trampling on human rights and quashing political dissent.

And while garment exports and tourism have brought double-digit economic growth, Cambodia remains one of the world's poorest countries.

For decades, Hun Sen's simple message -- that he and the CPP liberated Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge and ushered in decades of peaceful development -- has been enough to guarantee support.

"Hun Sen has been adept at humiliating his political opponents by stripping opposition deputies of their immunity and orchestrating the exile of Sam Rainsy," said Cambodia expert Carl Thayer, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

But he is "also a genuinely popular figure," he added.

"Because the opposition lacks deep and widespread support in the provinces their best prospect is to reduce the number of seats held by the CPP."

There are tentative signs of change as social media allow the opposition to reach out to young, urban voters.

Thousands of opposition supporters have turned out in recent weeks for campaign rallies chanting "change!"

While the opposition hopes that Sunday's election will be a step at least towards a shift in power, the strongman premier appears to have other plans.

His three US-educated sons have been handed top party or army positions and the youngest is running in Sunday's election, fuelling speculation they are being groomed to replace him.