Tensions high as Cambodian ruling party claims victory

Hun Sen, Asia's longest serving prime minister, has been in power for 28 years

 

The Associated Press 

Last Updated: Jul 28, 2013 10:41 AM ET

People try to find their names on the voters' lists at a polling station in Phnom Penh on Sunday. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Cambodia's opposition appeared to make significant gains in parliament in Sunday's general election, while the ruling party claimed a victory that would deliver another mandate for long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Passions boiled over at one polling station in Phnom Penh's Stung Meanchey district, where Associated Press reporters saw two official vehicles that had been destroyed by rioters. However, there were no other reports of violence.

Khieu Kanharith, a spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said on his Facebook page that his party won 68 seats in the race for 123 National Assembly seats. He said the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party won 55 seats — gaining heavily on the 29 it held in the outgoing parliament.

Results from the official National Election Committee were expected to start coming in later Sunday.

 People surround an election committee official in protest against alleged election irregularities at a polling station in Phnom Penh on Sunday. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

If the results stand as the ruling party projected, it would be a huge boost for the much beleaguered opposition, giving it a strong platform for future growth. However, a simple majority is sufficient for most legislative business, ensuring that the CPP can continue to administer the country much as it wishes, though with increased sensitivity for public opinion. The CPP has an overwhelming majority of local administration posts as well.

The CNRP had said earlier in an emailed statement that it had won the election, but later retracted the claim. At a news conference, party leader Sam Rainsy instead stressed that his party's gains were a victory for the country. He urged his supporters to remain calm and wait for official results.

On Saturday, Rainsy — who returned from years of self-exile this month — had virtually acknowledged that his party would lose the election, saying the polls were unfair but that his battle for democracy would go on.

Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, cast his ballot Sunday morning shortly after the polls opened near his home in Takhmau, just south of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Longtime rivals

Sam Rainsy began his day with a visit to a polling station near his party's office in Phnom Penh. Hundreds of voters, particularly younger ones, greeted him enthusiastically, with some of the bolder ones hugging him.

Rainsy had stayed abroad for almost four years to avoid a jail term for convictions that he said were politically motivated. He returned July 19 only after receiving a royal pardon at the behest of Hun Sen, his longtime and bitter rival.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen kisses his ballot before casting it in the general elections at a polling station in Kandal province on Sunday. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Counting of the paper ballots at polling stations began shortly after the polls closed, with representatives of political parties witnessing the process.

The general election was Cambodia's fifth since 1993, when the United Nations helped stage the country's first free polls since the 1975-79 genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge and a subsequent period of civil war and one-party rule.

There were many reports Sunday of voting irregularities on social media from local journalists and election watchdog groups, but an overall picture was unlikely to emerge until Monday at the earliest.

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Military police, who in Cambodia are used in a civilian capacity, were deployed to restore order. The unrest was originally thought to be related to people not being allowed to vote, but other accounts said a brawl broke out when a crowd confronted a man they believed to be ethnic Vietnamese trying to vote without the right to do so.

Rainsy said his party would wait before deciding what to do about the alleged irregularities, but added that if it was clear the voters' will was being denied, "definitely, there will be protests."

The streets around Hun Sen's residence in Phnom Penh were closed Sunday, with police patrolling in an apparent effort to ward off protesters.

© The Associated Press, 2013