Crackdown and cash: Hun Sen's recipe for victory in Cambodian poll

Record ID: 1142691

  • Title: Crackdown and cash: Hun Sen's recipe for victory in Cambodian poll
  • Date: 26th July 2018
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (RECENT - JULY 20, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH'S ASIA DIVISION, PHIL ROBERTSON, SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH'S ASIA DIVISION, PHIL ROBERTSON, SAYING: "We're very concerned about intimidation of voters. There has been an effort by the government to try to compel everyone to go vot
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2018 05:35
  • Keywords: Cambodia general election Hun Sen opposition crackdown
  • Location: PHNOM PENH, KANDAL PROVINCE, PREY VENG PROVINCE, CAMBODIA / BANGKOK, THAILAND / PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PHNOM PENH, KANDAL PROVINCE, PREY VENG PROVINCE, CAMBODIA / BANGKOK, THAILAND / PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA0098QDWMRP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hugging, smiling, and posing for selfies with a crowd of mostly female garment factory workers at a campaign rally, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia was on a charm offensive.
    Drenched in sweat and more than an hour into a speech urging 16,000 garment factory workers to vote for the ruling party, the Cambodian leader revived the restless crowd by announcing that everyone would receive a cash gift of at least 20,000 riels ($5).
    Cambodians go to the polls on Sunday (July 29) and Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 30 years, is trying to ensure victory after two close elections in 2013 and 2017 with cash inducements and a series of punishing measures against the opposition.
    In doing so, according to critics, he has delivered a hammer blow to Cambodia's status as a liberal democracy, which is enshrined in the country's constitution forged by a United Nations peace deal in 1991.
    Kem Sokha, the leader of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested in September for allegedly treasonous remarks in a speech made four years earlier. Two months later, the CNRP was dissolved and almost 5,000 of its elected officials replaced by members of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), effectively setting up an election with no main opposition parties according to a former president of the CNRP.
    Meanwhile, civil liberties and freedom of speech have been quashed as independent media outlets closed and critics and journalists are detained.
    Some have called for a boycott of the vote, but authorities, including a spokesman for Hun Sen's ruling CPP have said boycotting the vote is illegal and that action will be taken against those who urge others not to vote. Voting in Cambodia is voluntary.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register