CAMBODIA: Opposition party leaders meet their supporters at a rally after a contested election

Record ID: 214042

  • Title: CAMBODIA: Opposition party leaders meet their supporters at a rally after a contested election
  • Date: 26th August 2013
  • Summary: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (AUGUST 26, 2013) (REUTERS) THOUSANDS OF CAMBODIA NATIONAL RESCUE PARTY SUPPORTERS DANCING SUPPORTER AND SINGING "CHANGING HUN SEN AND TAKE THE NATION" SUPPORTERS' APPLAUSE SUPPORTERS DANCING
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cambodia
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZTQ7UYERUI6YZKWKBWG1739Y
  • Story Text: Opposition leaders from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha met supporters who gathered in Phnom Penh's Freedom Park on Monday (August 26) for the second large rally since the July 28 parliamentary elections.
    A deadlock over Cambodia's disputed election hardened as the opposition rejected official results confirming a victory for Prime Minister Hun Sen's long-ruling party and raised the prospect of further street protests.
    The CNRP said it would not accept the latest results because the government had failed to address its allegations of widespread cheating, and called on the international community not to recognize the outcome.
    The crisis over the July 28 election is Hun Sen's biggest political challenge in two decades and threatens to destabilize the small, fast-growing Southeast Asian nation that has built strong economic and political ties with China in recent years.
    The National Election Committee (NEC) - a state body seen as dominated by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) - announced official results August 12 showing the CPP had won a majority of votes in 19 of Cambodia's 24 provinces.
    That was broadly in line with preliminary results that the CPP said gave it 68 seats in parliament to the 55 seats won by the CNRP, a hefty loss of 22 seats for the ruling party.
    Monday's rally was aimed at encouraging supporters to have a mass protest against the contested election if the party failed to find justice.

    "The government always threaten us by deploying tanks, armoured personnel carriers, guns in the city and they said that they do so in order to defense peace, stability so i responded to them that in order to have real peace, real stability we must have real justice brothers and sisters," said CNRP deputy party leader Kem Sokha.
    The CNRP and the ruling Cambodia People's Party had failed to reach any agreement to form a new independence committee to investigate the election irregularities after two meetings recently.
    The CNRP threatened to call a mass rally against the contested election result at the last stage if justice is ignored.

    "We can not agree to the injustice election result contrary to the fact, we definitely can not accept it," said CNRP party leader Sam Rainsy who returned from exile to galvanize the campaign of the newly merged opposition for the election.
    So far the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Wednesday (August 21) in Phnom Penh and endorsed the ruling party as the winner.
    The CNRP claims that 1.3 million names were missing from electoral rolls and that Hun Sen's side had stuffed ballot boxes with illegal votes.
    The allegations are being investigated by the NEC and all complaints by this party were dismissed.
    The CNRP then put all their complaints to the Constitutional Council, the final body which solve the election disputes.
    The National Election Committee plans to issue the final election result on September 10.
    Sam Rainsy wants the United Nations and non-governmental bodies to take part, which the government has rejected.
    The United States and European Union have expressed concern about irregularities in the election but both have said an investigation should be conducted by Cambodian authorities.
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