Hun Sen meets supporters amid polls criticism
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s longserving Prime Minister Hun Sen, 65, whose party claimed victory in a general election that many have said was neither free nor fair, met with supporters for the first time since the vote.
The former Khmer Rouge commander, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly 33 years, took selfies with supporters and enjoyed a boat ride yesterday following Sunday’s election in which his Cambodian People’s Party said it had won all 125 parliamentary seats, prompting condemnation from rights groups and some Western nations.
Authorities launched a sweeping crackdown in the lead up to the vote targeting the opposition National Cambodia Rescue Party (CNRP), rights groups activists, non-government organisations and independent media.
As part of the crackdown, the CNRP was dissolved by the Supreme Court last year and 118 members were banned from politics for five years.
Its leader Kem Sokha was jailed on treason charges in September
last year and remains in pre-trial detention at a prison near the country’s border with Vietnam.
Mark Field, the UK’s Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement on Tuesday that the election was “undermined by the authori-
ties well before campaigning started and resulted in an election that was neither fair nor credible”.
Germany, which suspended preferential visas for private travel by members of Hun Sen’s government, urged Cambodia to return to democratic principles.
“The German government has noted that the parliamentary elections in Cambodia were conducted peacefully. However, that alone is not enough to lend the election results legitimacy,” the country’s Federal Foreign Office said.
Opposition members had urged voters to boycott the election.
Invalid and spoiled ballots accounted for 8.4% of the 7.64 million cast, representing a protest against the election, the opposition and an analyst have said.
Hun Sen did not make a lengthy speech yesterday, as is normally his habit. Instead, he took a boat ride to Kandal province after inaugurating a boat terminal in the capital Phnom Penh.
The appearance was broadcast live on national television accompanied by music praising Hun Sen’s achievements.
The White House said it would consider steps, such as an expansion of visa restrictions placed on some government members, in response to the “flawed” elections.