Voters hope polls will bring rural boon

KANDAL, Cambodia — Millions of Cambodians voted in local polls on Sunday in what many observers are viewing as a warm-up for next year’s national elections.

While there have been political tensions at the national level in recent times, Cambodians are confident that their votes will bring good leaders to rural areas.

“The election is crucial to electing good commune chiefs and councilors who care about the people and devote their physical and mental energies to commune and village development,” 56-year-old businesswoman Seang Chantheng said after casting her vote at a polling station in the southern Kandal province.

She said she voted for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party since it has brought peace and development to the country.

“The party I trust, the party I have always supported is the Cambodian People’s Party and today I voted for the party,” she said.

Eang Dane, 19, a highschool student in the capital of Phnom Penh, said she also cast her ballot for the CPP and believed that only leaders from the CPP could bring real development to the grassroots people.

“It was the first time I have voted, I’m really happy,” she said after voting at a station in Phnom Penh. “I love the CPP because the party has brought peace and development to our country.”

Kim Sokhonn, a 46-year-old housewife who voted at a polling station in Kandal province, is hoping for a free and fair election.

“I hope that all political parties will accept the election results. I don’t want to see the situation like it was in 2013,” she said, referring to the national elections in July 2013 in which the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party did not recognize the election results and staged mass protests for months.

CPP President and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen voted at a polling station near his mansion in Kandal province, roughly 10 kilometers south of the capital on Sunday, while CNRP President Kem Sokha cast his ballot in Phnom Penh.

Hun Sen said during an election campaign on Friday that he was confident that the CPP would continue to win the majority in the polls.

“There is only the CPP that has sufficient capacity to govern Cambodia and to maintain the country’s peace and development,” he said.

Held every five years, the commune elections are being seen as a bellwether of the ruling party’s support ahead of the national elections in July 2018.

In the last commune elections in June 2012, the CPP gained 61.9 percent of the votes, compared to about 30.6 percent for the opposition.