Cambodia’s opposition leader yesterday denounced signs of voter fraud on the eve of elections and labeled Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen a “coward” for not allowing him to participate.
Sam Rainsy said his party had uncovered irregularities such as tens of thousands of duplicated voter names that would allow some people to cast ballots twice in today’s polls.
He also alleged that the ink used for voting could be washed off.
“We are going backward in terms of election fairness,” Rainsy told reporters.
“More people will vote for us,” he said. “But I suspect the ruling party, knowing this, will cheat more, will cheat like mad.”
Local and international rights groups have also voiced concerns about reports of numerous irregularities.
Rainsy returned to Cambodia on July 19 from self imposed exile in France after receiving a surprise royal pardon for criminal convictions which he contends were politically motivated.
However, he is barred from running as a candidate since the authorities said it was too late to add his name to the electoral register.
“It is very unfair,” he said of the refusal to allow him to stand.
“If the prime minister wants to keep his position he must be brave enough to confront me,” Rainsy added.
“It’s very unfair and shows that the current prime minister is really a coward,” he said.
Rainsy, seen as the only major challenger to Hun Sen, had faced a total of 11 years in jail, but was pardoned by King Sihamoni earlier this month at the prime minister’s request.
Rainsy was stripped of his parliamentary seat in 2011 and removed from the electoral register late last year.
Last month all 28 opposition members of parliament were stripped of their status by a committee made up of ruling party members, which accused them of violating parliament’s internal rules by joining forces to form a new party.
Unlike Rainsy, they are still allowed to take part in today’s election.
Hun Sen is one of Southeast Asia’s longest-serving leaders. His CPP won the last two polls by a landslide amid allegations of fraud and election irregularities.
His government is regularly accused of suppressing political freedoms and clamping down on dissent.
In May, Hun Sen said he would try to stay in power for another decade.
“Tomorrow [today], the election is not the end of our fight. It will be the beginning of the fight for real democracy,” Rainsy said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in