Cambodia’s opposition party has agreed to work with the government to probe alleged election fraud, the party said yesterday, in an apparent step toward ending a political impasse since last week’s disputed poll.
An investigating committee will bring together representatives from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, both of which claim election victory.
CNRP representative Kuy Bunroeun confirmed the party agreed in principle to join the committee, without giving further details.
Hun’s ruling party last Sunday claimed it had secured an estimated 68 of the 123 lower house seats, defeating the CNRP, which won 55.
Yet the CNRP has said it won the poll, rejecting the CPP results, on the grounds of widespread voting irregularities, and has vowed to press for nationwide protests unless an independent probe with UN participation is launched.
However, demands for the UN to sit on the investigating panel will not be met, according to Tep Nytha of the National Election Committee, which will head the probe.
Instead the UN, local and international representatives will only “have the right to observe the process,” he added.
The apparent climbdown by the CNRP offers a possible pathway through a political deadlock, which has seen the two parties trade accusations over the last week.
“This is a good decision that would calm voters’ minds,” Tep Nytha added.
On Friday, the UN said that disputes over the election must be “adjudicated fairly,” but added it had not yet been asked to join any inquiry.
The US also urged a probe of alleged misconduct in Cambodia’s election, but said that the gains made by the opposition marked a positive step toward democracy.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy — who was barred from running as a parliamentary candidate — has claimed his party won a majority of 63 seats. Yesterday, he repeated a vow to prevent the CPP “stealing victory” by allegedly culling 1.25 million legitimate votes from the electoral roll and adding more than a million “ghost names” and duplicates to the voter list.
“Bad people have stolen the votes and want to steal our victory too. We will not let them to do so,” he said in a video posted on the CNRP’s official Web site.
Hun has welcomed a probe, but has also vowed to establish a government under his leadership if the opposition refused to join parliament. Hun, 60, a former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected from the murderous regime, has vowed to rule until he is 74.
The prime minister — in power for 28 years — is regularly accused of ignoring human rights and muzzling political freedoms.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS