PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia's newly returned opposition
leader has denounced political intimidation and warned that this month's
election will be a "sham" unless he is allowed to stand as a candidate.
Sam
Rainsy, who was greeted by huge crowds on Friday after his return from
self-imposed exile in France, is seen as the main challenger to
strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.
But he has been removed from the
electoral register and is unable to run as a candidate in the July 28
polls unless parliament amends the law.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Rainsy warned that demonstrations might break out if he is not allowed to stand.
"If
I can't participate, after the elections all the Cambodian people will
protest and the whole international community will condemn the result
and regard this as a sham election," Rainsy was quoted as saying.
"Then we will demand a real election to allow Cambodians to decide their true destiny," he added.
US lawmakers have called for the United States to cut off aid to Cambodia unless the vote is free.
Rainsy, a French-educated former banker, fled in 2009 to avoid charges he contends were politically motivated.
He
was convicted in his absence of charges including inciting racial
discrimination and spreading disinformation and had faced 11 years in
jail but received a royal pardon earlier this month.
Aiming to
finally unseat Hun Sen, he recently joined with former rival and veteran
activist-turned-politician Kem Sokha to form the CNRP.
Although
he is not a candidate, he has hit the campaign trail to spearhead his
party's efforts to end Hun Sen's nearly three decades in power.
The
UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, last
week urged Cambodia to let Rainsy play a "full part" in politics.
Hun
Sen is one of Southeast Asia's longest-serving leaders. His Cambodian
People's Party (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 muzzling
activists. In May Hun Sen said he would try to stay in power for another
decade.
The opposition also accused people in power of being
behind an attack by an unknown gunman who fired a bullet at the party's
headquarters in the early hours of Saturday.
Nobody was hurt in
the incident at the offices of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)
in Phnom Penh which was closed at the time.
"I think this attack
was orchestrated by people in power. This is a politically motivated
case," CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann told AFP.
"This is a cowardly act.... We're not scared by this attack at all," he said.
National
police spokesman Kirt Chantharith confirmed the attack by the
unidentified gunman and said police had collected a bullet.
"We are investigating the case," he told AFP.
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