Supporters Lodge Flawed Voter List Complaints With CNRP

By Mech Dara and Matt Blomberg

The Cambodia Daily

 August 1, 2013

Standing before a crowd of about 1,000 supporters at the party’s headquarters in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, opposition leader Sam Rainsy continued to claim victory in Sunday’s national election and accepted hundreds of complaints from disgruntled voters who said they were unable to find their names on the voter list.

Flanked by CNRP vice president Kem Sokha and lawmaker Mu Sochua, Mr. Rainsy said the party had ended Prime Minister Hun Sen’s 28-year era of political dominance in the country.

Opposition president Sam Rainsy, right, delivers a speech alongside his deputy, Kem Sokha, to a crowd of about 1,000 supporters at the party’s headquarters in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. (Siv Channa)

“[This victory] is wonderful and historical. They [the CPP] stole our votes and we still won the election. We will not allow them to steal our victory,” Mr. Rainsy said.

He said on Tuesday that he had evidence from polling stations around the country indicating that the CNRP had secured “at least 63 seats” in the National Assembly, and added that the figure could “only go up.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen meanwhile has also claimed victory and his party has said he will remain the country’s prime minister.

Mr. Rainsy added that an April audit by the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) that said 1.25 million voters could lose their right to vote because their names were missing from the voter list, combined with doubts over the indelible ink used at polling stations, showed a clear victory for the CNRP.

The CNRP on Wednesday opened its headquarters to supporters who were rejected at polling stations to register their complaints. By 2:30 p.m., the CNRP said that it had recorded more than 1,000 cases.

“We have started to collect witnesses and evidence of all the irregularities to prove to the world that the CNRP has won the election,” Mr. Rainsy said.

“The CPP announced that they had won the election by 200,000 votes over us. When we add all the people who were prevented from voting, it will be clear that the CNRP is the winner,” he claimed.

Son Nareth, a 33-year-old businessman from Phnom Penh who has voted in the four previous elections, said he was denied the right to vote on Sunday.

“My date of birth was changed; they had the date and the month switched around and told me this means I cannot vote. I never had a problem before,” he said.

Hay Minea, a 30-year-old student who was told that his name was already checked off the list when he went to cast his ballot, urged Cambodians to stand to­gether and fight for justice.

“Don’t be afraid. The power of intelligence is more than the power of the rich or the power of guns. We have to stand up until we get a fair result,” he said.

As of today, Ms. Sochua said the CNRP will set up stations in each province nationwide for those who were rejected at the booths to file complaints.

“The CPP claims that they won the election, but in any other country, the winner comes out and declares their victory and then extends his hand to the opponent so there is closure,” said Ms. Sochua. “We warned [Mr. Hun Sen] already that he would be very surprised by the change that people have wanted for a long time.”

Ms. Sochua said that the faces of the CPP—Mr. Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin—needed to step aside in order to preserve their party.

“They need to at least redeem their party. CPP members should have the courage to challenge their own leaders. If Mr. Rainsy were to lose 25 seats, do you think we would let Mr. Rainsy stay? No, he would step down immediately.”

“Their time is over. The three faces, three clear faces throughout the country for around 30 years. Isn’t it time for their faces to get off the history of Cambodia?” she asked.

Surya Subedi, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, released a statement Wednesday calling for an impartial investigation on irregularities during the vote.

“With regard to the many allegations of irregularities, Mr. Subedi called on the appropriate bodies to promptly and impartially investigate them, and urged the Cambodian National Election Committee to thoroughly ac­count for every unused ballot paper,” the statement says.