By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia July 31, 2013 (AP)
Cambodia's opposition party escalated its challenge to the country's
election results Wednesday, claiming it had actually won a majority of
National Assembly seats. The action suggests that the opposition is
digging in for a protracted battle over the results against the
long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Hun Sen meanwhile made his first public appearance since Sunday's
election, speaking briefly at the opening of a flyover bridge in the
capital. He struck a conciliatory tone, saying that he would send two of
his close party colleagues to hold talks with the opposition leaders.
He did not otherwise commit to any course of action.
Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party,
said that based on reports from party workers and election observers,
his party had won at least 63 of the assembly's 123 seats. Party leader
Sam Rainsy made a similar claim late Tuesday to a small group of
reporters.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party earlier claimed it had won 68 seats
to the opposition's 55 in the election. Provisional official results
support the ruling party's projection.
The opposition has already called for an investigation of voting
irregularities, including registration problems that could have
disenfranchised more than a million people. There have also been
accounts of people voting who were not entitled to.
Hun Sen said Wednesday that he would support establishing such a body
if the state National Election Committee approved it. The
government-appointed body, criticized for failing to address
registration problems before the election, has not appeared inclined to
endorse such an action.
Hun Sen said he did not wish the people to be upset by the conduct of
the election. His appearance came after rumors had circulated earlier
that he had resigned or fled the country.
The opposition's complaints have been supported by a number of nonpartisan Cambodian and foreign groups.
The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch charged Wednesday that the
ruling party "appears to have been involved in electoral fraud in
Cambodia's July 28, 2013 national elections, according to residents and
ruling party officials" it interviewed.
"Senior ruling party officials appear to have been involved in issuing
fake election documents and fraudulently registering voters in multiple
provinces," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement.
"And people from the party seem to have been turning up in places where
they clearly don't live and insisting on voting — not to mention the
many other claims of fraud around the country."
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