PHNOM PENH
(The Cambodia Herald) -- The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party
(CNRP) said that they will hold a mass meditation and prayer gathering,
replacing the September 7 planned nationwide demonstration protesting
the alleged election irregularities.
The CNRP’s decision to hold a
prayer gathering instead of the mass protest was announced by their
leaders Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy at a press conference on Monday.
Speaking
at the press conference, Sam Rainsy, said that the CNRP had changed its
mind about the nationwide protest to avoid any chaos that may result
from the demonstration.
The opposition party had previously announced that they would hold a mass demonstration on September 7th, a day before the National Election Committee (NEC) officially announces their final elections results on September 8th.
Yesterday,
the CNRP gathered hundreds of their supporters at Democratic Park to
rehearse the protest, meanwhile thousands of riot police practiced crowd
control at Diamond Island center in the capital city of Phnom Penh.
The preliminary election results showed that Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen won the majority vote in July’s parliamentary election, gaining 68 seats, while the opposition party had only received 55 seats in the 123 seat-parliament.
However
the CNRP rejected the preliminary result, saying that by their
calculations they should have won 63 seats, calling for the
establishment of an independent poll inquiry committee without the
involvement of the NEC or the Constitutional Council, to investigate the
alleged pre and post election irregularities.
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