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Cambodia Opposition: Democracy Replaced by 'Dictatorship'

by David Boyle

   The Cambodian opposition Monday called on the international community
   to reject the results of Sunday's election[1] which ended with a
   victory of the ruling party and long-serving Prime Minster Hun Sen.

   Opposition leader Mu Sochua, vice president of the opposition Cambodia
   National Rescue Party (CNRP), said "29 July 2018 marked the death of
   democracy in Cambodia, a dark new day in recent history."He said
   democracy was replaced by an "outright dictatorship."

   Cambodians headed to the polls Sunday for an election in which the only
   viable alternative party had been banned, helping the country's prime
   minister of more than three decades to extend his reign even longer.

   There was little doubt that the country's ruling Cambodian People's
   Party (CPP) would win the ballot in a landslide following the
   dissolution of the only viable opponent, the Cambodian National Rescue
   Party (CNRP) late last year.

   But the shadow the CNRP's dissolution has cast over the credibility of
   the election was magnified even further this weekend when the
   government suddenly blocked the websites of more than a dozen critical
   news outlets, including the [2]Voice of America's Khmer service.

   Shortly after polls opened Sunday, Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has
   ruled for 33 years, arrived at his local station on the outskirts of
   Phnom Penh with his wife Bun Rany to cast a vote that many rights
   groups and observers say signaled the death knell for democracy in
   Cambodia.

   "They don't allow us to say anything today, we must follow the law,"
   Hun Sen told reporters before quickly leaving in a van.

References

   1. https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-voting-opens/4504510.html
   2. https://khmer.voanews.com/