VOA Khmer Masthead

Text Only Version
Search

Parties Warn World of 'Death' of Democracy


29 August 2008
Khmer audio aired 30 August 2008 (860 KB) - Download (MP3) audio clip
Khmer audio aired 30 August 2008 (860 KB) - Listen (MP3) audio clip

Two opposition leaders said Friday they would continue to push the international community to support their denial of July's election results, following a series of hearings this week that dismissed their complaints of fraud and calls for a re-vote.

The Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties maintain the election results were fraudulent and have called for a nationwide re-vote, citing a number of irregularities during the run-up to the election and on the day of the polls.

The parties are now seeking international lawyers to complain of irregularities to the US government, the EU and the UN, and to call on them "to review their relationship with the fourth mandate of the Phnom Penh government," opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Friday. "The Phnom   Penh government has come from an illegal National Assembly, which came from unfair elections."

Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, said a failure of the international community to intervene would lead to "the death of the democratic process in Cambodia."

Both the National Election Committee and the Constitutional Council maintain that the elections were legitimate, with the ruling Cambodian People's Party claiming to have won 90 or 123 National Assembly seats.

According to the NEC, the Sam Rainsy Party won 26 seats and the Human Rights Party won three.

CPP, Funcinpec and Norodom Ranariddh Party officials say they will go ahead with a swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected National Assembly on Sept. 24, but both opposition leaders said Friday their representatives would boycott the ceremony.

A boycott of the ceremony could lead to a further delay in the formation of a new government.

emailme.gif E-mail this article
printerfriendly.gif Print Version

  Related Stories
Party's Double-Voter Complaint Rejected
Former King Notes Royal 'Pain' in Politics
Council Rejects Opposition Call for Re-Vote
CPP To Control All Ministerial Positions
Constitutional Council Denies SRP Recount
Ministry Yet to Detail FBI Aid in Murder Case
Land Crisis Echoes Pre-Revolution Period
Election Violated Peace Accords: Opposition
Democrats Open Convention With Calls for Party Unity
 
  Cambodia News
Two Crimes Added to Duch Indictment

  More Stories
Cambodia Awarded Nearly $1 Billion in Aid
Aid Packet Comes With Some Expectations
Small Party Leader Laments Slow Reform
UN, Senior Official Expect Tribunal Talks
Anti-Corruption at Center of Donor Meeting  Audio Clip Available
Ministry Wraps Up Court Investigation  Audio Clip Available
Government Launches Next Phase of Finance Plan  Audio Clip Available
Chinese Arrive With Millions in Aid  Audio Clip Available
Opposition Underscores Reforms for Donors  Audio Clip Available
Khieu Samphan Renews Translation Demand  Audio Clip Available
Villagers Wary of Hydropower Projects  Audio Clip Available
Top Official Appeals for More Donor Aid  Audio Clip Available
Pursat Provincial Prison Ranks Swelling  Audio Clip Available
Photographer Finishes ¡¥Hell¡¦ Tour of Country  Audio Clip Available
Violence Against Women Intolerable: Official  Audio Clip Available
Condom Campaign a Shift From the Norm  Audio Clip Available