A smiling Hun Sen casts his vote in Phnom PenhPHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen took nearly 60 percent of the vote in weekend elections, according to early returns, but observers said they could not yet declare the election free and fair.
Initial returns from 18 of the nation's 24 provinces showed that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had won 58.3 percent of the 3.2 million votes counted so far.
The main opposition Sam Rainsy Party took 21.9 percent of the ballots counted by mid-day Monday, the National Election Committee said. The rest of the votes were divided among a slate of smaller parties.
Election authorities did not release results by constituency, and gave no estimate of turnout or of how many seats each party had won in parliament.
But CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith, who claimed victory for the party just hours after polls closed Sunday, said the latest tally by their supporters showed they would scoop 90 of the 123 seats in parliament.
"This is a new victory for the CPP and for CPP's policies for the past five years," he told AFP.
The main opposition Sam Rainsy Party was tipped to receive 26 seats, he said.
Hun Sen 's coalition partner in the outgoing government, the royalist Funcinpec, took two seats, Khieu Kanharith said.
The once influential Funcinpec has splintered under the weight of internal scandals, with its leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh fleeing to exile in Kuala Lumpur to escape corruption charges.
He formed a new party, named for himself, and tried to campaign from exile.
The new Human Rights Party, led by longtime government critic Kem Sokha, won three seats, the CPP said.
If the official results confirm the party's tally, the opposition would have little room to manoeuvre against Hun Sen, who at 55 has ruled Cambodia for 23 years.
He has vowed to remain in power until he is 90 years old, and has relentlessly undercut his political rivals, with a history of using street violence to respond to political challenges.
The Human Rights Party and Sam Rainsy have already cried foul over voters left off registration lists.
Sam Rainsy is demanding a re-vote in Phnom Penh, where he claimed 200,000 of the city's 722,000 voters had not been able to cast ballots because their names had disappeared from the electoral lists.
Election observers say the problem of missing names was real, but have cast doubt on whether the problem is as widespread as Sam Rainsy claims.
The Comfrel group of election observers said they could not pronounce the vote free and fair until his claims were investigated.
"It is too early to say this was a free and fair election. We need to have more information, especially on the voter's lists which is a very big problem," Comfrel board of directors president, Thun Saray, told reporters.
A Comfrel exit poll put turnout at about 70 percent, down from 83 percent during the last general election in 2003.
Thun Saray blamed the drop on a lack of confidence in the political parties, problems with the voter rolls, and rising fuel costs that made transportation too costly for voters to return to their hometowns to cast ballots.
He also warned that if the CPP's large victory is confirmed, the result could undermine Cambodia's fledgling democracy.
"There will be no more checks and balances in the national assembly," he said. "That is our big challenge."
Hun Sen had been widely tipped to win due to a booming economy that has helped improve the quality of life in one of the world's poorest nations, and due to nationalist sentiment sparked by a border feud with Thailand.
He was so confident of victory that his government on Monday began a new round of border talks with Thailand, even before his re-election has been confirmed.
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