Theage.com.au
July 27, 2008
Cambodians looked set to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 23-year rule in elections, after a campaign overshadowed by a tense military standoff in a border dispute with Thailand.
The border feud breathed life into an otherwise sleepy campaign, with scores of voters lining up at dawn to wait for polling stations to open.
Many people in the capital Phnom Penh who cast ballots before the polls closed at 3pm (1800 AEST) said the biggest issue for them was the territorial dispute centred on the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
"I will vote for those who can solve the issue of Preah Vihear temple immediately after they take power," said 56-year-old businessman Lam Chanvanda, as he stood in a long queue of voters.
"Before, I was never interested in the border, but now it is in my heart."
Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who has ruled with an iron fist since 1985, strengthened his profile going into the election by taking a tough stance on the dispute, said Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho.
"Many voters, including young voters who had not yet decided who they should vote for, will vote for the ruling party" because of the border feud, she said.
A confident Hun Sen - who has accused Thailand of defying international law and threatening regional peace - kissed his ballot as he cast it at a school in a posh southern suburb of Phnom Penh.
Thousands of soldiers from both sides are facing off near the 11th century Khmer temple.
Foreign ministers from the two nations are set to meet on Monday in hopes of resolving the deal.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) currently has 73 seats in the 123-seat parliament, and party officials say they expect to take at least eight more on their way to forming a single-party government.
About 17,000 domestic and international observers monitored the voting at more than 15,000 polling stations. More than eight million people were registered to vote.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy alleged 200,000 people in Phnom Penh could not vote after their names were lost from registration lists Sunday, but election officials dismissed his claim as exaggerated and said the balloting had proceeded smoothly overall.
Official results could take days to be announced, but the parties are expected to release their own tallies later Sunday.
US-based Human Rights Watch has complained that the ruling party's near monopoly on broadcast media has undermined the opposition's efforts to woo voters, especially in rural parts of the country.
One radio station was shut down late Saturday after it broadcast a reading from a book by Sam Rainsy, violating rules against campaigning on the day before the vote, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.
Hun Sen has a reputation for trampling human rights to secure power, but a booming economy has bolstered his standing in a country struggling to lift itself from the ranks of the world's poorest nations.
He abandoned his life as a guerrilla to stake his political future with the CPP, which was installed as the ruling party after Vietnamese troops toppled the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and created a client state to stop border incursions.
Hun Sen became prime minister in 1985 and has steadily and ruthlessly cemented his grip on power, resorting to coups and systematic violence against any rivals who have threatened his reign.
In the current campaign, Hun Sen has been aided by his opponents' mistakes. His current coalition partner, the royalist Funcinpec party, has imploded under internal corruption scandals.
The Sam Rainsy Party is expected to maintain its strength in the capital but has made few inroads into rural Cambodia, where most voters live.
Although the campaign has been less violent than past elections, Human Rights Watch warned that a history of violence remains a source of intimidation against the opposition.
July 27, 2008
Cambodians looked set to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 23-year rule in elections, after a campaign overshadowed by a tense military standoff in a border dispute with Thailand.
The border feud breathed life into an otherwise sleepy campaign, with scores of voters lining up at dawn to wait for polling stations to open.
Many people in the capital Phnom Penh who cast ballots before the polls closed at 3pm (1800 AEST) said the biggest issue for them was the territorial dispute centred on the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
"I will vote for those who can solve the issue of Preah Vihear temple immediately after they take power," said 56-year-old businessman Lam Chanvanda, as he stood in a long queue of voters.
"Before, I was never interested in the border, but now it is in my heart."
Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who has ruled with an iron fist since 1985, strengthened his profile going into the election by taking a tough stance on the dispute, said Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho.
"Many voters, including young voters who had not yet decided who they should vote for, will vote for the ruling party" because of the border feud, she said.
A confident Hun Sen - who has accused Thailand of defying international law and threatening regional peace - kissed his ballot as he cast it at a school in a posh southern suburb of Phnom Penh.
Thousands of soldiers from both sides are facing off near the 11th century Khmer temple.
Foreign ministers from the two nations are set to meet on Monday in hopes of resolving the deal.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) currently has 73 seats in the 123-seat parliament, and party officials say they expect to take at least eight more on their way to forming a single-party government.
About 17,000 domestic and international observers monitored the voting at more than 15,000 polling stations. More than eight million people were registered to vote.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy alleged 200,000 people in Phnom Penh could not vote after their names were lost from registration lists Sunday, but election officials dismissed his claim as exaggerated and said the balloting had proceeded smoothly overall.
Official results could take days to be announced, but the parties are expected to release their own tallies later Sunday.
US-based Human Rights Watch has complained that the ruling party's near monopoly on broadcast media has undermined the opposition's efforts to woo voters, especially in rural parts of the country.
One radio station was shut down late Saturday after it broadcast a reading from a book by Sam Rainsy, violating rules against campaigning on the day before the vote, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.
Hun Sen has a reputation for trampling human rights to secure power, but a booming economy has bolstered his standing in a country struggling to lift itself from the ranks of the world's poorest nations.
He abandoned his life as a guerrilla to stake his political future with the CPP, which was installed as the ruling party after Vietnamese troops toppled the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and created a client state to stop border incursions.
Hun Sen became prime minister in 1985 and has steadily and ruthlessly cemented his grip on power, resorting to coups and systematic violence against any rivals who have threatened his reign.
In the current campaign, Hun Sen has been aided by his opponents' mistakes. His current coalition partner, the royalist Funcinpec party, has imploded under internal corruption scandals.
The Sam Rainsy Party is expected to maintain its strength in the capital but has made few inroads into rural Cambodia, where most voters live.
Although the campaign has been less violent than past elections, Human Rights Watch warned that a history of violence remains a source of intimidation against the opposition.
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