Voting begins in Cambodia general polls

Opposition decries signs of voter fraud and warns the result will be meaningless without its leader’s participation. Last Modified: 28 Jul 2013 02:23 Aljazeera

Cambodians have begun voting in elections expected to stretch further premier Hun Sen's 28-year rule amid alleged poll irregularities and the exclusion of the opposition chief. The voting, which began on Sunday, has seen the prime minister appearing so confident of victory of his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) that he did not even personally campaign for the parliamentary election. Polls opened at 7:00 am (0000 GMT) and close at 3:00 pm, with about 9.6 million people registered to vote -- more than one third of whom are below the age of 30. Earlier on Saturday Cambodia's opposition leader virtually acknowledged that his party will lose Sunday's general election, saying the polls are unfair but vowing that his “fight for real democracy” will go on. Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Sam Rainsy told reporters Saturday that any gains his party makes against longtime Sen's Cambodian People's Party would be significant, “and would set the stage for a long fight for fair elections”. Rainsy recently returned from a self-imposed exile after receiving a surprise royal pardon for criminal convictions which he contends were politically motivated. But he is barred from running as a candidate since the authorities said it was too late to add his name to the electoral register. His party, however, decried signs of voter fraud and warned the result will be meaningless without Rainsy's participation. “If the prime minister wants to keep his position he must be brave enough to confront me," Rainsy told reporters on the eve of the vote. “It's very unfair and shows that the current prime minister is really a coward... The ruling party is nervous. That's why they block me by all means," Rainsy said, adding, “Any victory under such circumstances is worthless.” His party said it had uncovered irregularities such as tens of thousands of duplicated voter names that would allow some people to cast ballots twice. Even the local poll monitor the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia alleged that up to 1.25 million people who are eligible to cast ballots are not on the voter lists. New York-based Human Rights Watch has warned the vote will be anything but free and fair, highlighting alleged manipulation of voter rolls and campaigning by senior security forces officers for the ruling party. “The process has been manipulated to ensure victory for the ruling party,” said HRW Asia director Brad Adams. 'Usual business' While the government denies the allegations, ruling party spokesman Khieu Kanharith told the AFP news agency the party was confident of another landslide. “We expect to keep an absolute majority,” he said. Hun Sen is running on a record of having restored peace and stability after decades of war and unrest, and promoting economic growth. The opposition decries corruption and injustice, especially reflected in widespread land-grabbing that see influential companies and businessmen develop property from which thousands of people have been evicted. Although Hun Sen has garnered ever more power, the election campaign has not been marked by the kind of violence, including killings that plagued past polls.