Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's heir apparent insisted Monday on the legitimacy of elections his party won against no meaningful opposition, defying international criticism that the polls were neither free nor fair.
Hun Sen has presided over Cambodia for nearly 40 years -- stifling all real opposition, freedom of speech and democratic reform -- but has indicated recently that he will soon hand power to his eldest son Hun Manet.
He thanked Cambodians "for choosing to vote, and especially for all the love and confidence in the CPP". The disqualification of the only viable opposition force, the Candlelight Party, on a technicality, meant there was no realistic outcome other than a big CPP win. He said Washington was preparing to impose visa restrictions on some individuals for undermining democracy, and halting some aid programmes.In the months running up to the national polls, freedom of speech was heavily stifled, with one of the few remaining independent news outlets, Voice of Democracy, shut down in February.
With no meaningful opposition, intentionally invalidating their ballot papers would have been one way for voters to show dissatisfaction with Hun Sen's rule.
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