Global Courant
PHNOM PENH – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday began his ruling party’s election campaign for later this month – a poll that has been criticized as a sham after the main opposition party was prevented from participating.
The 70-year-old strongman, who has ruled the Southeast Asian nation of 16 million for four decades, spoke to a crowd in the capital Phnom Penh.
He stood next to his son Hun Manet, who is also a candidate in the polls and is widely tipped as his successor.
Mr Hun Sen said his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has brought peace, socio-economic development and strengthening democracy, adding that rights and freedoms were respected.
But he also warned that any attempt to incite “social disorder” or rebellion would be crushed.
Apart from the CPP, only small parties with little money or popularity will run in the July 23 elections.
The main opposition party was disbanded in 2017 over an alleged coup attempt that imprisoned dozens of members. A party formed from the remains was ruled out in May over a paperwork discrepancy.
Mr Hun Sen also recently instructed the Cambodian parliament to review the law so that anyone who does not vote would be barred from participating in future elections.
Prominent opposition figure Sam Rainsy has called the election a sham.
The US has said it is “deeply disturbed” by the “undemocratic actions” ahead of the polls and will not send official observers to attend an election process “according to many independent Cambodian and international experts, it is neither free nor fair”.
This week, Mr. Hun Sen quit Facebook for Telegram.
Meta’s oversight board said on Thursday he should be suspended for six months from a position in which he said people who accused the CPP of buying votes in previous elections could face a beating from CPP supporters.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications said late on Friday that they would expel a Meta representative and that Cambodia would end all cooperation with the company, attributing the move to a plethora of fake accounts, data risks and lack of transparency.
Mr Hun Sen has not commented on the Meta case.
