International Herald Tribune
By Seth Mydans
Published: July 27, 2008
CHBAR MORN, Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen appeared headed for an expected election victory Sunday after what experts said was the least violent campaign in Cambodia's recent history.
His overpowering control of the country's political machinery was buoyed by economic growth and a sense of stability as well as by a surge of patriotism as Cambodia faces off against Thailand for sovereignty over a disputed border temple.
"Although the counting is not yet over, preliminary results show that the CPP is leading, and we expect to win the election," said Khieu Kanharith, the spokesman for the governing party, the Cambodian People's Party. Official results will be announced later in the week.
The expected victory for the governing party will extend for five more years the 23-year rule of Hun Sen, who at the age of 57 is already one of Asia's longest-serving leaders.
The country's fourth democratic election since 1993 had a practiced feel, with lines of voters trooping through polling places around the country to slip their ballots into big metal boxes.
At the little schoolhouse in this village surrounded by green rice fields and sugar palms, voters filled the courtyard as soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m., emerging with black ink on their fingertips to show that they had voted.
"I voted for the party I like, but I don't want to say which one," said May Buntha, a barber, who charges 50 cents for a haircut in his open-fronted shack by a dirt path through the rice fields here, 70 kilometers, or 45 miles, southwest of Phnom Penh.
"If you look at it closely, life is much better than before," he said, and he listed the improvements the government had brought: roads, wells, irrigation, schools, clinics.
"I've just bought a new motorbike, better than the one I had before," he said.
At a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, monks in their bright orange robes lined up to vote among the local residents.
Their abbot, Men Chan Punleu, 45, said they were free to vote their consciences. But, he said, "In Cambodia children follow their parents. If their parents take good care of them, if they make sure they have food and shelter, the children are grateful."
The casualty in this stable, predictable process is a vibrant, competitive democracy. Hun Sen's opponents say they are betting on a rising young generation without memories of past hardships to push for change in the next election five years from now.
"This election has been much quieter than in the past," said Ly Rattanak, 26, a junior government official, after casting his vote. "There's less tension. Things are less challenging and I love challenges. It looks O.K. It looks calm. But it's not really fair. It's a one-man show.
"I believe in having a stronger opposition to challenge the ruling party and shape the way the ruling party performs."
Criticism of the campaign from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch amounted to an outline of Hun Sen's political style - "the near-monopoly on broadcast media for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), bias within the electoral apparatus, and harassment, intimidation, and coerced defections of opposition party members."
Hun Sen's chief opponent in the 11-party field, Sam Rainsy, claimed that some 200,000 registered voters had been left off the electoral lists in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he enjoys some of his strongest support.
"Scrap the election and do it again," he said, asserting that Hun Sen's party is "full of tricks."
More than 8 million of Cambodia's 14 million people were eligible to vote for delegates to the 123-seat Parliament. Hun Sen's party now holds 73 seats and needs only a simple majority to form a government on its own.
Before the passage of a constitutional amendment, a two-thirds majority was needed, and Hun Sen, who describes himself as a strongman, was nevertheless forced to bargain with other parties to form a government.
On the wall outside the schoolhouse here, an illustrated poster urged voters to resist threats, intimidation or vote buying. A series of illustrations portrayed familiar scenes, each marked out with a large red X.
In the first illustration, a man with a gun addresses villagers, saying, "Everyone has to vote for one party, otherwise there will be problems." The villagers respond, "Yes, sir."
In the second, a smiling woman talks to a group of villagers. "Please take this money to help you out in your daily lives," she says. "But please don't forget to vote for my party."
The villagers respond: "Yes, thank you, we won't forget."
In the third, a tough-looking man tells the villagers, "Please remember, when election day comes, I'll know who you vote for. Think about it." In one voice, the villagers respond, "Yes, yes, yes, yes."
There is little doubt that threats, vote buying and intimidation were widespread throughout the country, whether to a greater or lesser extent than before.
But whatever methods were used, legal or illegal, Hun Sen summarized the situation neatly earlier this year.
"I wish to state it very clearly this way," he said: "No one can defeat Hun Sen."
By Seth Mydans
Published: July 27, 2008
CHBAR MORN, Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen appeared headed for an expected election victory Sunday after what experts said was the least violent campaign in Cambodia's recent history.
His overpowering control of the country's political machinery was buoyed by economic growth and a sense of stability as well as by a surge of patriotism as Cambodia faces off against Thailand for sovereignty over a disputed border temple.
"Although the counting is not yet over, preliminary results show that the CPP is leading, and we expect to win the election," said Khieu Kanharith, the spokesman for the governing party, the Cambodian People's Party. Official results will be announced later in the week.
The expected victory for the governing party will extend for five more years the 23-year rule of Hun Sen, who at the age of 57 is already one of Asia's longest-serving leaders.
The country's fourth democratic election since 1993 had a practiced feel, with lines of voters trooping through polling places around the country to slip their ballots into big metal boxes.
At the little schoolhouse in this village surrounded by green rice fields and sugar palms, voters filled the courtyard as soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m., emerging with black ink on their fingertips to show that they had voted.
"I voted for the party I like, but I don't want to say which one," said May Buntha, a barber, who charges 50 cents for a haircut in his open-fronted shack by a dirt path through the rice fields here, 70 kilometers, or 45 miles, southwest of Phnom Penh.
"If you look at it closely, life is much better than before," he said, and he listed the improvements the government had brought: roads, wells, irrigation, schools, clinics.
"I've just bought a new motorbike, better than the one I had before," he said.
At a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, monks in their bright orange robes lined up to vote among the local residents.
Their abbot, Men Chan Punleu, 45, said they were free to vote their consciences. But, he said, "In Cambodia children follow their parents. If their parents take good care of them, if they make sure they have food and shelter, the children are grateful."
The casualty in this stable, predictable process is a vibrant, competitive democracy. Hun Sen's opponents say they are betting on a rising young generation without memories of past hardships to push for change in the next election five years from now.
"This election has been much quieter than in the past," said Ly Rattanak, 26, a junior government official, after casting his vote. "There's less tension. Things are less challenging and I love challenges. It looks O.K. It looks calm. But it's not really fair. It's a one-man show.
"I believe in having a stronger opposition to challenge the ruling party and shape the way the ruling party performs."
Criticism of the campaign from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch amounted to an outline of Hun Sen's political style - "the near-monopoly on broadcast media for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), bias within the electoral apparatus, and harassment, intimidation, and coerced defections of opposition party members."
Hun Sen's chief opponent in the 11-party field, Sam Rainsy, claimed that some 200,000 registered voters had been left off the electoral lists in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he enjoys some of his strongest support.
"Scrap the election and do it again," he said, asserting that Hun Sen's party is "full of tricks."
More than 8 million of Cambodia's 14 million people were eligible to vote for delegates to the 123-seat Parliament. Hun Sen's party now holds 73 seats and needs only a simple majority to form a government on its own.
Before the passage of a constitutional amendment, a two-thirds majority was needed, and Hun Sen, who describes himself as a strongman, was nevertheless forced to bargain with other parties to form a government.
On the wall outside the schoolhouse here, an illustrated poster urged voters to resist threats, intimidation or vote buying. A series of illustrations portrayed familiar scenes, each marked out with a large red X.
In the first illustration, a man with a gun addresses villagers, saying, "Everyone has to vote for one party, otherwise there will be problems." The villagers respond, "Yes, sir."
In the second, a smiling woman talks to a group of villagers. "Please take this money to help you out in your daily lives," she says. "But please don't forget to vote for my party."
The villagers respond: "Yes, thank you, we won't forget."
In the third, a tough-looking man tells the villagers, "Please remember, when election day comes, I'll know who you vote for. Think about it." In one voice, the villagers respond, "Yes, yes, yes, yes."
There is little doubt that threats, vote buying and intimidation were widespread throughout the country, whether to a greater or lesser extent than before.
But whatever methods were used, legal or illegal, Hun Sen summarized the situation neatly earlier this year.
"I wish to state it very clearly this way," he said: "No one can defeat Hun Sen."
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