Cambodia’s ruling party denies rumors of PM Hun Sen’s flee after election

   PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which won a slim majority in the Sunday’s election, denied the rumors that longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen has traveled abroad and resigned from the premiership.

   Recently, there are rumors spreading that Prime Minister Hun Sen, CPP’s vice-president, has left for abroad and resigned from the premiership.

   “This is a psychological war that the group of unscrupulous people always fabricates in order to poison social atmosphere,” said a CPP’s statement released late Monday.  

   “The CPP would like to confirm that Hun Sen is in Cambodia and fulfills his duty as the Prime Minister of Cambodia as usual,” it said.

   The statement said that the CPP won “absolute majority seats” in the Sunday’s poll so that the party could establish a new government in accordance with the constitution and Hun Sen would continue to serve as the Prime Minister in the fifth term government.

   Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government and the CPP, told Xinhua on Sunday that the initial results showed that the CPP gained 68 parliamentary seats and the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) got the remaining 55 seats in the Sunday’s poll.

   However, the CNRP of recently-returned leader Sam Rainsy rejected the election results, claiming “serious irregularities”.

   “The CNRP don’t accept the election results as indicated by the National Election Committee or by some political parties because there are too many irregularities, and the results do not reflect the will of people,” Sam Rainsy told a press conference on Monday. “The party calls for the establishment of a joint committee in order to investigate the irregularities such as vote counting and duplicated names of voters.”

   The official results from the National Election Committee are still unavailable by far.

   Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, will extend his power for another five years through the Sunday’s victory.

   According to the constitution, the first session of the new National Assembly will be convened no later than 60 days after the election.

Foreign observers hail Cambodia's general election

English.news.cn   2013-07-30 11:07:01

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Observers from China, South Korea and Hungary said that Sunday's general election of Cambodia was conducted in a competitive, free, fair and transparent manner.
"The overall election environment was calm, peaceful and non- violent," said a statement by a Chinese observer team released late Monday.
"Despite some complaints, we did not observe any incidents that might have adversely affected the process or the results of the elections."
The Chinese delegation was led by Zhao Shi-tong, deputy director of Bureau No. 2 of the Communist Party of China's International Department.
"Sunday's poll was conducted in a competitive, free, fair and transparent manner," the statement said.
It said hundreds of foreign diplomats, local and international observers and journalists witnessed this historic event, and were able to travel freely to perform their observation activities.
"We call on all political parties to work closely and constructively to further advance Cambodia's democracy and sustainable economic development," it said.
South Korea's observer team said the delegation felt assured that the Cambodian politics had been on the right track toward democracy.
"All observers from other countries and international bodies agreed that the election process in 2013 was far more stable and peaceful than those in previous elections," said the team's statement.
The South Korean team was headed by Kim Jin Pyo, member of the National Assembly of South Korea.
"We strongly wish that all political parties should closely cooperate one another so that Cambodia may achieve democracy and inclusive social and economic development through national unity after the national election," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian observer team said in a statement that the conduct of the national assembly election was free, fair, acceptable and transparent.
"This was the victory of democracy in Cambodia," Ambassador Georges Suha, secretary general of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, said in the statement.
"I encourage the international community to cooperate closely and constructively with the elected Royal Government," he said.
On Monday, a group of international observers from the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), also hailed Sunday's election.
"The election was free, fair and transparent, and, above all, peaceful, non-violent and smooth," Jose de Venecia, former Speaker of the Philippines, who led the team, said in a press conference.
Eight political parties contested in Cambodia's fifth National Assembly election on Sunday.
The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen won 68 parliamentary seats and the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) got the remaining 55 seats in the poll, Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government and the CPP, said Sunday.
However, the CNRP of recently-returned leader Sam Rainsy rejected the election results, claiming "serious irregularities."
Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Sam Rainsy called for the establishment of a joint committee in order to investigate the irregularities such as vote counting and duplicated names of voters.

Editor: Mengjie

Cambodia opposition should show "concrete evidence" for irregularity allegations: official

English.news.cn   2013-07-30 14:07:24

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia' s opposition party should present "concrete evidence" to substantiate its allegations that there were serious irregularities during Sunday's general election, a government official said Tuesday.
"The opposition should show clear evidence to support its allegations that the poll had serious irregularities," Ouch Borith, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters. "They should have proof, not groundlessly claim," he said.
Borith's remarks came after the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) rejected Sunday's election results, claiming serious irregularities.
The initial results showed that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen won 68 parliamentary seats and the CNRP got the remaining 55 seats in Sunday's poll.
Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, will extend his power for another five years through the victory.
Sam Rainsy, CNRP's president, announced Monday that the party did not accept the election results because there were too many irregularities.
He called for the establishment of a joint committee comprising the CPP, the CNRP, the National Election Committee, the United Nations, and local and international NGOs in order to investigate the irregularities.
He claimed that about 1.2 million voters were unable to vote because their names were not on the voter lists. Also, there are about 1 million ghost names on the voter lists and 200,000 duplicate names.
Borith said that the election has been recognized by national and international observers as fair and the oppositions should accept the reality.
"The opposition party should recognize the truth as tens of thousands of national observers and hundreds of foreign monitors have accepted that the election was conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner," he said.
National Election Committee said the official election results will be announced in mid-August.
According to the constitution, the first session of the new National Assembly will be convened no later than 60 days after the election.

Editor: Fang Yang

Cambodian deputy PM lauds good ties with China

English.news.cn | 2013-07-30 17:48:02 | Editor: Chen Zhi

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Banh on Tuesday hailed good friendship relations and cooperation with China in all fields and believed that the ties would be further enhanced for mutual benefits.
"I am very satisfied with Cambodia-China friendship relations and believe that our ties will grow stronger from day to day," Tea Banh said during a meeting with newly-designated Ambassador of China to Cambodia Bu Jianguo.
The two countries have very good ties in all rounds of cooperation, particularly politics, economics and military, he said.
The minister also thanked China for providing a great amount of aid to Cambodia for social and economic development.
Meanwhile, he told Bu that Cambodia had successfully organized a general election on Sunday and according to the initial results, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen got the victory.
Bu expressed congratulations to the CPP for its victory in the election and said she observed that the election process was conducted smoothly and peacefully.
The Ambassador said her diplomatic mission to Cambodia was made in the year that Cambodia and China have been celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations and the Cambodia-China Year of Friendship.
She vowed to further strengthen and expand cooperation in all fields between the two countries for mutual benefits.
Cambodia-China ties reached top level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in December 2010, and during the visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to China in April this year, the two nations agreed to set up an inter-governmental coordination committee to jointly implement the Action Plan on the Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation.
Bu succeeded ex-Ambassador Pan Guangxue, whose three-year diplomatic mission in Cambodia came to an end last month.
She presented her credentials to His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia, on July 19.

Cambodia advises people not to travel by sea on Aug. 3-5 due to torrential rain

English.news.cn   2013-07-30 20:20:41

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology on Tuesday warned people not to travel by sea from August 3-5 because the country would suffer from the impact of a storm and cause torrential rain.
The ministry's statement said according to the forecast, a depression on the South China Sea would evolve to a storm on Wednesday and travel to upper Mekong River basin on Saturday.
"The natural phenomenon will cause strong rain at sea and highland areas from August 3-5 and sea wave will be as high as 2.5 meters," it said.
"The ministry would like to appeal to all people to suspend maritime leisure trips and fishing on the warning days," the statement said, adding that during the period, there would also be strong rain at upper Mekong River basin that could cause flood at some areas.
Cambodian sea stretches across four southwestern provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong.

Editor: Chen Zhi

Cambodia's royalist party calls for poll probe after wining no seat

English.news.cn   2013-07-30 18:42:40

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's royalist Funcinpec Party on Tuesday called for the establishment of an independent committee to investigate irregularities in Sunday's general election, the party said in a statement.
"Observing serious irregularities in the election process on Sunday, the Funcinpec Party calls for the establishment of an independent committee in order to monitor those noticeable irregularities," the statement said.
The party is led by Princess Norodom Arun Rasmey, the youngest daughter of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk.
The party did not get even a single seat in Sunday's election, according to the initial election results.
In the last election in 2008, the party earned two seats.
The royalist party's call for probe came a day after the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) rejected Sunday's election results, claiming serious irregularities.
Sam Rainsy, CNRP's president, said Monday that the party did not accept the election results because there were too many irregularities.
He called for the establishment of a joint committee comprising the CPP, the CNRP, the National Election Committee, the United Nations, and local and international NGOs to investigate the irregularities.
He said that about 1.2 million voters were unable to vote because their names were not on the voter lists. Also, there were about 1 million ghost names on the voter lists and about 200,000 duplicate names.
Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday that the opposition party should present " concrete evidence" to substantiate its irregularity allegations.
He said the opposition party should recognize the truth as tens of thousands of national observers and hundreds of foreign monitors have accepted that the election was conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.
The initial election results showed that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen gained the victory with 68 parliamentary seats and the CNRP got the remaining 55 seats in Sunday's poll, said Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government and the CPP.
Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, will stretch his power for another five years through the victory.

Editor: Yang Yi

Bangladeshi PM congratulates Cambodian PM on poll win

English.news.cn   2013-07-29 20:49:43

PHNOM PENH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Monday expressed her congratulations to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the victory of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) in the parliamentary polls on Sunday.
"On behalf of the government and the people of Bangladesh and on my own behalf, it is my great pleasure to convey heartiest felicitations on your party's resounding victory in the National Assembly elections," she said in a congratulatory message that was released to the media by Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"I firmly believe the trust and confidence reposed upon you by the Cambodian people bears testimony to your dynamic leadership and commitment to democracy," she said.
Bangladesh and Cambodia enjoyed excellent bilateral ties based on long-standing friendship and cooperation.
The ruling CPP of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a victory in the Sunday's general election.
"According to the preliminary results, the CPP won an absolute majority seats in the poll so that the party has enough seats to prepare the government for the fifth legislature of the National Assembly," the party's statement said.
Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government and the CPP, told Xinhua on Sunday that the preliminary results showed that the CPP gained 68 seats and the main opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) got the remaining 55 seats in the poll.
Despite winning the victory, the ruling CPP of Hun Sen saw a remarkable decline in the numbers of seats it attained. In the last elections in 2008, the party won up to 90 seats out of the 123 seats in parliament.
While the opposition party saw a sharp increase in the numbers of seats from only 29 seats in the elections in 2008.
However, the CNRP on Monday rejected the election results, claiming "serious irregularities".
"The CNRP don't accept the election results as indicated by the National Election Committee or by some political parties because there are too many irregularities, and the results do not reflect the will of people," the party's president Sam Rainsy told a press conference. "The party calls for the establishment of a joint committee in order to investigate the irregularities such as vote counting and duplicated names of voters."
Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, will extend his power for another five years through the Sunday's victory.
According to the constitution, the first session of the new National Assembly will be convened no later than 60 days after the election.

Editor: Yang Yi