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Cambodia ruling party predicts landslide victory in 'sham' election
Cambodia's ruling party predicted a landslide win in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for its leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power.
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Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (right) prepares to cast his vote during the general election as his wife Bun Rany (left) looks on in Phnom Penh on July 29.
Cambodia went to the polls early on July 29 in an election set to be easily won by strongman premier Hun Sen after the only credible opposition was dissolved last year, effectively turning the country into a one-party state. (AFP/Manan Vatsyayana)
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ambodia's ruling party predicted a landslide win in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for its leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power.
Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to the poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and his political opponents.
The National Election Commission said voter turnout was 82 percent, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent.
The 65-year-old prime minister, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule -- a message that resonates with his base.
"Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights," Hun Sen said on his official Facebook page in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott.
A ruling party spokesperson forecast a huge victory.
But there were also signs of despondency and indifference, and an expert on elections in Southeast Asia said the high turnout was misleading.
"With one-party rule election turnout is generally higher, not lower, because the party, in this case the Cambodian People's Party, relies on voter intimidation more, relies on vote buying more, and turnout should be inflated that way," said Lee Morgenbesser from the school of government and international relations at Griffith University.
Pictures of spoilt ballots circulated on social media though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting.
"I did not go to vote. I slept at home," said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
"A lot of my friends did not go to vote."
Western governments have withdrawn their assistance from the election, citing its lack of credibility.
Nineteen small -- or hitherto unknown -- parties competed against Hun Sen's ruling CPP in the absence of the CNRP. But analysts say they are too obscure or new to make a meaningful difference.
The CPP has won every election since 1998.
The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, urged a "clean-finger" boycott of the vote as the only safe form of protest, a reference to the ink applied to people's hands after they vote.
Preliminary results are expected later Sunday.
'Fist of a dictator'
More than eight million voters are registered for the sixth general election since polls organised by the United Nations in 1993.
At the time the country was slowly emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge years from 1975-79 which killed a quarter of the population.
Hun Sen was installed aged just 32 as national leader during the Vietnamese occupation of 1979-89.
But a youthful population angered by corruption and with little memory of the Khmer Rouge era put the ruling party's longevity in doubt.
Their votes helped the CNRP to secure more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and a similar share in local elections last year.
"The CNRP offered a promise of responsive and non-corrupt governance, and people wanted to give them a chance," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the rescue party of being involved in a plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha.
"This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator," Robertson added.
The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017, clearing the way for a CPP whitewash on Sunday.
A climate of fear driven by local-level ruling party members has made many reluctant openly to criticise the vote.
The election committee, which has been accused of being biased towards the ruling party, claimed there was no voter intimidation.
Power and patronage
Hun Sen has maintained his grip on the country through political and family alliances in the police, military and media.
With control over vast parts of the state, he has placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty.
The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors for the election but Cambodia's ally China provided support.
Sam Rainsy, an opposition figure who lives in self-exile in France, said the foregone election victory was a "hollow one".
The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community".
Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges a poll boycott even though they insist voting is not compulsory.
