State officials defended the promotion of ruling-party scions in government, though they denied knowledge of a leaked letter appearing to show the military’s chief of staff seeking Phnom Penh and Siem Reap deputy governor positions for his son and a nephew.
Candlelight Party vice president Son Chhay is the target of a $1 million complaint by the ruling party, where he is accused of impacting the CPP’s honor during an interview with Washington-based online media Cambodia Daily.
A Vietnamese man died at a Bavet casino run by a Hun To associate, while 22 Indonesians were rescued from a few locations around the border town, police said.
Election NGO Comfrel mustered fewer than 2,000 observers on Sunday; Nicfec only around 20 — both mere fractions of total polling places. Political pressure and loss of funding have decimated groups that once provided leading assessments of Cambodian elections.
Police on Wednesday morning arrested a member of the Candlelight Party in Battambang province, but would not tell reporters what the man was being charged with.
Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng sent 12,000 cases of Cambodia Beer to Prey Veng CPP members in the wake of a successful election campaign, a local party official said.
Amid U.S. reports alleging Cambodia is giving space to the Chinese military at the Ream Naval Base, Defense Minister Tea Banh on Wednesday inaugurated construction on a major ship-maintenance facility there.
A chorus of political parties are decrying the conduct of the June 5 commune election, with the Candlelight Party calling for reforms to the NEC to ensure a smoother process.
For some, the Candlelight Party’s single-digit wins in communes is simply “unbelievable.” Others point to voter intimidation and the dearth of neutral observers as burying the voters’ “real” will.
In a statement issued in the morning, the Candlelight Party said it did not consider Sunday’s election to have been free and fair, and that results did not reflect the will of the Cambodian people.
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