Cambodia ruling party scores landslide local poll win

Cambodia ruling party scores landslide local poll win

New opposition party failed to chip away at the dominance of Hun Sen’s party.

Cambodian people line up before voting at a polling station in Takhmua yesterday. (AP pic)
PHNOM PENH:
Cambodia’s ruling party won a landslide victory in local polls, preliminary results released by the country’s National Election Committee showed today.

The country voted yesterday with opposition figures hoping to dent long-time leader Hun Sen’s grip on power ahead of national elections next year.

But preliminary results showed the prime minister’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) had scored a landslide, taking roughly 80% of the total seats.

The opposition Candlelight Party (CP) managed to gain some traction, polling at 18%.

The CP said in a statement the election was “not free and fair” and did “not reflect the will of Cambodian people”.

However, the party stopped short of rejecting the results.

Internal CPP documents seen by AFP showed Hun Sen’s party received more than 5.3 million popular votes, while the CP managed around 1.6 million votes.

Roughly seven million people voted in the election, the NEC said yesterday, with turnout around 78%.

Official results are not expected until June 26.

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