Nguon Soeur boasts that his Khmer Citizen’s Party is in a unique position to bring a final end to the 30-year-old Khmer Rouge movement.
Khieu Sen Kim, the vice president of the KCP and brother of guerrilla leader Khieu Samphan, can negotiate the final surrender of the Khmer Rouge—something the CPP and Funcinpec have been unable to accomplish, Nguon Soeur said in a campaign spot aired Tuesday on state-run TVK.
“The government has not completely finished the Khmer Rouge, but if our party wins, we can do that,” Nguon Soeur said in the broadcast. “We will send Khieu Samphan’s brother, a member of our party, to negotiate the issues with Khieu Samphan.”
In a telephone interview Thursday, Nguon Soeur said his representatives have met with 3.32 million people in the 15 provinces in which the party is running candidates.
He claimed that 1.25 million people have promised to vote for the KCP.
“They have given thumbprints and signed to be party members,” he said.
The KCP is pouring resources into Prey Veng province, where 11 seats are up for grabs. Nguon Soeur said 160,000 registered voters in the populous southeastern province have promised to vote for his party. The KCP will hold a party congress July 20 in Phnom Penh, Nguon Soeur said, primarily to show the party’s strength in the capital.
