After the National Election Committee (NEC) announced final election results Sunday morning ratifying victory for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP in the July 28 national election, the Cambodia National Rescue Party announced that it would hold several days of demonstrations, beginning September 15.
CNRP leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha announced the planned demonstrations at a press conference at party headquarters in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon.
“There will be a series of demonstrations,” Mr. Rainsy said.
“They will be larger [than Saturday’s opposition rally, which drew about 20,000 people], because we will mobilize people who are not happy with the results released by the NEC this morning,” he said.
“It will last for at least three days, but it could last longer. It could take a variety of forms, the form of a meeting, the form of a sit-in or the form of marches,” Mr. Rainsy said, adding that specifics about the demonstrations would be determined over the coming week.
The NEC announced the final election results on national TV and radio, confirming that Mr. Hun Sen’s CPP won 68 National Assembly seats to 55 for the CNRP.
The results are identical to those that were announced by CPP Information Minister Khieu Kanharith on the evening of the July 28 vote.
In the weeks following the election, the NEC, which claimed there was a lack of evidence, dismissed dozens of complaints issued by the CNRP over alleged election irregularities.
The Constitutional Council of Cambodia on Friday wrapped up its review of the disputed results saying that none of the CNRP’s complaints merited a wider investigation, though it did order the NEC to seek punitive action against local election officials responsible for minor irregularities.
