Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday appealed to all political parties to conduct their campaigns during the national election in accordance with the law and urged local authorities to provide full security to all political parties.
“During the campaign period, don’t disturb [other political parties] and even though we love this party or that party, all local authorities have to offer security equally to all parties,” Hun Sen said on Monday, during an Apsara Radio broadcast from Prey Veng province.
“Don’t commit any violations or arguments—which party wins or loses is not important; even if I cannot become the prime minister is not important,” he said. “To have peace and political stability for the people is important.”
In order to have full representation of all political parties on Cambodia’s airwaves, Hun Sen recommended to the National Election Committee that it act through the Ministry of Information to ask TVK to cover the election campaigns of all political parties and then to broadcast the reporting equally.
“I support news coverage, otherwise voters don’t know who to vote for,” he said.
Previously, Minister of Information Lu Laysreng said that the Information Ministry would allow each party to have 10 minutes per day on TVK during the campaign period to publicize its viewpoint.
On Monday, Lu Laysreng said that he would follow the orders of the prime minister.
“If Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered this…there will be no mistake because the prime minister ordered it,” Lu Laysreng said, adding that he will order all the private television and radio stations to do the same as the state-run TVK.
Lu Laysreng said that only the three main political parties will probably win parliamentary seats during the elections, but broadcasting the viewpoints of other parties will give the government a good image.
“We don’t want the government to look like a dictatorship,” he said.
