Confident and cocksure, parties close their campaigns today with marches and rallies all over the country as election officials struggle to deliver materials to regions hard-hit by floods.
The National Election Committee has been unable to deliver ballots, ink and other election materials to 92 polling stations in Kampot province, spokesman Leng Sochea said Thursday night.
“Rain is the problem,” he said, saying water levels are up nearly
1 meter in parts of the province.
Floods have also prohibited deliveries to an unknown number of remote polling stations in the northeastern provinces of Mondolkiri and Ratanakkiri and delayed delivery to Koh Kong, he said.
Meanwhile, representatives from the CPP, Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party predicted their parties would grab the majority of the 123 parliamentary seats.
Across the country, CPP officials opened pagodas, bridges and schools on Thursday.
In Banteay Meanchey province, co-Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng opened a $120,000 Buddhist school and donated two large candles to pagodas throughout the province for Buddhist lent. And several thousand CPP supporters rallied in Takeo province.
“Although the prime minister has not conducted a campaign, that is all right, because each candidate in each province has to go down to meet the voters in the local communities and promise to the voters in the local communities and promise to the voters what they can do,” CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.
Funcinpec also flexed its muscles Thursday at a 10,000-strong rally in Kompong Cham province. The royalists are claiming 55 percent of the country’s voters, said party spokesman Kassie Neou.
“If there is no election fraud or vote-buying, I think that Funcinpec will receive 65 seats,” he said. The party has gained momentum and picked up support by addressing borders and promising to wipe out corruption, he said.
Today Funcinpec expects to draw 10,000 supporters for a march from Independence Monument to the Royal Palace.
The Sam Rainsy Party has predicted a landslide victory, and on Thursday the party sent text messages via telephone to an estimated 3,000 people urging them to vote for the opposition.
“I do this because my party doesn’t have radio or television stations to conduct a campaign,” said Choeung Chanary, the party’s Cabinet chief.
Today, Sam Rainsy will campaign in Kompong Cham province, home to 18 seats, and return to the capital this morning for a march across the city.
Kim Yidet, Phnom Penh’s traffic police chief , said at least five other parties plan to hold rallies today. About 340 traffic police will be deployed to reduce traffic jams at major intersections, he said.
Saturday is by law a campaign blackout day.
Barring a major incident before Election Day, the campaign period has been a success, NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha told reporters at a news conference.
“The election campaign has proceeded with a good results. There have been fewer killings and cases of intimidation [than in 1998],” he said.
But election monitors and NGOs have warned that the past week has seen a sharp increase in violence.
A Sam Rainsy Party official in Pailin discovered a grenade in high grass in front of the house of Sam Rainsy Party Deputy Chief Mam Han, said Bou Sarin, deputy police chief of Pailin. He hinted that the grenade was planted by the Sam Rainsy Party itself.
“We conclude that this grenade would not be found by anyone unless they themselves dropped it,” he said. “It’s not an attempt to kill anyone.”
Also, Beehive Radio has received broadcast equipment to increase its wattage in time for the Sunday polls. The station’s founder, Mam Sonando, had threatened to hold a protest today if the equipment was not released from storage at Phnom Penh International Airport—a delay he blamed on customs.
The new equipment will increase the station’s signal from 1 kilowatt to 5 kilowatts.
(Additional reporting by Phann Ana, Lor Chandara and Luke Reynolds)
