Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann yesterday called on the government to delete illegal Vietnamese immigrants from voter lists, while CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap denied the existence of such voters.
The comments came after the National Election Commission rejected a complaint by the SRP alleging that multiple illegal Vietnamese immigrants in Phnom Penh and Takeo province were registered to vote.
“It has been known that there are many Vietnamese registered,” Mr Sovann said by phone. “We asked the NEC to delete illegal Vietnamese immigrants from the list, but they did not delete them.”
Mr Sovann claimed illegal Vietnamese immigrants largely supported the CPP in past elections. He added, “The SRP does not want foreigners to live in Cambodia.”
But Mr Yeap said these claims were baseless, and denied that any illegal Vietnamese immigrants were registered to vote.
“Some Vietnamese can register if they have lived here for a long time,” he said. “They are legal immigrants and the CPP does not bring illegal immigrants to Cambodia so they can vote. If the SRP accuses the CPP, they should have evidence.”
At a press conference yesterday, NEC member Mean Setik said the NEC had rejected a SRP complaint alleging that multiple illegal Vietnamese immigrants were registered to vote, saying the SRP provided no evidence.
“If documents show that they cheated the authorities by illegally immigrating to Cambodia or the Interior Ministry identifies that they are illegal Vietnamese immigrants or there is evidence to show that they are the arrested suspect, the NEC would delete [their name],” Mr Setik said.
The NEC also rejected eight other SRP complaints involving irregularities, including deletion of voter names from lists, Mr Setik added. He said 176,149 voter names were deleted in October as part of a yearly update.
