Cambodia’s July 23 national election was never expected to be free or fair. Prime Minister Hun Sen controls all the levers of power, including the courts and the National Election Committee. Many prominent opposition politicians are in prison or exile. Critical media has been all but silenced with the shuttering of one of the last independent outlets, Voice of Democracy, in February.
But a lopsided win in a rigged parliamentary election is apparently still not enough for Mr. Hun Sen, who has held power since 1985. Last month, Cambodia’s Constitutional Council upheld a decision by the National Election Committee to disqualify the much-diminished primary opposition party, the Candlelight Party. That leaves Mr. Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party on track to win all 125 seats of the National Assembly, mirroring the result of the last such charade in 2018.
And to deal yet another blow to democracy, the election authority recently said anyone who urges others not to vote, or who casts mistrust on the election, is subject to a prison term.
In full: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/18/cambodia-elections-sham/
