Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia condemned what they described as a “campaign of harassment and intimidation” against the political opposition in Cambodia ahead of the country’s elections on Sunday, June 5.
“It is impossible to hold free and fair elections in an ongoing climate of persecution against the opposition,” said Maria Chin Abdullah, member of parliament in Malaysia and a member of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
She said that even if 17 parties have been authorized to run, “these polls cannot be regarded as an exercise in pluralism and democracy” if Prime Minister Hun Sen does not allow the opposition “to campaign freely and safely.”
