Cambodian opposition leader says poll protest ‘last resort’

Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Friday said mass protests were “a last resort” against hotly disputed election results that handed victory to strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Rainsy reiterated his belief that the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) won the July 28 poll despite preliminary results handing victory to the incumbent premier’s long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

“[We will] keep demanding justice for the people. We have to prepare all kinds of measures,” he told reporters, speaking on his return from his daughter’s wedding in the United States.

But he added that threatened mass demonstrations were a “last resort” to overturn a Hun Sen win.

Political deadlock has gripped Cambodia since the CPP claimed victory at the polls, with the military deployed in the capital Phnom Penh last week after the opposition repeatedly threatened to take to the streets.

Preliminary official results, released on Monday by the National Election Committee (NEC), found Hun Sen’s CPP had edged the popular poll, taking 3.2 million votes to the opposition’s 2.9 million - although it is yet to reveal the share of parliamentary seats.

The opposition has rejected and appealed the results, demanding an independent probe into its allegation that the election was tarnished by massive vote-rigging.