Cambodia’s election: against Hun Sen, only way to win is to not vote

With no independent observers, ‘monitors’ who intimidate voters and ballot-stuffing all on the table, the prime minister appears to be competing only with credibility itself – and he’s losing

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A poster of the Cambodian People's Party at a construction site in Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:15pm, 28 Jul 2018Updated: 5:11pm, 28 Jul 2018

With his own son leading an “election monitoring group” that is strong-arming villagers to vote for him, it’s clear Prime Minister Hun Sen now owns a rigged election – a pyrrhic victory in the making – unless he can somehow claim legitimacy through a healthy-looking turnout at the polls.

Radio Free Asia has reported that members of the Union of Youth Federation of Cambodia (UYFC), chaired by Hun Sen’s son Hun Many, threatened villagers in the rural Mondulkiri province, claiming that government services would be withheld from boycotters.

Cambodia's armed forces display riot gear and assault rifles at the Olympic Stadium ahead of a general election in Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters

Rather than a contest between two parties, Cambodia’s election seems to be shaping up to be a competition between the ruling party and those hoping to tarnish the contest’s legitimacy by reducing participation. But with Japan the latest country not to send election monitors, there are no credible outside observers, making it difficult to even accurately measure voter turnout.

Going into this week’s election, there is also no viable opposition party, no neutral National Election Committee (NEC), and the US has already warned that it might not accept the results.

A Mahathir-like figure, a car crash, and Cambodia’s ‘election’

Human Rights Watch issued a statement declaring the elections “not genuine” before the poll took place.