Cambodians are heading to the polls Sunday in an election that will be easily won by strongman Hun Sen's ruling party after the main opposition was dissolved to global condemnation.
More than eight million voters are registered to cast a ballot in the sixth general election since the United Nations first sponsored hopeful polls in 1993.
Then the Southeast Asian country was emerging from decades of civil war and destruction wrought by the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge, whose dreams of an agrarian utopia led to the deaths of a quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979.
Prime minister Hun Sen was a former member but defected and was installed as leader during the Vietnamese occupation of the 1980s.
His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has won every election since 1998 and the 65-year-old strongman has been in power for 33 years, trumpeting his stable reign and warning of a return to war without it.
But dissatisfaction with corruption and a growing youth population with no memory of the Khmer Rouge helped the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) win more than 44 percent of the 2013 vote and carve out a similar share in local elections last year.
Analysts believe the success prompted Hun Sen to launch a crackdown, accusing the opposition CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government.
Police arrested and charged one of its leaders with treason and the Supreme Court later banned the party.
In the lead-up to Sunday's vote authorities have also taken an axe to independent media and NGOs while former opposition members have fled the country in fear.
The attack caused the US and EU to pull funding and assistance for the vote, but Cambodia's staunch ally China has provided support.
- 'Sham election' -
The government has pointed to 19 other parties in arguing the election is democratic, but critics counter the groups are obscure or newly created to give the poll a veneer of credibility.
Rights groups have slammed the election as a farce and opposition figures have called for a boycott to send a message to the ruling party.
But election authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges others not to vote, creating a climate of fear.
Cambodia's leaders have faced international criticism for helping cement what is virtually a one-party state but only limited travel and financial sanctions have been passed by western governments.
Sam Rainy, an opposition leader who lives in self-exile to avoid court cases he says are politically motivated, commended the US House of Representatives for passing the Cambodia Democracy Act earlier in the week.
The act proposes sanctions for members of Hun Sen's inner circle, a tight-knit group of police, army and other officials who have been key to maintaining his long grip on power.
"The timing comes just a few days before Hun Sen is crowned king in a sham election that will be easy to win after he cracked down on civil society, banned the CNRP, imprisoned its president and exiled its leaders, and destroyed the free press," Rainsy said, urging the Senate to follow suit.
Cambodians are heading to the polls Sunday in an election that will be easily won by strongman Hun Sen’s ruling party after the main opposition was dissolved to global condemnation.
More than eight million voters are registered to cast a ballot in the sixth general election since the United Nations first sponsored hopeful polls in 1993.
Then the Southeast Asian country was emerging from decades of civil war and destruction wrought by the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge, whose dreams of an agrarian utopia led to the deaths of a quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979.
Prime minister Hun Sen was a former member but defected and was installed as leader during the Vietnamese occupation of the 1980s.
His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has won every election since 1998 and the 65-year-old strongman has been in power for 33 years, trumpeting his stable reign and warning of a return to war without it.
But dissatisfaction with corruption and a growing youth population with no memory of the Khmer Rouge helped the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) win more than 44 percent of the 2013 vote and carve out a similar share in local elections last year.
Analysts believe the success prompted Hun Sen to launch a crackdown, accusing the opposition CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government.
Police arrested and charged one of its leaders with treason and the Supreme Court later banned the party.
In the lead-up to Sunday’s vote authorities have also taken an axe to independent media and NGOs while former opposition members have fled the country in fear.
The attack caused the US and EU to pull funding and assistance for the vote, but Cambodia’s staunch ally China has provided support.
– ‘Sham election’ –
The government has pointed to 19 other parties in arguing the election is democratic, but critics counter the groups are obscure or newly created to give the poll a veneer of credibility.
Rights groups have slammed the election as a farce and opposition figures have called for a boycott to send a message to the ruling party.
But election authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges others not to vote, creating a climate of fear.
Cambodia’s leaders have faced international criticism for helping cement what is virtually a one-party state but only limited travel and financial sanctions have been passed by western governments.
Sam Rainy, an opposition leader who lives in self-exile to avoid court cases he says are politically motivated, commended the US House of Representatives for passing the Cambodia Democracy Act earlier in the week.
The act proposes sanctions for members of Hun Sen’s inner circle, a tight-knit group of police, army and other officials who have been key to maintaining his long grip on power.
“The timing comes just a few days before Hun Sen is crowned king in a sham election that will be easy to win after he cracked down on civil society, banned the CNRP, imprisoned its president and exiled its leaders, and destroyed the free press,” Rainsy said, urging the Senate to follow suit.
