"As at the time of writing, the situation in Cambodia is still not - TopicsExpress

"As at the time of writing, the situation in Cambodia is still not clear even though it’s been five weeks since the election. The National Election Commission announced early August a preliminary result that supported the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) claim that it had won 68 seats to 55 for the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). No other party won any other seat. The CNRP claims it won at least 63 seats in the National Assembly and has lodged complaints alleging massive irregularities including 1.3 million names missing from electoral rolls and that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s side had stuffed ballot boxes with illegal votes. The claims are being checked, but the checking process itself is in dispute. The Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), an independent NGO, says that the popular vote margin was narrow: CPP 48.8%, CNRP 44.5%." "Singapore’s PAP would surely have taken note of Cambodia’s and Malaysia’s election results. Comfortable winning margins in one election can vanish by the next. This is particularly since there are many similarities among Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, not least of which is the fact that the respective ruling party in each country has been in office a long time. Electorates tend to get tired of long-lasting regimes. All three countries have seen incumbent governments use heavy-handed tactics to entrench themselves in power, including measures such as detention without trial, defamation suits, intimidation of opponents, control of mainstream media that do not pass democratic muster. Each of the three governments too has been accused of cronyism and blamed for neglecting social justice, even if the economy as a whole isn’t tanking. But a striking difference is that where Cambodia in 2013 had a major opposition party (CNRP) and Malaysia had an opposition alliance (Pakatan Rakyat), in Singapore, our opposition parties are still uncoordinated. However, for the sake of visualising the future, let’s assume that we’ll soon get to the point where either (a) several of our opposition parties can form a united front, or (b) one of them grows sufficiently to contest all seats, presenting itself as a viable alternative government." yawningbread.wordpress/2013/09/03/surviving-a-post-pap-mess/