Top Cambodian opposition party challenging Hun Sen’s rule denied registration for July elections
- The Candlelight Party said it will file an official complaint asking the Constitutional Council to judge the election commission’s ruling
- Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party has held an iron grip on power for decades and his eldest son is widely expected to replace his father as prime minister after the polls
Monday’s ruling leaves the party only a very slim chance of taking part in the elections by filing a successful appeal to the Constitutional Council.
Kimsour Phirith, a spokesman for the Candlelight Party, said it will file an official complaint asking the council to judge the election commission’s ruling.
He pointed out that the party has been operating legally and took part in last year’s local elections without the issue being raised. In those polls, the Cambodian People’s Party won 74.3 per cent of the votes and the Candlelight Party about 22.3 per cent.
Kimsour Phirith said when the party applied to contest this year’s elections, the election commission asked for its original registration papers issued by the Interior Ministry, but they had been taken in a 2017 police raid on the headquarters of its predecessor, the Cambodia National Rescue Party.
He said that by law, the party has five days to file a complaint after being disqualified, and he hopes the Constitutional Council will render a judgment based on the law.