Cambodia's jailed opposition leader calls for free, fair elections
Cambodia’s jailed opposition leader has called on the government to allow free and fair elections in the country.
In a New Year’s message released on Monday, Kem Sokha said Cambodia needed to ease an ongoing crackdown and use non-violent methods to solve a political crisis in the Southeast Asian country that was exacerbated following his arrest in September.
“Leave an opportunity for people to choose leadership representatives through an election that is free and fair,” read part of the leader’s two-page letter that was posted on Facebook by his daughter Kem Monovithya.
He also called for national unity in Cambodia, saying the government’s tough way of dealing with dissent could lead to more troubles for the country at the international level, including the loss of foreign aid and export markets.
The European Union and Western governments have condemned a decision in November by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen to dissolve Kem Sokha’s Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition party in the country. The dissolution, which sparked widespread criticism from rights campaigners, also promoted the EU and the US to withdraw their support for the July 29, 2018 election.
Hun Sen, in power for more than 30 years, has vowed to extend his rule in Cambodia by at least 10 more years. He has also banned over 100 lawmakers from politics over links to the CNRP.
Kem Sokha said in another part of his message that Cambodia’s “democracy walked backward” in 2017, a year he said was marked by big political crises.
Hun Sen’s ruling party dismissed the message, with its spokesman saying Kem Sokha and other opposition politicians were free to create a new party if they wanted to contest the votes.
“They have the political rights as citizens ... to create a new party to compete,” Sok Eysan said Monday.
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