Living at his party’s headquarters to avoid arrest, Cambodia opposition leader says PM is scared ahe

After a month living in an office at his party’s headquarters to avoid arrest, Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha remains defiant and said Prime Minister Hun Sen is scared of losing the 2018 election.

Kem Sokha called for “national reconciliation” talks to end a crisis that both he and the self-styled strongman, Hun Sen, have warned could nudge the Southeast Asian nation into political conflict.

Tension has risen as Sokha and other opposition members face legal charges they say are trumped up by a judiciary in thrall to Hun Sen. The prime minister was intimidating the opposition in an attempt to avoid a rerun of a 2013 election that nearly cost him the premiership, Sokha said.

“What he is scared of most is defeat in the election,” Sokha said in his first interview since he holed up at the party headquarters on May 26. “His strategy is to remove the opposition party leadership, so now he is targeting me.”

Sokha became the acting head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) when the party’s leader, Sam Rainsy, was forced into exile late last year, also to avoid arrest.

Sokha is wanted for failing to appear in court for questioning over a sex scandal investigation. He faces an accusation of procuring a prostitute.

He said the CNRP would win in 2018, even though the vote would not be free or fair, because people want change after 30 years under Hun Sen and his Cambodian People Party (CPP).

read more http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1981777/living-his-partys-headquarters-avoid-arrest-cambodia