Rainsy Says Voter List Guarantees Victory

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Self-exiled opposition president Sam Rainsy has claimed his party would win the upcoming commune election in 2017 and then the national election in 2018, and said he appreciated the new voter list. According to a post on his Facebook page, Mr. Rainsy said he is happy with the results of the new voter list, even though about one million citizens did not register.
 

“Compared with the old voter list in 2013, this new voter list is far better,” he said. “Based on this, the election in 2017 and 2018 would be better than the election in 2013.” Mr. Rainsy said there are many new voters and claimed that his party would gain an extra one million votes. 
 

Duplicated names and ghost names were removed from the list, which he claimed had caused the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to lose about one million votes. Because of this, he said, his party would win the elections by at least two million votes. 

 

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-- © Copyright Khmer Times 03/12

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Unregistered Voters Hurts Opposition, Analyst Says

 

About one in five eligible voters failed to register. Most of those who did not manage to register are thought to be migrant workers based in Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea.

WASHINGTON — 

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party will be at a disadvantage at the local elections next year after an estimated 1.7 million people did not register to vote by the time the registration period closed on Wednesday, an analyst has said.

Speaking on VOA Khmer’s Hello VOA program on Monday, governance specialist Ok Serei Sopheak said the result would “have a strong impact on the opposition party.”

“This is because migrant workers are critics of the government and the ruling party,” he claimed.

About one in five eligible voters failed to register. Most of those who did not manage to register are thought to be migrant workers based in Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea.

More than 9.6 million people were eligible to vote in the commune elections scheduled for June 4.

Analysts and election monitors have said that financial hindrances prevented many migrant workers from registering.

As well as the financial burden of traveling to a registration station, many migrant workers complained of being denied paperwork by local authorities.

Serei Sopheak said that the CNRP and ruling Cambodian People’s Party must end the current tense political climate ahead of the election.

“They can be tough on each other via the microphone, but other than that they should talk to each other, negotiate with one another, look each other in the eyes, and shake hands so that the people will feel warm and that the election will be beneficial to them,” he said.

CNRP president Sam Rainsy and his deputy, Kem Sokha, are both facing legal action in Cambodian courts.

Despite fears that the CNRP may have hemorrhaged support since the enthusiasm of the 2013 election and its aftermath, which saw huge pro-opposition protests in the capital, Serei Sopheak believes most opposition voters in 2013 would continue to vote along party lines.

“I can hardly see that they would vote other party,” he said.

 

source http://www.voacambodia.com/a/unregistered-voters-hurts-opposition-analyst-say/3619321.html