The Cambodian Prime Minister,Hun Sen's political party Cambodian People's Party(CPP) has claimed a landslide victory for the general elections which were held on Sunday,23 July 2023.
The Cambodian general elections had no official opposition parties that were contesting after the only credible opposition party Candlelight Party was disqualified in May by the country's electoral body on a technicality and that was seen as an attempt to cement an undisputed victory for Cambodian People's Party(CPP) in yesterday's elections.
The current Prime Minister of Cambodia has been on helm for 38 years and has been label as a ditactor by his critics because of his ruthless years of crackdown on his rivals and clinging on power for almost four decades.
People believes that the 70-year-old former communist,Khmer Rogue fighter is preparing to handover the reigns to his eldest son who is also top military general.
According to The Laotian Times,Hun Sen posted on his Telegram channel late Sunday that unofficial results compiled by authorities in each province showed the Cambodian People's Party won 120 seats and the royalist FUNCINPEC party won five.
The international obsevers held a press conference this morning on 24 July 2023 at the Hyatt Hotel in Phnom Penh whereby all agreed that the election was democratic and ran smoothly and transparently,but it is unclear why did those observers said so while opposition parties were banned to run for general elections.
Not all countries gave a nod to the preliminary results of Cambodian general elections which some viewed it as a sham.
According to Reuters,the United States said it was pausing some foreign-assistance programs in Cambodia and imposing visa bans on individuals who,it said,undermined democracy after the ruling Cambodian People's Party declared a landslide victory in elections.
The Cambodian general election official results are expected to be announced on 9 August and 4 September 2023,as long as no complaints are filed for any wrongdoing during elections.