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| Hun Sen and other CPP leaders marked the start of campaigning by organising a rally [AP] |
Electioneering begins for July 28 polls which is likely
to extend the rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Al Jazeera - 27 Jun 2013
Cambodia's political parties have officially started
campaigning for next month's general election, which is expected to extend the
rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Asia's longest-serving leader.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is expected to
win the July 28 polls in a landslide.
Hun Sen has run Cambodia since 1985 with little tolerance
for opposition.
Eight parties are taking part in next month's polls to
elect 123 lawmakers to the lower house of parliament. The winner forms a new
government to run Cambodia for the next five years.
The main opposition party's leader, Sam Rainsy, is in
self-imposed exile in France to avoid 12 years in prison for convictions widely
seen as politically motivated.
Hun Sen and other CPP leaders marked the start of
campaigning on Thursday by receiving a blessing from the country's top Buddhist
monks in front of tens of thousands of supporters.
"Making a right decision will bring more success,
but a wrong decision will be a setback and a huge danger for the nation,"
Heng Samrin, the CPP honorary president, told the rally.
Thousands of supporters from several political parties
took to Phnom Penh's streets in colourful rival rallies, as cars and
motorcycles adorned with political banners roared through the capital.
Some 9.6 million people are registered to vote under the
eyes of more than 7,700 domestic and international observers.
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