Cambodian opposition to protest election at European Parliament

Aug 13, 2008, 12:28 GMT

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) will protest the results of the July 27 elections at the European Parliament in Geneva, secretary general Mu Sochua said Wednesday.

Mu Sochua said her party would denounce alleged anomalies to the world 'in the interests of democracy.'

'Many people were not allowed to vote,' she said. 'We will ask the international community to make its own judgments.'

The SRP and other parties claim nearly a million people could not find their names on the electoral rolls during the July 27 election, robbing them of their opportunity to vote.

But the SRP's ally the Norodom Ranariddh Party, headed by the self-exiled leader after whom it was named, accepted the vote Tuesday after first insisting it would protest.

Analysts said the change of heart may reflect an attempt by Ranariddh to sway the dominant Cambodian People's Party - which holds 90 of 123 seats, or 58 per cent of the vote - to grant him a pardon from his 18-month jail sentence imposed for an illegal property transfer.

Ranariddh formed his own party after he was ousted by the royalist Funcinpec party in 2006. He was sentenced in 2007 on a complaint from his former party, which he claimed was politically motivated.

The ruling CPP was unmoved Wednesday, leaking details of its new cabinet to the media which gave senior government posts to some opposition members who had defected their parties, and lean pickings for opposition members who had stayed loyal.