CNRP Cancels Meeting as CPP Supporters Turn Out in Force
Several hundred civilian supporters of Prime Minister Hun Sen, backed up by an equal number of military police and provincial police armed with automatic rifles, batons and tear gas launchers, forced opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to cancel a meeting with party followers Tuesday. The hundreds of CPP supporters—which included older farmers and young men sporting tight-cropped, military-style haircuts—gathered at Koh Touch pagoda and were explicit in their intentions to respond with force should Mr. Rainsy or Mr. Sokha attempt to hold the meeting, or criticize Mr. Hun Sen’s CPP government. … With the hundreds of pro-Hun Sen civilians and numerous units of the police and military police waiting in anticipation of a showdown with the CNRP, who had planned to meet at the home of a deputy commune chief some 500 meters from the pagoda, the atmosphere in Troeuy Sla commune was tense. … Sa’ang district governor Khem Channkiry said the situation was “tense” Tuesday because about 1,000 government supporters had shown up to protest against the CNRP, which then necessitated the deployment of police and military police to “protect the security of both sides.” … Calling off the CNRP meeting in Sa’ang due to the threat of violence, the opposition later held a press conference at party headquarters in Phnom Penh attended by Mr. Rainsy, Mr. Sokha and Eng Chhay Eang, chief of the CNRP’s working group in Kandal province. …
Phann Ana and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-cancels-meeting-as-cpp-supporters-turn-out-in-force-50938/
