Military stops CNRP rally in Kompong Cham

KOMPONG CHAM CITY – Armed soldiers and military police prevented opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha from leading an election campaign march here Sunday, with the pair instead making brief stump speeches for the May 18 council elections in front of militarized roadblocks and at the CNRP’s provincial offices. Arriving from Phnom Penh at just after 11 a.m., Mr. Rainsy joined Mr. Sokha and CNRP lawmaker-elect Kuoy Bunroeun at the opposition party’s small offices outside the provincial capital, where a crowd of about 500 supporters had gathered, before leading supporters onto the highway for the city. … In Kompong Cham City, red metal gates supported by a line of military police in formation fenced off each road leading from the town’s central roundabout. Soldiers armed with AK-47 rifles milled about a few meters behind each block, while rifle-mounted jeeps set further back aimed squarely toward the arriving campaigners. … After a tense five minutes of argument, with Mr. Bunroeun repeatedly insisting to the officer that the campaign be allowed to push past the militarized line, Mr. Sokha emerged from his vehicle to call supporters to withdraw to avoid potential violence. … Chet Mann, the deputy commander of a battalion of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in Kompong Cham, denied that any military had been deployed to the area Sunday. … Kompong Cham provincial governor Lun Limthai said that the opposition had been specifically refused permission to campaign on the blocked street and a nearby parking lot. … On May 18, commune councilors around the country elected in June 2012 will vote in the administrative councils for the districts they fall in, as well for their overall province or city. The Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party merged to form the CNRP in July 2012.

 Mech Dara and Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/military-stops-cnrp-rally-in-k-cham-58012/