Government ‘White Paper’ Brands CNRP Leaders as ‘Hopeless’

The Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit on Friday released a scathing, official “white paper” on the opposition party’s conduct in the lead-up to, during and after the hotly contested July 28 national election, accusing it of trying to destabilize the country to suit its political agenda. Reaction Unit spokesman Keo Remy said the opposition CNRP had long planned to reject the election results and that its accusations against the ruling CPP—of being complicit in a fraudulent election, the results of which did not reflect the true winner—were baseless. “We think that the election process was transparent, free and fair; there was no violence and chaos during the election,” Mr. Remy said. “The Cambodia National Res­cue Party’s supporters are restless and the Cambodian People’s Party’s supporters are calm,” he added. “They said that we stole votes, but that’s stupid, because we went from 90 seats to 68 seats. If we stole votes, they would have increased to 92 or 93 seats.” The document makes a list of the “maneuvers and tricks” the CNRP used to reject the results of the election, including “fomenting racism and xenophobia” and “discrediting voter registration procedures.” … CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the Reaction Unit failed to realize that the party has more popular support than the CPP. “The U.N. and other countries’ newspapers…spoke with one voice like the CNRP” regarding election irregularities, he said. “And so if they spoke the same, that is the voice of justice. The CPP should understand that if everyone speaks with the same voice like this, that means the CPP is a minority in the society.” …

 Khy Sovuthy and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/government-white-paper-brands-cnrp-leaders-as-hopeless-42866/