CPP Wins, but Suffers Loss in Parliamentary Majority

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) claimed victory in Sunday’s national election, but saw its majority severely diminished, ceding 22 National Assembly seats to the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the party’s first major setback since the U.N.-backed election in 1993. According to unofficial results released by Information Minister Khieu Kanharith on his Facebook page Sunday evening, the CPP won 68 seats in the 123-seat National Assembly, down from the 90 seats it won in 2008. The CNRP won 55 seats, up from the combined 29 seats that were won, prior to their merger, by the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party in the last election. … Preliminary estimates put voter turnout Sunday at about 69 percent, which would make it the lowest of any election in the past 20 years, said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel). … Neither the CPP nor CNRP commented Sunday on the results of the election. A provincial rundown of election results, which were not confirmed by the NEC, was posted to the CPP’s official website along with that of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC), which is headed by Mr. Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet. Those results put the turnout Sunday at 67 percent of eligible voters. According to figures posted on the NCTC website, the CPP won some 49.8 percent of total votes Sunday while the CNRP won 45.2 percent of the votes. Among provinces with more than one seat, the CPP won the majority of seats in seven prov­inces, the CNRP won four and the two parties split seats evenly in five other provinces. The CPP won the majority of votes in all one-seat provinces. … In Phnom Penh, the CNRP won seven out of 11 seats, a reversal of 2008, when the CPP won seven seats. In Kompong Cham, the country’s most populous province, the CNRP won 10 out of 18 seats, taking three seats from the ruling party along with one seat from the Norodom Ranariddh Party. In Prey Veng and Kandal provinces, the CNRP beat the CPP by one seat, winning six out of 11 seats in each constituency. The CPP beat the CNRP in Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Kratie, Pursat, Siem Reap and Svay Rieng provinces, which together account for 32 National Assembly seats. …

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cpp-wins-but-suffers-loss-in-parliamentary-majority-37210/