Cambodian parliamentary election, 2008
Encyclopedia
A parliamentary election was held in Cambodia
on 27 July 2008.
Prime Minister Hun Sen
announced the planned date of the election on 30 May 2007, saying that the date of 27 July 2008 had been decided on because it was a holiday and because it fell exactly five years after the last election
. While the ruling Cambodian People's Party
was expected to retain its majority, Funcinpec
was considered likely to fall behind the two major opposition parties, the Sam Rainsy Party
and the Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party. The newly founded Human Rights Party
was also expected to make an impact.
By the deadline of 12 May 2008, only twelve parties had registered for the election, only half of the 23 parties which contested the 2003 election and a third of the 39 in the 1998 election. Ten of those parties fielded candidates in all of Cambodia's 24 provinces and municipalities, while the remaining two fielded candidates in only nine and seven provinces, respectively. Ten parties were approved, one was asked to submit more documents and subsequently approved and one was denied registration.
In early July, the Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
and the Society of Justice Party
decided to form a political alliance, and the Khmer Republican Party
also stated it was willing to make alliances.
The 2008 Cambodian-Thai stand-off
over the Preah Vihear Temple are widely seen as a successful attempt of the ruling CPP to garner more support. Analysts expected the CPP to increase its majority; as the constitution was amended to remove the need for a two-thirds majority to govern, requiring the more common simple majority
instead, it is likely the CPP will be able to govern without a coalition partner.
PM Sen claimed victory on 28 July 2008. Preliminary results from CPP sources indicate his CPP has won 58.3% of votes and 91 seats, SRP 21.9% and 26, the Human Rights Party 3, NRP 2 and FUNCINPEC 1. NGOs and other supervising bodies stated that the distribution was more likely 70 for CPP and 50 for SRP.
The EU observing mission stated that based on the provisional results, the lead of the CPP was so large that there would have to be very large-scale fraud in order to call the CPP's victory into question. They still criticised the disenfranchisement of a large number of voters, but lauded the improvement over the 2003 elections; on the whole, however, the election fell short of international standards.
The CPP announced it would retain its coalition with the severely diminished FUNCINPEC, but ordered its leaders Keo Puth Rasmey
and his wife Princess Arun Rasmey to stand down and let army general Nek Bhun Chhay take over; he would be the first non-royal to lead FUNCINPEC.
SRP, HRP and NRP threatened to boycott the first parliamentary session unless the irregularities were investigated; the PM replied that in that case, the opposition's seats would be redistributed between CPP and FUNCINPEC.
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
|-
|align=left valign=top|Cambodian People's Party
|valign="top"|3,492,374
|valign="top"|58.11
|valign="top"|90
|-
|align=left valign=top|Sam Rainsy Party
|valign="top"|1,316,714
|valign="top"|21.91
|valign="top"|26
|-
|align=left valign=top|Human Rights Party
|valign="top"|397,816
|valign="top"|6.62
|valign="top"|3
|-
|align=left valign=top|Norodom Ranariddh Party
|valign="top"|337,943
|valign="top"|5.62
|valign="top"|2
|-
|align=left valign=top|Funcinpec
|valign="top"|303,764
|valign="top"|5.05
|valign="top"|2
|-
|align=left valign=top|League for Democracy Party
|valign="top"|68,909
|valign="top"|1.15
|valign="top"|1
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Democratic Party
|valign="top"|32,386
|valign="top"|0.54
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party
|valign="top"|25,065
|valign="top"|0.42
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Society of Justice Party
(only in 7 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|14,112
|valign="top"|0.23
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Republican Party
(only in 9 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|11,693
|valign="top"|0.19
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
(only in 7 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|9,501
|valign="top"|0.16
|valign="top"|—
|-
|style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 81.5%)
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|6,010,277
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|123
|-
|colspan=4|Source: www.necelect.org.kh, IPU
|}
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
on 27 July 2008.
Prime Minister Hun Sen
Hun Sen
Hun Sen is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia.He has been the sole leader of the Cambodian People's Party , which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979...
announced the planned date of the election on 30 May 2007, saying that the date of 27 July 2008 had been decided on because it was a holiday and because it fell exactly five years after the last election
Cambodian parliamentary election, 2003
The 2003 Cambodian parliamentary election took place on 27 July 2003 in Cambodia to elect members of the National Assembly. The election was won by the incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, who claimed a majority of 73 seats in the 123-seat parliament...
. While the ruling Cambodian People's Party
Cambodian People's Party
The Cambodian People's Party is the current ruling party of Cambodia.This party was formerly known as Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party...
was expected to retain its majority, Funcinpec
Funcinpec
FUNCINPEC is a royalist political party in Cambodia. Before the 2008 election, FUNCINPEC and the Cambodian People's Party formed a coalition government, although FUNCINPEC's significance has decreased steadily since 1998, when it had an equal relationship with the CPP in the coalition.FUNCINPEC is...
was considered likely to fall behind the two major opposition parties, the Sam Rainsy Party
Sam Rainsy Party
The Sam Rainsy Party is a personalist and more or less liberal party in Cambodia. The party is a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats...
and the Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party. The newly founded Human Rights Party
Human Rights Party (Cambodia)
The Human Rights Party is a Cambodian political party founded on 22 July 2007 led by Kem Sokha. Critics allege that its foundation is meant to weaken opposition parties and is driven by the ruling party...
was also expected to make an impact.
By the deadline of 12 May 2008, only twelve parties had registered for the election, only half of the 23 parties which contested the 2003 election and a third of the 39 in the 1998 election. Ten of those parties fielded candidates in all of Cambodia's 24 provinces and municipalities, while the remaining two fielded candidates in only nine and seven provinces, respectively. Ten parties were approved, one was asked to submit more documents and subsequently approved and one was denied registration.
In early July, the Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
The Khmer Anti-Poverty Party is a Cambodian political party founded in September 2007. Its leader is Cambodian-American Daran Kravanh.-Political ideology:...
and the Society of Justice Party
Society of Justice Party
Society of Justice Party is a political party in Cambodia, whose president is Ban Sophal.-Political Ideology:Its political ideology combines various ideas from “democracy” to others...
decided to form a political alliance, and the Khmer Republican Party
Khmer Republican Party
This is a political party recently created on March 11th 2006 and competed in the July 27th 2008 elections with their leader Lon Rith as their candidate-Ideology:...
also stated it was willing to make alliances.
The 2008 Cambodian-Thai stand-off
2008 Cambodian-Thai stand-off
The Cambodian–Thai border dispute began in June 2008 as the latest round of a century-long dispute between Cambodia and Thailand involving the area surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, located in the Dângrêk Mountains between the Choam Khsant district in the Preah Vihear province of...
over the Preah Vihear Temple are widely seen as a successful attempt of the ruling CPP to garner more support. Analysts expected the CPP to increase its majority; as the constitution was amended to remove the need for a two-thirds majority to govern, requiring the more common simple majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
instead, it is likely the CPP will be able to govern without a coalition partner.
PM Sen claimed victory on 28 July 2008. Preliminary results from CPP sources indicate his CPP has won 58.3% of votes and 91 seats, SRP 21.9% and 26, the Human Rights Party 3, NRP 2 and FUNCINPEC 1. NGOs and other supervising bodies stated that the distribution was more likely 70 for CPP and 50 for SRP.
The EU observing mission stated that based on the provisional results, the lead of the CPP was so large that there would have to be very large-scale fraud in order to call the CPP's victory into question. They still criticised the disenfranchisement of a large number of voters, but lauded the improvement over the 2003 elections; on the whole, however, the election fell short of international standards.
The CPP announced it would retain its coalition with the severely diminished FUNCINPEC, but ordered its leaders Keo Puth Rasmey
Keo Puth Rasmey
Keo Puth Rasmey is a Cambodian politician. On 19 October 2006 he was appointed to lead Funcinpec, the royalist party of Cambodia, replacing former leader Norodom Ranariddh. He is the son-in-law of Norodom Sihanouk, former king of Cambodia, and is of Chinese descent.- External links :*...
and his wife Princess Arun Rasmey to stand down and let army general Nek Bhun Chhay take over; he would be the first non-royal to lead FUNCINPEC.
SRP, HRP and NRP threatened to boycott the first parliamentary session unless the irregularities were investigated; the PM replied that in that case, the opposition's seats would be redistributed between CPP and FUNCINPEC.
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
|-
|align=left valign=top|Cambodian People's Party
Cambodian People's Party
The Cambodian People's Party is the current ruling party of Cambodia.This party was formerly known as Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party...
|valign="top"|3,492,374
|valign="top"|58.11
|valign="top"|90
|-
|align=left valign=top|Sam Rainsy Party
Sam Rainsy Party
The Sam Rainsy Party is a personalist and more or less liberal party in Cambodia. The party is a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats...
|valign="top"|1,316,714
|valign="top"|21.91
|valign="top"|26
|-
|align=left valign=top|Human Rights Party
Human Rights Party (Cambodia)
The Human Rights Party is a Cambodian political party founded on 22 July 2007 led by Kem Sokha. Critics allege that its foundation is meant to weaken opposition parties and is driven by the ruling party...
|valign="top"|397,816
|valign="top"|6.62
|valign="top"|3
|-
|align=left valign=top|Norodom Ranariddh Party
Norodom Ranariddh Party
The Norodom Ranariddh Party is a Cambodian political party created by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who has left the Royalist FUNCINPEC party of which he was previously leader/chairman....
|valign="top"|337,943
|valign="top"|5.62
|valign="top"|2
|-
|align=left valign=top|Funcinpec
Funcinpec
FUNCINPEC is a royalist political party in Cambodia. Before the 2008 election, FUNCINPEC and the Cambodian People's Party formed a coalition government, although FUNCINPEC's significance has decreased steadily since 1998, when it had an equal relationship with the CPP in the coalition.FUNCINPEC is...
|valign="top"|303,764
|valign="top"|5.05
|valign="top"|2
|-
|align=left valign=top|League for Democracy Party
League for Democracy Party
The League for Democracy Party is a Cambodian political party that was established in March 2006. Its leader is president Khem Veasna.-Political ideologies:...
|valign="top"|68,909
|valign="top"|1.15
|valign="top"|1
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Democratic Party
Khmer Democratic Party
The Khmer Democratic Party is a Cambodian third political party-Political ideology:This political party supports the belief that while illegal immigrants and even those ‘’from Vietnam’’ who ‘’take jobs from Cambodians’’ are destructive to Cambodia...
|valign="top"|32,386
|valign="top"|0.54
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party
Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party
The Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party is a Cambodian political party whose leader was Hang Dara. It was created in May 2002.-Political ideologies:...
|valign="top"|25,065
|valign="top"|0.42
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Society of Justice Party
Society of Justice Party
Society of Justice Party is a political party in Cambodia, whose president is Ban Sophal.-Political Ideology:Its political ideology combines various ideas from “democracy” to others...
(only in 7 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|14,112
|valign="top"|0.23
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Republican Party
Khmer Republican Party
This is a political party recently created on March 11th 2006 and competed in the July 27th 2008 elections with their leader Lon Rith as their candidate-Ideology:...
(only in 9 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|11,693
|valign="top"|0.19
|valign="top"|—
|-
|align=left valign=top|Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
Khmer Anti-Poverty Party
The Khmer Anti-Poverty Party is a Cambodian political party founded in September 2007. Its leader is Cambodian-American Daran Kravanh.-Political ideology:...
(only in 7 of 24 provinces)
|valign="top"|9,501
|valign="top"|0.16
|valign="top"|—
|-
|style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 81.5%)
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|6,010,277
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|123
|-
|colspan=4|Source: www.necelect.org.kh, IPU
|}