PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on all those who allege that the 5th Commune/Sangkat Election was stolen to swear by their claims and show to the public how this could have been done. The Prime Minister made this statement while addressing students who completed their training course in 2020-2021 at the Royal School of Administration, and for the start of the new training courses in 2022, on Monday morning, 11 June 2022.
According to Prime Minister Hun Sen, the results of the 5th Commune/Sangkat Council Election show that the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) received support for more than 70% of electorate seats, meaning that the CPP still control 99% of commune chief positions, and more than 80% of positions in the commune council. He said this number shows the overwhelming support received by the CPP, and that the people are largely in support of the party's policies and the ongoing goal of peace and development.
He also asked those who claim that the election was stolen to swear by their accusations and show the public exactly how the election could have been cheated or rigged.
"They say we stole [the election], but if we ask them to swear on it, they do not dare, they say swearing is a trivial, useless thing," said Prime Minister Hun Sen. "But please note that taking such an oath is not a small matter, whether it is the president, the prime minister, members of parliament, all will take an oath before assuming their position in office, so is it really a trivial matter? Oaths still exist in the Constitution, even Americans still use the Bible to swear, so why is it a joke? Or can this be considered a dead end?"
He further stressed, "To those who accuse us of stealing the election, do you dare to swear and get struck by lightning? Do not say that you do not dare to swear because swearing is a joke […] why are you afraid to swear, if you have clear evidence? If there is clear evidence [that the election was rigged], swear on it and don’t be afraid."
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s remarks come after a senior official of the Candlelight Party, Son Chhay, announced that the party would accept the seats it had won at the 5th Mandate Commune/Sangkat Council Election, despite feeling dissatisfaction with the overall results, and concluding that the election was not free and fair.
"We declare that the election was not free and fair, which means we do not recognize the election, but we want to improve it to be fair [in the future] because this [election] does not reflect the will of the people," said Son Chhay. "But if asked to take [the seats we won], we will take what belongs to us.”
The 5th Mandate Commune/Sangkat Council Election 2022 was held on Sunday, 5 June, with 17 political parties participating in total. These parties competed to hold 11,622 commune council seats from 1,652 Communes and Districts nationwide. The number of people who went to vote was close to 7.3 million people which is about 80% of the 9.2 million registered voters.
