Thumbprints of 20,000 voters back fraud claim

Sam Rainsy Party submits vast body of evidence to Constitutional Council in effort to substantiate allegations of electoral fraud by the ruling CPP

THE thumbprints of 20,000 disenfranchised voters were submitted to the Constitutional Council Tuesday as part of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party's drive to substantiate its allegations that the July 27 ballot is invalid due to systematic electoral fraud.

"We have presented evidence and witnesses to the Constitutional Council and we will answer all of their questions," Kong Sam On, a lawyer acting for the SRP, told reporters waiting in the Senate compound, near to where the Council convenes.

Kong Sam On said that the Constitutional Council had summoned party officials for questioning in relation to the complaints.

"We hope that a hearing will happen within the next two weeks," he added.

Constitutional Council spokesman Pen Thol told the Post that the Council has yet to rule on the opposition's complaints.

However, he said the Council intended to rule on the complaints prior to the announcement of the official election results by the National Election Committee (NEC) which are due September 17.

SRP President Sam Rainsy told reporters that he is scheduled to fly to foreign countries that are signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, saying that when they signed the accords they committed themselves to helping guarantee free and fair elections in Cambodia.

"Electoral fraud is still a huge problem and stripped many voters of the right to cast their ballots," Sam Rainsy said, adding that international pressure could highlight the government's actions.

"We hope that independent countries will condemn the NEC for playing a role in stealing votes for the CPP."

King Norodom Sihamoni is scheduled to preside over the inauguration and swearing-in of the new National Assembly on September 24, but Sam Rainsy said that the opposition parties were not interested in the formation of a new government.
"I am not interested in other issues at the moment, and I am focusing on the Constitutional Council," he said.

Despite continued threats by the opposition to boycott the swearing-in ceremony, the ruling Cambodian People's Party has pledged to go ahead, issuing warnings that opposition lawmakers not present at the event could forfeit their seats in the Assembly. .