Activists of the Candlelight Party, Saturday May 21, in Phnom Penh. HENG SINITH / AP
A crowd of opponents dressed in white, waving flags and unafraid of the police, marching through the center of Phnom Penh: the scene has not been seen in Cambodia for five years. The country, which is organizing its local elections on Sunday June 4, is tentatively returning to a multi-party system that was effectively suspended by the 2017 ban on the main opposition party, the National Rescue Party of Cambodia (PSNC). Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, then brutally disrupted the kingdom’s democratic functioning over fears that his Cambodian People’s Party (PPC) would be overtaken by its competitor in the 2018 general election.
The campaign is of course taking place without the participation of the main historical opposition figures. Most, like their leader Sam Rainsy, live in exile and face multiple politically motivated lawsuits. After their passports were cancelled, they were not allowed to return to their country, even to attend their own trial. Others, like Kem Sokha, are currently on trial in a trial of 130 figures for “treason” and are carefully keeping their distance.
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This did not prevent smaller opponents from reviving an opposition party, using the legal shell of a former political party founded by Sam Rainsy, renaming it the “Candlelight Party” and retaining its old symbol, the candle. Within a few months it has structured itself and established itself in the Cambodian landscape, to the point that it has managed to present candidates in almost all communities in the country, including the most remote ones. He has also garnered the support of many opposition figures, such as trade unionist Rong Chhun, released from prison in November 2021 after sixteen months in prison, or monk and human rights activist But Buntenh, known for his activism on social media. Social.
Low chance of success
But the chances of electoral success are slim for the opposition, bereft of its charismatic tribunes and subjected to much pressure and intimidation during the election campaign. Above all, opponents are divided on the desirability of participating in these local elections, fearing that they will agree to an election deemed unfair. Seng Theary, an American-Cambodian human rights activist, one of the main defendants in the huge “treason” trial, refuses to support the Candlelight Party. “Elections are not only used by repressive regimes to legitimize themselves, but also to last longer,” she said. They also allow them to get detailed information about the pockets of resistance in the country and then fight them with the stick or the carrot. »
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