PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition party on Thursday, leaving Prime Minister Hun Sen clear to extend over three decades in power in a general election next year.
The government had asked the court to dissolve the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was accused of plotting to take power with help from the United States after the arrest of party leader Kem Sokha on September 3.
The court ruling also ordered a five-year political ban for 118 members of the opposition party.
It had threatened a major election challenge to Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who is the world’s longest serving prime minister.
In a televised address, Hun Sen told Cambodians the election would go ahead “as normal” and called on CNRP members who had not been banned to defect to his party.
The CNRP rejected the accusations against it as politically motivated.
It did not send lawyers for the court ruling.
“It shows that Hun Sen will never stop if no one is stopping him,” said Kem Monovithya, the daughter of Kem Sokha and also a party official. “The verdict is expected. It’s time for sanctions from the international community.”
Western donors, who sponsored elections overseen by the United Nations in 1993 in the hope of founding an enduring democracy, had called for Kem Sokha’s release.
But they have shown no appetite for sanctions against Cambodia’s government, which is now closely allied to China.
The United States and European Union missions in Cambodia declined immediate comment on the court ruling.
Despite ramping up anti-US rhetoric and linking the United States to the alleged plot against him, Hun Sen lauded US President Donald Trump at a regional summit at the weekend and said he welcomed his policy of non-interference.
Dozens of police manned barriers outside the gold ornamented court in the centre of Phnom Penh.
There was no sign of protests.
Few people on the streets wanted to talk about the ruling, the latest chapter in decades of manoeuvring that have kept Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in power across all levels in the country of 16 million.
“People are scared to talk amongst themselves,” said Seang Menly, 39, a driver of one of the rickety tuk-tuks that ply the streets of Phnom Penh. “In my neighbourhood, people who used to give money and food to the CNRP no longer dare to.”
Hun Sen and his defenders say only he can ensure peace. During his rule since 1985, Cambodia has been transformed from a failed state to a lower middle-income country with growth of about 7 per cent a year.
“The Supreme Court’s decision today is not to end democracy but to deter extremists in order to protect the people and the nation from destruction,” said Huy Vannak, under-secretary of state at the interior ministry. — Reuters
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