Official commune vote results contested

The official results for the recent commune elections have been announced. According to the Mirror, the breakdown is this:

•  the CPP gets 1,591 commune and subdistrict chiefs, 1,125 first deputy chiefs, 185 second deputy chiefs, and 5,092 commune and subdistrict council members; totally 7,993 seats
• the Sam Rainsy Party gets 28 commune and subdistrict chiefs, 403 first deputy chiefs, 963 second deputy chiefs, and 1,267; totally 2,660 persons
• Funcinpec gets 2 commune and subdistrict chiefs, 47 first deputy chiefs, 155 second deputy chiefs, and 70 commune and subdistrict chiefs; totally 274 persons
• the Norodom Ranariddh Party gets 46 first deputy chiefs, 317 second deputy chiefs, and 61 commune and subdistrict council members; totally 425 persons
• the Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party gets 1 second deputy commune chief.

You will no doubt be shocked to learn that Sam Rainsy is not entirely satisfied with the results.

Ms. Mu Sochua, the Secretary-General of the Sam Rainsy Party, told Rasmei Kampuchea by phone on the evening of 24 April, ‘The Sam Rainsy Party opposes the irregularities which effect the results of the elections, for example: in Poipet only 30% of the people voted, it opposes the NEC’s bias, the presence of village and commune chiefs at the polling stations during the election day, the threats, the vote buying before the election day, and the irregularities in issuing Form 1018 [for voters who had problems with their voting documents].’

“She said, ‘The Sam Rainsy Party finds that the results released by the NEC today cannot be acceptable, especially for the communes and subdistricts where the Sam Rainsy Party filed complaints, but the NEC did not check and solve the complaints properly, and rejected them under the pretext of not having sufficient evidence.’”