Cambodia opposition chief says rally next week 'not mass protest'

Cambodia's long-time opposition party leader Sam Rainsy said Friday that a large rally, scheduled on Monday next week, was "not a mass protest" against contested election results.

"The rally is not a demonstration at all - it is a normal meeting between party leaders and supporters," Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), told reporters while visiting vendors at the Tuol Tumpong Market in the capital.

Thousands of supporters, mostly youths, would meet at the capital's Freedom Park on Monday afternoon, he said.

Cambodia held a general election on July 28. Initial results showed that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of long- serving Prime Minister Hun Sen won 68 of the 123 parliamentary seats, with the CNRP taking the remaining 55 seats.

But the CNRP did not recognize the results, claiming serious irregularities during the poll. It said the party should win 63 seats, with the CPP getting the remaining 60 seats if an independent committee was set up to look into poll irregularities.


Sam Rainsy reiterated on Friday that the party would boycott the first session of the National Assembly if the alleged poll irregularities were not fairly resolved.

The CNRP has also threatened to call mass demonstrations against the poll results.

Armed forces with armored vehicles have been deployed around Phnom Penh City since early this month after the opposition's protest threat.

The official election results would be released on Sept. 8, according to the National Election Committee.