Hun Sen confirmed as the winner of Cambodia's July elections

Cambodia's election commission announced Sunday that its official result showed the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won July's election.

The National Election Committee (NEC) said the Cambodian People's Party won 68 seats to the opposition's 55 seats, with 3.2m votes cast for the CPP against 2.9m for the Cambodia National Rescue Party.

The result, though widely expected, was immediately rejected by the CNRP, which for weeks has demanded an independent probe into alleged polling fraud.

Opposition MP Mu Sochua told Radio Australia on Sunday that the CNRP would not drop its demand for an investigation.

"We have said it all along - the elections were totally tainted. There were serious irregularities," she said. "A government born out of an election that is not free and fair is not legitimate."


Sunday's announcement, which was carried on state television and radio, came after the NEC and the Constitutional Council - the country's highest judicial body - rejected the opposition's complaints.
Both bodies are widely seen as beholden to the ruling party.

On Friday, a coalition of rights groups and election monitors said the July 28 ballot was neither free nor fair, citing a litany of problems before, during and after voting day.

On Saturday the CNRP held a peaceful gathering in Phnom Penh to press once again its demand for an independent investigation into a poll that it insists it won.

The thousands of supporters, some carrying placards and ribbons with "my vote, my life" written in Khmer took part in what could be one of the largest opposition demonstrations in recent years.

Cambodia's government urged foreigners to stay away from the rally while the US and Australian embassies had also warned their citizens to avoid the protest.